Horror Stories for Children

Robin Kaczmarczyk

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Index

 Earling and Elfrida

 Earling, Elfrida and the Most Beautiful Flower

 Earling, Elfrida and Death

 The Well

 The Spider and the Scorpion

 The Black Wolf and his Mother the Sheep

 The Lonely Boy and the Dragon

 The Happy Ogre

 The Fisherman, the Knight and the Witch

 The Pork Merchant and his Children

 The Monster Under the Bed That Afraid of Crying

Children

 The Meercat and the Tiger

 Sir Torich and Lady Feige

 Selwyn and his Sister the Ghost

 Fay, the Angry Fairy

 The Bad King of Good Heart

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Introduction.

I find it strange that I actually published this collection

first in Spanish, because I wrote these stories in my early
20’s for my baby sisters; Katia and Sasha in English, and
that's how I read them. But fate does what fate does, and
the teachings we give to our children and younger
brothers are the teachings we give to them, and we can´t
do anything to change fate or whatever we teach our kids
once you have done it. The first edition of my Horror
Stories for Children was made for Kindle, and like my
previous Kindle publications, it had neither page numbers,
nor index, nor anything at all that a properly printed book
should include. I think it's because of my inexperience
with the medium called Kindle. But I do not count on
editors, or technical advice or anything like that to publish
my books ... I only like to tell stories. And if I tell them
well, I hope that they tell themselves, because the idea of
telling a story is to tell a story about oneself, without the
help of editors, technical advisors or publicists. I do not
think that Aesop or the Brothers Grimm had editors. They
only told stories. They wanted to teach the children what
they knew about the world. Scary people! Sometimes,
these teachings are right. In my particular case, mainly
they are not, because I do not know a good father, or
older brother who does not believe that he screwed up
his teachings, and I am not immune. How much to screw
up? That depends on the results. So then, little sisters,
Sasha and Katia, this book is for you.

Robin Kaczmarczyk, Ocotitlán, Morelos

November 29, 2015

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Preface to the English Translation

It is almost ridiculous if it were not absurd. I am

translating my own Spanish translation of the original
English work. The reason is simple; I lost, somewhere, my
English originals, and all I had to work with was the
Spanish language blog of my translations in Spanish of the
originals, which I then uploaded to kindle.

But here I go again, brining Earling and Elfrida back to

their father-tongue, which is English, because after all,
these two twin elves are actually my sister Katia and me,
and the stage is around Christmas 1993 or 94 in Santa Fe,
New Mexico. When I wrote this, I was a simpler person,
and many of the things that have marked my later stories
had not yet occurred. So this early story portrays a
happier, more innocent part of me, which saw love as the
cure of all of mankind´s ills.

Eugene, Oregon

March 2018.

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EARLING AND ELFRIDA

A long time ago, in a place known as Shadow World,

which is a place that has always existed in the imagination
of children, there lived a Prince and a Princess who were
twin brother and sister. They lived in a beautiful castle
built on top of a cloud that always floated above a frozen
forest. They spent all their time playing flutes made from
the wood found in the forest below. Their music allowed
all the birds to sing their songs, because you see, Earling
and Elfrida were the Prince and the Princess of all music
everywhere.

They lived a wonderful life, always full of love, harmony

and beauty. But below them, deep beneath the earth,
where great rivers of lava flow, there lived a fearsome
witch known as the Fire Queen. And the Fire Queen was
always jealous of Elfrida’s and Earling's elfin beauty, and
that made her hate the music that Earling and Elfrida
made.

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So one day, when Earling flew down to the forest on his
giant eagle to find the best wood to make a new flute for
his twin sister, the Fire Queen sent four fearsome goblins
to kidnap the princess.

The biggest and most powerful of the goblins was a

Dragon Goblin. He had great wings so the other three
goblins climbed on his back, and he flew to the cloud
where the castle stood strong.

When they got there, the strongest goblin, who was a

Bear Goblin, used his huge fists to smash a great hole in
the castle’s wall. The goblins all went inside.

Promptly, the castle guards rushed to attack the

intruders, but then the fattest goblin, a Pig Goblin, pulled
out a magical staff that he threw on the floor. There the
staff became a gigantic serpent. And the serpent
entangled around all the guards in her coils so that they
could no longer move.

Then the smallest goblin, who was a Rat Goblin, took out
a magic feather from his hat and touched each one of the
guards, one by one, and when he did, they became little
white mice that the huge snake quickly devoured.

Then, the Pig Goblin used his magic to transform himself

and his companions into the likeness of castle guards.
Afterwards, the four goblins, who now looked like castle
guards, climbed the castle stairs and knocked the door of
Elfrida's room,

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The Rat Goblin had prepared a special glass of poisoned
goat's milk. He knocked again, and when Elfrida Opened
the door, he gave the poisoned milk to her, and she, upon
drinking it, fell deeply asleep.

The goblins then grabbed her and took her out of the
castle. Once outside, they truned back into to their
hideous goblin shapes and tied the princess to the Dragon
Goblin’s back. Afterwards, they flew back to the deep
caverns where the Fire Queen waited patiently.

The Fire Queen woke Elfrida up. Efrida was very afraid.
Then the Fire Queen took Elfrida to a very dark cave
where horrible apes lived in filth, and left her there, so
that the horrible apes would watch over her.

Earling returned from his expedition a little later, but

when he dismounted his Giant Eagle and approached the
castle, he felt something was wrong. His fears were
confirmed when he found the castle wall destroyed. He
ran inside, but none of his guards came to greet him.
Instead, a gigantic, fat snake left the castle as soon as he
entered. He hurried up the stairs to his sister's bedroom
and when he did not find her there, he cried with great
despair. He knew that something had happened to his
sister and his heart was broken.

But Earling was very strong. He did not let himself get
depressed. Rather, he left the castle and climbed his Giant
Eagle. They flew into the heavens together. They
searched everywhere for his sister. They looked in every
forest, every mountain, every ocean, and all the islands
without stopping. Earling cried Elfrida´s name to all the
heavens, so that every animal, fish and bird would know

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she was lost and would look for her. Forty days and forty
nights he looked for her without stopping to eat, drink or
sleep. But finally, his giant eagle collapsed from the sky,
dead from the tremendous effort.

Now he was alone, lost and hungry, and he would have to

keep searching on foot without his Eagle. Things looked
very bad for him.

Elfrida was not the type who gives up either. But every
time she tried to escape the cave, one or more of the
horrifying apes would stop her and return her inside,
kicking, punching, and pulling her hair. The apes watched
everything she did with great attention. They knew that if
she escaped, the Fire Queen would burn them without
mercy.

Every time Elfrida tried to play her flute or sing a song, the
apes assaulted her. And then, finally she just sat alone in a
dark little corner of the cave trying to do everything to
avoid the evil attentions of her jailers, the terrible foul
tempered apes.

But she did find a friend in the cave. A little white mouse
lived in one of the holes behind the walls of the cavern
and he gave great tenderness to the poor princess, who
was so lonely and who was very much afraid of the
terrible apes.

So then, every night, when the apes fell asleep, the little
mouse would come out of his hiding place and talk with
her, and he would bring her little gifts like pebbles and
other shiny things to cheer her up.

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Unfortunately, Elfrida never learned the language of the
mice, but she sang for him the very softly so as not to
awaken the horrible apes.

And so she sang several songs for the little mouse. And
the little mouse learned them after a while. But one night,
one of the apes woke up during the night and saw the
little mouse. The ape made a big scandal and all the other
apes woke up and ran around, trying to catch the little
mouse that was forced to escape from the cave.

The little mouse ran and ran and ran, and finally went out
to where the sun shines, somewhere in the great frozen
forest. And it was very cold for him, because he was used
to the heat of the fiery caves.

So, the mouse entered a hollow tree to warm up himself

up.

When Earling saw the little frozen mouse enter his hiding
place, he took the mouse in his hands and put it close to
his chest to warm him. Feeling a little better, the little
mouse began to sing one of Elfrida's songs. Earling
immediately understood that this mouse knew where his
lost sister was.

The prince, who knew the language of mice, asked the

mouse to take him to his sister. The mouse decided to
help the elf. So, the little mouse ran back to the caves
with Earling following close behind.

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When they entered the caves, it was not difficult for the
little mouse to find the cavern where Elfrida was held
prisoner.

But when the mouse and Earling arrived, the horrible

apes attacked the elf prince with their formidable sharp
teeth and strong claws. Earling was not afraid of them. He
took out his magic flute and played a loud and very high
note, and the sound caused the walls in the cave to come
down on the poor apes, who were buried by the rubble.

Earling found his sister and they both cried with

happiness.

But their adventure was not finished. The fearsome Fire

Queen and her four beastly goblins ran to see what was
happening. And they saw the shattered walls and the
crushed apes, and Earling and Elfrida escaping with the
white mouse as their guide.

The goblins stopped the elves. The Bear Goblin and the
Dragon Goblin stopped and grabbed Elfrida; and the Pig
Goblin and the Rat Goblin stopped and grabbed Earling.
And meanwhile, the Fire Queen began to cast a spell to
create a giant fireball to throw at the twins and burn
them.

But then something else happened. The twins started to

sing a song. It was a duet. And the song was different
from all the other songs. It was beautiful and innocent,
pure as spring water, and clean as the air of the
mountains. The song was so beautiful that immediately
the evil goblins, who had been made from hate, turned
into stone where they stood. And the song radiated such

10
love and faith and beauty that made the Fire Queen begin
to cry. And the water of the tears of the Fire Queen
extinguished the fire in her heart, and she fell on the floor
of the cave full of remorse for all the evil that she had
done to them, and to so many others all her life.

And so Earling and Elfrida left the caves of the Fire Queen
and returned to the forest where a bunch of Giant Eagles
came down from heaven to greet them and return them
to their castle in the clouds. The Fire Queen then sent for
more goblins, but this time it was to help Earling and
Elfrida rebuild their castle where the bear goblin had
broken the wall.

Eventually, the twins pardoned the Fire Queen, and

taught her to play music, and they all became great
friends creating wonderful music for everyone.

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Earling, Elfrida and the Most Beautiful Flower

A beautiful summer day, Elfrida, the elf princess of all

music everywhere flew from her beautiful castle in the
clouds by becoming a white dove. Elfrida could become
any animal she wanted, and becoming a dove was one of
her favorite games.

Elfrida flew, and flew everywhere, over the huge forest,

under her castle in the clouds, and finally she landed in a
pasture next to a peaceful lake, and there she became a
beautiful maiden once more.

She sat there, by the side of the lake, on a large rock, and
took out a harp made from the hairs of angels. There she
played beautiful chords and melodies with her harp, and
to her great surprise, suddenly, from one instant to the
other, right there in front of her, a big beautiful flower
grew in the grass.

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Elfrida had never seen a flower as beautiful as this one
before. The long, soft petals, were like the heads of
newborn babies, and the colors like the rainbow. They
always changed, blue, violet, pink, red, yellow ... and
some colors Elfrida had never seen before. And inside the
flower, Elfrida saw what looked like precious gems,
radiating love and light.

Elfrida was so mesmerized with the beauty of the flower,

that she left her harp in the grass and sat there, for hours
and hours to see the flower, and the sun came down and
the night came bright and calm, and Elfrida, thinking that
her Brother would care very much for her, grabbed her
harp, became a dove again, and returned to the castle
above the clouds.

Indeed, Earling, Elfrida's twin, and prince of all music

everywhere, was very concerned about his sister when
night fell and she did not return. He was about to become
an owl and go to look for her when a white dove landed
on his feet and became Elfrida. Earling's worries soon
dissipated.

That evening, eating exotic fruits, rose petal bread and

golden honey, Earling and Elfrida talked about the day's
issues.

Earling asked: -“Why did you come back after the sun
had gone down? Your habit is to return before the sun
goes down.”

And Elfrida, who had not tasted any of her food, replied in
a strange and dreamy voice: “Today, the most beautiful

13
flower grew under my feet near the waters of a lake in
the forest pasture. It grew to the music of my harp.”

Earling said, "But why has this flower stopped you from
coming home?"

Elfrida answered: “Because I have never seen a more

beautiful flower, and I wanted to admire it as long as I
could.”

Earling knew her sister enough to understand that

something was not right. She had not eaten anything all
night, and something in the way of talking did not sound
right, but Earling could not say exactly what was wrong.
Not knowing what to say, Earling ate the rest of his dinner
in silence. Then, the twins went to sleep.

The next morning, when Earling brought Elfrida her daily

goat's milk glass, which she did every morning to wake
him up, she realized that she was gone. This worried
Earling a lot because she never left without first letting
him know where she was going.

Earling became a great owl and flew out the castle

window to find his sister. Thinking about the dinner
conversation last night, Earling flew directly to the lake
shore where the most beautiful flower had appeared the
previous day.

And when he got to the lake, he saw something terrible.

His sister was there, as if dead, next to the most beautiful
flower, on the soft green grass. He landed there and
became quickly an elf, and then went to his sister's side.

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To his delight, she was not dead, but only crying
inconsolably. Her tears hurt her brother very much.

"Why are you crying, sweet sister?" He asked.

Through tears she explained: “I cry because if you cut this

flower to take it home, you will have only a little life left
and die. But if I do not take it with me, I must suffer
thinking way that it is so far from me, because surely this
is the most beautiful flower of all the flowers.”

Worried, Earling asked, "You really can not live so far from
this flower?"

She replied: “If I can not see this flower near me day and
night, I live in great misery.”

And then, without much thought, Earling pulled a sharp

knife from his boot, and cut the flower, throwing it as far
as he could in the blue waters of the lake.

Elfrida looked in surprise as the most beautiful flower

submerged in the deep waters of the lake, never to be
seen again. She turned around enraged to look at her
brother and said: "You have taken away what I treasured
most. Why? Do you know how that hurts?”

But his brother took his hands in his and said, "You said
that if you could not see the most beautiful flower day
and night you would suffer thinking that it is far from you.
This I can not tolerate, because seeing you withering with
sadness would kill me. The most beautiful flower is just a
flower, and I will not let it wither you.”

15
And Earling and Elfrida returned to the castle in the
clouds and there, he sang a beautiful farewell song to the
most beautiful flower, and use the same harp that Elfrida
used and all the birds living there accompanied him in his
song.

And when he sang this song, another flower, more

beautiful than the first appeared at the feet of Elfrida, and
then another, and another, and another. And in a short
time, a whole garden of the most beautiful flowers grew
under the feet of Elfrida, and their splendor was so
immense that the sun seemed to shine stronger because
of them.

And Earling said to Elfrida, "Truly, only love, and love can
only make these flowers grow."

And Elfrida answered: “And now I know how silly I was to

value something more than my love for you.”

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Earling, Elfrida and Death

During the longest night of winter,

When all the birds, and the fishes,

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And the animals of the forest sleep,

During the night in the hour of the witches, which is

midnight,

Death went for a walk in the clouds,

Flying on his pale horse, with eyes of fire.

Death, with her skeletal hands and her sharp sycle

She was looking for someone who would still be awake

With whom to spend the long winter night.

And so it was that Earling, the elfin prince

Of all the music was still singing to the sleeping birds,

Because that's how they would remember their songs in

the morning

And they would sing them so that everyone could hear

them.

And when Death met Earling, she said:

“Come with me, I'm alone tonight.

And I wish your company.”

But Earling replied to Saint Death:

“My sister is waiting for me at home, and I can not

accompany you,

I must not delay, as soon as the sun shines,

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She will call my name.”

But Death will not be denied, and she blew

her breath into Earling's face

And Earling died.

And Death took his hand,

and they both went to paradise.

But in paradise, Earling cried pitifully,

And his crying woke up his sister.

When Elfrida woke up, she called his name:

“Earling, Earling, where are you?”

And Earling could not answer.

Elfrida went to the forest

To look for his brother.

And there he found him, resting in the soft grass

But his soul was gone, and only his body remained

And, he was dead.

When she saw him dead, Elfrida cried with great sadness.

She could not stand the terrible pain in her heart.

She lay down beside him and died.

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And she went to paradise, because her heart was pure
and beautiful like Earling's.

In paradise, Earling and Elfrida put their hands together

and sang a song.

A very sad song because they loved life very much.

And there was still a lot that they had to do together.

But now, they were both dead.

Death came to Elfrida and said:

“It's not your time to die yet, and you must return.

I can not let you stay here, because I have not called
you.”

And Elfrida replied:

“You brought my brother here because you were lonely.

But you must know that if you make me return,

I will only die again, of a broken heart

Because, I love my brother a lot,

And I can not live without him.”

And Death said:

“If you sacrificed your own life for your brother

I now realize that I have no right

To bring him here,

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Because in bringing him here,

I bring you here too, and it is not your time yet,

Your time has not arrived.”

And with that said, Death sent Earling and Elfrida back to
the world of the living,

Where they would live for many more years.

21
THE WELL.

There once lived a young widow with her two children in

a beautiful castle far from any town, village or city. Her
husband had been a great and powerful Baron, and for
that reason the widow never had money problems, nor
did she think about the need to find a new husband when
one day, the Baron did not come home after going to fight
one of his many, many wars.

Her eldest son, who was five years old, was called Eric,
and he was the guardian and guardian of his younger
brother, a boy a year younger but weak and pale. This
wretch was called Wolfgang and did not leave the castle
except when Eric, much stronger and adventurous, forced
him to come out. But there were many times that Eric
took Wolfgang out to the big coniferous forests to walk
around without the weaker boy wanting to do so. Eric
loved his brother and wanted him to be healthier, and the
older boy figured that what Wolfgang needed was fresh
air.

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One of these times, Eric found an large, old, abandoned
water well. Afraid that something would live on the
bottom, Wolfgang begged his brother to leave this place
immediately. But Eric was very happy to make his brother
afraid, and the prospect of inspecting an abandoned well
was too interesting to pass by.

Eric approached the well and peered through the large

dark hole. Unfortunately, the ground was damp and
slippery with moss, and when he tried to look inside, the
poor child fell into it. Wolfgang, horrified, was too slow to
rescue Eric. The younger boy ran to his brother’s side, but
it was too late.

But the strangest thing was that when Eric fell, Wolfgang
he didn’t hear his screams, or the sound of the water
when his brother’s body hit the bottom of the well.
Wolfgang called Eric several times, but without any
response other than a macabre silence. Without any
other idea of how to rescue his brother, Wolfgang quickly
returned to tell his mother what had happened.

The widow was preparing fresh cream outside the castle

when Wolfgang arrived with the bad news. Between
crying and shouts of alarm, he explained that Eric had
fallen into a well. The poor woman, driven mad by her
son's screams of terror, followed him running to the
scene of the accident.

When they got there, the widow came to the well, and
crying her son's name over and over again. But nobody
answered the calls. Wolfgang suspected that the fall had
killed Eric, but there was no answer to his mother’s

23
anguished calls. But the widow did not give up calling his
name:

“Eric, Eric! Eric, my son, answer me!”

Thus minutes turned to hours, and soon the sun began to

fall. The young widow became so crazed by the probable
death of her son that, even when the night came, she
kept calling;

“Eric, Eric!”

And so two days went by, and then three. The poor
mother did not leave the well for a minute.

Wolfgang begged his mother to return to the castle or go

to town for help, but the woman's mind was deeply
confused by the pain of her loss. Finally, Hunger overtook
Wolfgang, who returned to the castle with no idea what
would happen.

Wolfgang found the cream that his mother had started to

prepare and even though it was a bit sour, he ate it all.
Then he went to the kitchen and found bread that he also
devoured. When his hunger was sated, his concern for his
mother and his brother returned, and Wolfgang returned
to the well.

When he got there, he found his mother in a terrible

state. His green eyes were red with tears. Her long orange
hair was dirty and disheveled, and her elegant white dress
was gray with mud and dirt. Blood came out of her
mouth, where she was biting her lips. Wolfgang was a
little scared by this strange apparition that so little

24
resembled his mother. But the sweet and calm voice of
his mother, gave him courage.

“Wolfgang, my son, come to your mother's side, because I

need you.”

Hesitating, Wolfgang walked over to his mother and she

hugged him tightly.

“I know what happened: Your little brother is playing in

there. He asked me to go with him to play because he is
very lonely.”

And with that said, the insane woman grabbed her weak
and small son and threw him into the well. The last thing
Wolfgang could see was his brother Eric, floating in the
cold black water of the well, with open arms to receive
him. Eric's eyes were very red, and his teeth were much
whiter than Wolfgang could remember.

The widow was very happy. No more would his son Eric
be alone in the pit. Too bad they could never leave. She
got up and returned to the castle to finish preparing the
cream to receive her beloved husband. She forgot, for
some strange reason, that he had died in the war many
years ago.

25
The Spider and the Scorpion

This was once a scorpion walking through the garden

when it happened not far from a spider's web where an
old spider was resting. The spider called him saying:

“But what beautiful pincers you have, Mr. Scorpion.”

Flattered, he came a little closer to her and answered:

“Thank you, ma'am, do you really like them that much?”

She said:

“But of course, and look! What a wonderful stinger so

sharp and such strong tail. It must be a terrible weapon.”

He replied with great pleasure:

“It is, ma'am, it is. There is no one who can survive my

poison. You are very insightful!”

Then she said:

26
“I'm just an old spider, and all I can show you is my old
cobweb. I'm not even a little bit as dangerous as you
are.”

To which he replied, proudly:

“Oh, but do not tell me that. Sweet Spider, you are also a
skilled hunter, like I am. Everybody knows that!”

And she answered:

“But I could never be as dangerous as you. Would it be

possible for me to show your pincers a little closer? I like
them a lot.”

The unsuspecting scorpion saw no harm in showing the

spider his powerful pincers and thus he got so close that
he got entangled in the web. There, the spider tied him in
threads, wrapping his so tightly so that it could not move
anymore.

Before eating the poor scorpion alive, he said:

“Poor Mr. Scorpion, with your weapons so strong for

hunting. We spiders are weak and we do not have a tail,
but we know the value of vanity.”

27
The Black Wolf and his Mother the Sheep

Once upon a time there was a small wolf pup who

became separated from his mother. His mother was killed
by a hunter, and the little puppy was left alone in the
forest. For many days, the little wolf wandered lost until
finally he came to a beautiful grassy meadow where he
found some sheep grazing.

There were three sheep there, a mother and her two

daughters. When the mother spied the little puppy, hiding
nearby, half-dead from hunger, she felt great pity. She
called him to come out. And she let him drink her from
her mother's milk.

Safe, and well fed by the mother sheep, the little wolf felt
great, and soon he and the other two little lambs soon

28
became great friends. The lambs adopted the wolf pup as
one of their own.

Indeed, the mother sheep mother now considered the

puppy like just one more of her children, even if his hair
was straight and black, and not like cotton. And she did
not care that his daughters sounded like “baa”, “baa” and
the puppy rather barked like a dog. For her, the pup
became an ugly little son, and in his own way, charming,
and certainly was much more playful than his little
sisters.

And so, the puppy grew up with his mother the sheep,
and his two little sheep sisters. But when he started to
grow up, he also started asking his mother questions:

“Mama, why is my hair black and straight and yours like

white cotton?”

"And why are my teeth sharp and pointed, and those of

you and my sisters soft and square?”

“And why do my little sisters like to eat fresh grass, but I

can only drink your milk?”

His mother, with great compassion, always replied:

“Well, that's because you're my little black sheep, but I

don’t love you any less.”

In this manner, the years passed, and the puppy turned

into a beautiful and gigantic black wolf, living happy with
his mother and sisters. But he never could eat grass like
them, and only devoured more and more of his mother's
milk.

29
And still, although he drank all her milk daily, he was still
hungry, and his hunger he could could no longer satisfy.

One day, another wolf came to the meadow. He was an

old gray wolf, the color of rain clouds. And this horrible
gray wolf was about to kill and eat all the sheep. But the
puppy became terribly angry, with a rage and fury he had
never felt before, and after a terrible battle, he killed the
old gray wolf.

It was at that moment that the wolf realized that he was

not a lamb.

That night, when the sheep were sleeping, the wolf ate
his little sisters. And that morning, when his mother woke
up and could not find her daughters, she asked the wolf if
he had seen them. And he answered that he had eaten
them during the night. And then he told her that when he
became hungry again, he would eat her too.

Crying his mother asked:

“Why have you eaten your sisters? And why do you want
to devour me too? Do you not understand that I love you
as a son? Do you not love me as a mother?”

He said:

“Although you have shown me the love of a mother for a

son, the truth is that I am a wolf, and you, are sheep, and
wolves eat sheep.”

And then, the wolf ate her. And he never felt more
satisfied.

30
The Lonely Boy and the Dragon

Once upon a time there was a boy who did not have any
friends. His name was Alain and his father was a very
famous soldier who was always out, fighting in famous
wars. Alain's mother had died when he was a baby and
had not left him any brothers or sisters.

Little Alain lived in a big castle all by himself, and nobody

ever came to play with him. The only people in the castle
besides Alain were soldiers and men-at-arms, and they
were always too busy with their preparations for fighting
in their wars to play with him. For that reason, Alain had
no friends, and he spent all his time alone.

31
Well, one day it happened that little Alain was walking
alone in the forest when he heard an inconsolable crying.
With the natural curiosity of all the children, Alain looked
for the source of the weeping and came to a meadow
where the crying came from.

In the middle of the grass was sitting alone a huge green

dragon. Alain had never seen anything so fierce. The
dragon had small scales all over its body that changed
color from dark green to transparent. It also had two little
wings that served only as decoration, and a huge tail that
ended in a red heart. His snout was long and pointed and
full of sharp teeth. In short, he was a terrifying monster.

And he was crying miserably.

Alain's first idea was to escape and never return to that

place. But the boy's heart was very good and seeing the
dragon suffering gave him a lot of pity. Overcoming all his
natural fears, the boy went and touched the huge yellow
belly of the dragon forcing the beast to pay attention.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dragon, but why are you crying?

The dragon was so busy crying that he did not pay any
attention to the boy. Frustrated, Alain kicked the tail of
the dragon with all his strength.

“Oh!” The dragon roared.

Alain then thought it would end up as the beast's

breakfast. But the dragon did not swallow him. Rather he
simply looked at him with sad eyes and asked:

32
“Why did you do that?”

“You didn’t mind me before.” Alain replied.

“ Are not you afraid of me?”

Surprised, Alain said:

“Yes, but I was curious to know why such a fearsome

creature as you can mourn so deeply.”

“Well, I'm crying because nobody loves me.” Said the

dragon. “And that makes me very sad.”

With more curiosity than fear, Alain scratched his head.

“And why does not anyone love you?” He asked.

The beast replied:

“Well, I'm big and terrifying. I'm a monster. And why don't
you fear me?”

The little boy considered the question carefully.

“Well, if you are very big ... and if you are very terrifying,
and you have huge teeth and claws and scales that
change color ... And dragons have a terrible reputation in
this Kingdom for eating children and gentlemen, and
even their white steeds ... But to me you seem a pretty
nice being. After all, you never asked to be what you are.
You're cute. I find you very beautiful.”

The dragon said:

33
“Heavens! Do you really think I'm very beautiful? Hey,
that's very nice of you to say. And now I'm going to ask
you: Why are you walking all alone in the forest?”

The little boy explained to the dragon that his father was
a famous soldier, and that his father was always out
fighting wars. Then Alain explained that he had no friends
because he lived alone in a distant castle.

Since the dragon and little Alain had nothing better to do,
they sat together for a while. They became great friends
and discovered that even though they had great
differences, they also shared many things in common.

They played together for hours . They sang They played

riddles and went together to find new hiding places in the
woods. They looked for shapes in the clouds and told
many stories to each other. The boy was very happy.
Finally he had found a friend to talk and play with.
Someone who really loved him very much.

But as the day turned into night, little Alain began to think
that it was time to return. His father would be furious if
he did not find him past the night time.

The dragon did not want Alain to leave. He had never felt
so good, with someone to play with. And then, Alain
suggested to the dragon that he return with him to the
castle.

When they arrived, the castle was empty, and they went
up to Alain's room to play with the boy's toys. A few more
hours passed, and Alain fell asleep.

34
The next day, Alain’s father returned from one of his
many battles. When he saw the dragon and his son asleep
together, he pulled out his huge sword and cut off the
dragon's head in one fell swoop.

The little boy woke up to find his only and best friend
beheaded. He looked at his father with the bloody sword
in his hands and became enraged. I attacked his father
with his fists and all the strength of his will.

“!You killed my friend ! You killed my only friend! I hate

you! I hate you! "

But just at that moment, from the belly of the dragon

appeared five little ghosts of children and one of them
said:

“Alain, we also thought that the dragon was our only

friend, but then he got hungry and we were devoured by
him. You must know that what your father did is the best,
and that he is your true friend, not the dragon.”

The ghosts went up to paradise, and little Alain

understood that although he and the dragon were good
friends, someday, the dragon would have devoured him,
because that's what dragons do.

35
The Happy Ogre

Ogres have always been the most terrible of monsters.

They are gigantic braggarts who enjoy killing, destroying,
and ruining everything that is beautiful and pure. They
have huge bellies full of the flesh of all the noble
creatures of the forest, and quite often, also of lost little
children that they have found alone. Ogres are obese
giants with faces of apes and disgusting, molted skin, full
of wrinkles and mud. Their claws are sharp and their hairs
long. Usually, they wear animal skin in the winter when it
is cold, and they are always full of ticks and fleas.

36
But once there lived an Ogre who was not like the rest.
This ogre had blue eyes and a pure heart. He lived far
away from the rest of his brothers and sisters, and totally
alone, hidden from everyone and everything. He was a
happy creature, respectful of other animals in the forest
and with a great appreciation for the beauty of nature. He
had built a small wooden house and cultivated a garden
with fruits, flowers and vegetables to eat. His favorite
food were wild apples and honey, and his best friends
were squirrels and birds.

One day, a great fire destroyed his little house and his
garden and the poor Ogre had to find a new home to live.
He decided to look for his relatives: the other Ogres in the
forest, to meet them and learn how to live like one of
them.

But when he arrived at the Ogres’ part of the forest, he

got an unpleasant surprise. It was a horrible place full of
weeds, with dead trees with rats living inside, instead of
squirrels. But he was not too discouraged and continued
on his way to look for the homes of the other Ogres.

At first everything went well. The other Ogres invited him

to live like a brother. But then, small differences between
them and he began to appear. They all went to consult
their King to know if the “Happy Ogre” really was one of
them.

The King of the Ogres was a giant among giants, twice the
size of the other ogres. He only had one eye and his skin
was gray with age. A necklace made from the fingers of
bad children he had eaten hung over his neck. On his
shoulders was a great cape made of the skin of a polar

37
bear, and on his head was a golden crown adorned with
the skull bones of an unlucky elf.

The King of the Ogres was not sure if the blue-eyed Ogre
was like the others, because all ogres have red eyes. He
decided to put him to the test with the three tests of the
Ogres. If he failed in the three tests, then he was not an
Ogre and could not live there, and in that case, he would
be devoured by the rest of the ogres in a great feast.

For the first test, the King of the Ogres ordered the Ogre
with the blue eyes to bring him a bird in a golden cage.
The Happy Ogre did what he was asked, and found the
bird in the golden cage where the King told him. He took
the bird in his hands, making sure nothing happened to
him and brought it to the King.

The King of the Ogres was furious. The Happy Ogre had
failed the first test. A true ogre would have taken the life
of the bird, and would never bring the bird alive.

For the second test, the Happy Ogre had to cross a

meadow full of beautiful flowers and return. The Happy
Ogre crossed the meadow without any problem, making
sure not to destroy the flowers on his way. Not a single
flower was shattered by its huge feet.

The King got even more angry. A true ogre would have
destroyed all the flowers on the road.

The King of the Ogres told the Happy Ogre that he had
only one chance left to save his skin and show them that
he was also an ogre: there was a little cabin in the woods,
and there lived an inoffensive old man inside. The Happy

38
Ogre should go there and kill him. Afterward, the Happy
Ogre would have to bring his head to the King.

And then, the Happy Ogre went to the cabin to try to

complete the last test of his King and thus avoid being
devoured at a feast. He found a beautiful humble cabin,
but very well maintained at the edge of the forest. He
knocked on the door to the cabin.

A nice old man opened the door. He wore a pair of

glasses, a pointy hat and a large white beard. He
welcomed the ogre by telling him that he never received
visitors to his cabin and that he was very grateful to finally
have one. He served chocolate milk and cookies to the
ogre and talked a good few hours together many hours on
very nice topics, such as nature, birds and flowers.

Finally, when the sun went down, the ogre explained to

the old man his real intention, telling him all his
adventures with the Ogre King, and why he needed to kill
the old man and cut off his head. The old man was a little
confused as to why he should die so soon, and the Happy
Ogre felt bad and told him that he really did not want to
kill him. But if he did not cut off his head, the other ogres
would eat him in a feast.

The little old man explained to the ogre that maybe he

could help him. He went to his couch and found an old
cane underneath it. He struck the ogre behind the head
with the cane, and the poor ogre fell on the floor as if
dead.

When the ogre woke up, the old man had left, leaving the
cabin clean. The ogre felt very bad. His mouth was very

39
dry and he was very thirsty. He went to get some water,
and in the kitchen he found a mirror and an old canteen
in a drawer. He took the old canteen, which was full of
wine, and was about to drink it when he looked at his
reflection in the mirror.

Great was his surprise in not finding the horrible face of

an ogre, but rather the face of a beautiful boy. The only
way to know that he was still himself were his pretty blue
eyes, which had not changed at all.

At that moment, the old man came back from the forest
and explained to the ogre that he really was not just any
old man, but a great wizard, and that with his great magic,
he had discovered that the ogre was not an ogre after all.

40
The Fisherman, the Knight, and the Witch

There are places in the world where winter lasts many,

many months and summers are short and cold. In a place
like this once lived a fisherman, on the edge of the North
Sea, in a small house, with his wife and two small
daughters. He was a simple man with a very big and kind
heart. In the village, people called him Klaus of the Good
Heart.

41
The Kingdom where Klaus lived was at war with the
Vikings who had come to the villages to kill, burn and
steal. Sometimes, Viking pirates would attack large ships,
and one day, when Klaus was net-fishing far from the
coast, he found a large ship burning at sea. Many dead
floated in the water, half frozen in the ice cold waters. But
from the burning ship, Klaus heard timid screams for help,
and being a good human being, Klaus rowed his little
fishing boat closer to the sinking ship, to rescue whoever
was still alive, screaming.

The screams came from a young gentleman with golden

hair and gray eyes the color of mist. Klaus helped the
young man get into his little boat and return to the beach.
As soon as the knight came out of the water and touched
solid land, he lost consciousness.

Klaus took the young man to his house. There, Klaus and
his wife took care of him, removing the wet clothes to
take away the terrible cold, and covering him with all
kinds of cotton and leather blankets to revive him. They
put more fire on the fireplace to warm him better.

When the young man woke up, they prepared a delicious

hot fish soup to revive him. He had a strong fever and he
was very sick. One of Klaus's daughters asked her father if
the knight would die. Klaus replied that if the young man
died, it would be the will of Old Father Winter.

42
But the gentleman recovered after a few days. He
thanked his savior for his hospitality, and told them that
his name was Dietrich, and that as soon as his fever was
better, he would reward them for all the help they had
given him, after returning to his kingdom.

And so several more cold days passed and the

gentleman's fever left completely, his good health
returning along with the ruddy color of his cheeks. But
one particularly cold night, someone else came knocking
on the door of the fisherman's house. When the
fisherman opened the door to his house, he found there a
young girl with blood red hair, almost frozen, wearing
nothing more than an old dress and cape full of holes. Her
beautiful and childish face was spoiled by a huge black
wart on her beautiful little nose.

Klaus quickly brought in the girl to the warmth of his

home and placed her in a chair next to the hot fireplace.
He brought her clean blankets and furs to cover her from
the cold. His wife started preparing fish stock. His
daughters placed more logs in the fireplace. Dietrich, still
weak with fever, got up to see who had arrived. The
young girl, seeing the hospitality of her saviors, quickly fell
asleep on the chair without saying a single word.

When Dietrich saw the black wart on the girl's nose, he

was very agitated. He told Klaus that he should get her
out of his house right away. Certainly, this redheaded girl
with a wart on her nose was truly a witch, and when she
woke up, she would hex all the adults, turning them into
pigs and eat the young girls, putting them into the
cauldron where the fish soup was now cooking.

43
Klaus laughed at the young gentleman and told him to
please say no more nonsense. Dietrich was also a guest at
his house, and should not accuse another guest of
witchcraft. Klaus was sure that the girl was simply a lost
girl in need of warmth and food.

Dietrich begged Klaus to take the girl out of the house,

although the weather was terribly cold. He explained that
in his town, there were many stories of young redheads
with warts on their nose and that she was surely a witch.
Finally, Klaus became very angry at Dietrich's insistence
and told him that he had said too much, and when he
was able to travel, he would have to leave them as soon
as possible and return to his village.

The young woman slept all night, and woke up the next
day. She was very grateful to Klaus for having rescued her
from the cold. She told him that her name was Brujilda
and that she had become lost when an avalanche fell on
the caravan with whom she was traveling. She explained
that now she was an orphan because both her parents
had died in the avalanche. Dietrich listened to the girl's
story carefully, but did not believe a single word.

Being a kind man, Klaus told Brujilda that he could stay

with his family for as long as he wanted. But that she
would have to help his wife in doing house-work in
exchange.

Several weeks passed. Dietrich never spoke a single word

with Brujilda, but neither did he mention to Klaus the fact
that he still thought the young woman was a witch. The
ice and snow began to melt, and he began to prepare to
return to his village. When he was ready to leave, he told

44
Klaus that he would one day return to his house with gold
from his kingdom to pay for the hospitality and help he
and his family had offered him during the cold weather.
Klaus replied that this would not be necessary. He did not
help people to earn gold. He helped people because it
was the right thing to do.

And then, Dietrich left Klaus's house and started the long
journey back home through the great frozen forest of
that country. He had plenty of frozen fish with him to eat
along the way. And Klaus had given him a huge bear-skin
to keep him warm along the way.

After several months, Dietrich arrived at one of the many

castles of his own kingdom. There, a nobleman received
him with great pleasure, since he was a distant cousin.
Dietrich and his cousin discussed what had happened on
the ship, and at Klaus's house. The nobleman suggested
that Dietrich return with enough gold to buy Klaus a good
fishing boat, and gave Dietrich enough gold, horses and
an escort of his bravest knights to get there quickly.

The return trip took much less time, since Dietrich had an
escort and horses. But to reach the beach, near the house
of Klaus, Dietrich and knights were attacked by two huge
wild rabid boars.

Arrows rained down on the horrible pigs, killing them, but

when the wild pigs died, Dietrich was horrified to realize
that they had become Klaus and his wife!

45
Worried, Dietrich put his steed at a gallop to get quickly to
Klaus's house. There, the gentleman found something
really frightening. It was the young redhead with the
wrinkle on her nose: she was cooking the daughters of
Klaus alive. The young girls were tied by their hands and
feet. They were being cooked in the big cauldron where
Klaus’s wife had cooked the fish soup, and when they saw
Klaus they cried for help.

Without thinking, Dietrich took out his new sword and cut
off the head of the beautiful, but evil red headed witch.
When she died, she became dust right there and then.
The young gentleman kicked the cauldron and rescued
the two girls from the fire.

Dietrich took the girls to his cousin's castle where he

raised them as his own daughters. Then, the King of his
country made burn alive all the redheaded girls with
wrinkles on their nose.

46
The Pig Merchant and his Children

In the magical land called Shadow World, there was a

huge city by the name of Dorianville. It was a gigantic
place where people of many countries and all the
creatures of the World of Shadows came to exchange
things and services with each other. This is the story of
one of the residents of this great city, and of his two
children. His name was Olaf and he had a son named
Harkon and a daughter named Harmonia. Olaf was a pig
merchant. He went out to buy pigs from farms and bring
them to the city to sell to the butchers. Olaf and his
children lived a simple life, in a small house in the big city.
Harkon and Harmonia helped their father in the house,
because he was usually outside, spending most of his time
buying pigs in distant farms and their mother had died.

47
Olaf was neither rich, nor was he poor, but in his heart lay
a great desire to have more wealth than the wealth he
had already. Some would call this desire greed. Olaf liked
to think of his desire as “self-improvement”. But the truth
of the matter is that Olaf wanted to have more than he
had, and he spent his time thinking of new ways to get
more money, and trying to imitate those who, for
whatever reason, he considered better than himself. He
wanted to know “important” people, which means people
with more money than him.

One of these “important” people was the incredibly

wealthy diamond merchant known as Mr. Falsewind. Mr.
Falsewind was not a handsome man. He was small and
ugly, and his face resembled the face of a fat and ugly
fish, with huge lips and big, dead fish-eyes. But the fact is
that Mr. Falsewind was immensely rich. He always wore
the best clothes, dragon skin boots, gold buttons, and
precious jewels. Instead of walking, four enormous black
slaves, bought in the exotic jungles to the south, carried
him on a throne made of silk and gold.

One day, when Olaf was selling pigs in the central market,
Mr. Falsewind came to Olaf’s store, carried by his slaves.
Thinking that Mr. Falsewind was coming to buy a pig, Olaf
sent his sons to bring their best and most gigantic pigs.
But Mr. Falsewind was not interested in buying a pig. He
wanted to buy the hand of Olaf's beautiful daughter in
marriage.

The proposal angered Olaf. Olaf thought that the little

man was repugnant and evil for wanting to buy his
daughter. But Falsewind then put a huge price to back up

48
his offer: he would pay Olaf five thousand gold coins! So
much money, Olaf could never refuse. So much money
could make Olaf a very important man! The truth is that
he loved money more than anything, even more than his
own daughter.

But Olaf knew his daughter too well. He knew that his
daughter would never accept the proposal to marry a
man as ugly and sinister as Mr. Falsewind. So, Olaf
planned for Falsewind to take Harmonia when she was
asleep, and then to lock her up in a tower, far away, in
Falsewind’s own native land. There the ugly little man
would wait for her to see things more calmly and to force
her to love him.

And then, that same night, when Harmonia and her

brother were sleeping, Olaf went into his daughter's room
and put her into a large cloth bag. Two of Falsewind's big
black slaves came and took the bag, and one of them gave
Olaf a small bag with five thousand gold coins. Harmonia
was unable to escape, or even cry out for help. Her father
had given her a sleeping potion with her to prevent her
from waking up.

What Olaf did not know was that Harkon was fully awake
during the exchange, he had only pretended to sleep, and
he had watched the whole thing with a broken heart. He
couldn’t believe his father had sold his sister, and Harkon
was furious!

When Olaf retired to sleep after counting all his gold

three times, Harkon left the house and chased the two
black slaves who had taken his beloved sister, crying all
the way. He was very angry of his father’s betrayal.

49
 The big city was a terrifying place at night. Shadows
threatened from every corner. Strange people, lost souls
most of them, looked with evil eyes at the poor young
man. Harkon thought they were waiting for their chance
to put a knife in his back or strike him with a club to the
head to rob him of any belongings he might have. But
nobody approached him. He was left alone. And he was
able to follow the big black men unmolested and unseen.

The two slaves arrived at the gates of the city where a

group of twenty heavily armed bandits waited. Mr.
Falsewind, mounted on a burrito with six legs led the
group who were the to escort him and his “new wife” out
of the city and back to his native land.

Harkon could not fight so many armed men. So, he hid in

the shadows observing the events, but not knowing that
he was also being watched from the shadows. One of the
bandits came up behind him, and hit him on the head
with a club. Harkon silently crashed to the floor, and at
that moment, the bandits and Falsewind walked away
with their prize: his beautiful young sister.

Harkon woke up and saw a nice old man carrying a big

hammer on his shoulder. The old man asked Harkon what
had happened, and Harkon told him everything that had
happened: how his father had sold his little sister, and
how the bandits had hit him in the back of the head.

A look of astonishment and sad recognition appeared on

the old man's face when Harkon mentioned the name of
Falsewind. He explained to Harkon that long ago, he had
been the best blacksmith in the city and like Olaf, he also
had a very beautiful daughter, and just like Olaf, the

50
blacksmith had also agreed to sell his daughter to
Falsewind for five thousand gold coins. But Falsewind
was Truly the King of the Eastern Goblins, and he needed
to devour his wife every five years in order to stay alive.
Falsewind was very old, more than five thousand years
old. And that's why every five years, he bought a new wife
to eat.

Harkon and the old blacksmith left together shortly to the

dark lands of the Goblins of the East to rescue Harmonia.
The old blacksmith, who felt obligated to help Harkon,
bought a pair of fast horses reach the goblins even faster.

At the same time, Olaf began to feel bad about what he

had done. When he realized that Harkon had also left the
house in search of his sister, he felt very lonely. He looked
at all his evilly earned gold and he cried thinking that he
had sacrificed his only daughter to have it. And then he
grabbed the gold bag and went out hoping he could buy
his daughter back from Mr. Falsewind.

The road to the land of the goblins was long and full of
danger. Harkon and the blacksmith crossed great rivers,
and climbed great mountains. They passed through desert
of rocks and there, they found a terrible giant named
Blood Splitter.

What Blood Splitter loved most was to drink human

blood, and his reputation was feared even among the
other giants. When Harkon and the blacksmith tried to
cross his land, he went out to stop them.

Harkon begged the giant to let them pass, and explained

that he was in a hurry to find his sister. But Blood Splitter

51
laughed at them and told them that his only intention was
to devour them. The giant grabbed Harkon, and the brute
and was about to rip off his head with a great big bite,
when the blacksmith raised his big hammer over his head
and shouted his war cry.

“Ahiiiiii!”

The monster threw Harkon aside so he could fight the old

man. A terrible battle began between the old and the
giant, and at the end of the battle, both were on the
blood-soaked floor, dying between the sand and rocks.

The old man called Harkon to his side. He gave the boy
the hammer and told him that when he found Falsewind's
gold throne, he should hit the throne with the hammer,
and only then would he be able to rescue his sister. Lord
Falsewind could not be Lord of the Goblins without his
throne.

Then, the old man let his soul leave his body and went to
paradise.

Only then it occurred to Harkon that he had not known

the name of the old blacksmith.

Harkon had a kind heart, and then, so when he saw the

giant, still alive, with both legs broken, he dragged the
giant back into his own cave. The young man understood
that the giant would soon die, but he could not leave the
giant under the hot sun. Afterwards, he mounted his fast
steed and continued his way to the land of Falsewind.

52
A short time later, Olaf arrived to the giant’s land, and he
took refuge from the sun in the giant's cave. There, he
found the giant with his legs broken and very thirsty. The
giant was dying. Olaf brought him some water, and the
giant thanked Olaf. Nobody had ever been so nice to him.
The giant then told Olaf how an old blacksmith and a
young man had beat him in a fight, and that the old man
had died but he had left the magic hammer which the old
man had used to break his knees, and the hammer was
for the young man to destroy the throne of a bad goblin
named Falsewind. Then, the giant died.

Harkon arrived in the goblin town that night. His city was
a chaotic place with houses of very different styles. It was
a very ugly and dirty place. The inhabitants were small
beings with very red eyes and skin like wood. Their smell
was horrible, but there were other creatures there too:
ogres, various kinds of monsters and witches, ghosts,
skeletons, and Jujus.

In order not to be discovered, Harkon covered himself

from head to toe with a huge black cloak that made him
look like a frightful creature. It would not be very good for
him if the monsters discovered a human in their city. To
complement his disguise, he began to walk with one foot
dragging, in the manner of a zombie.

In the center of the city there was a huge black castle, and
Harkon asked one of the goblins if Mr. Falsewind lived
there. The goblin laughed, and told Harkon that he really
was stupid for not knowing, because all the goblins knew
their King and his castle.

53
Without a very clear plan, Harkon entered the castle
through a tall but open window, climbing a large wall to
get to the window, as if it were a spider. Fortunately,
nobody noticed. Once inside the castle, he started looking
for his sister.

Olaf arrived to the city of the goblins just at that time. He

asked the goblin soldiers guarding the entrance to the city
to take him directly to Mr. Falsewind, saying that he had
important business to do with him. The guards took him
in without asking, because they did not want to anger
their king.

Olaf prostrated himself before the throne of Falsewind

and begged him to let him buy his daughter back.
Falsewind laughed and told him that he was not
interested in gold, and what’s more, and that his real
intention was not only to marry his beautiful daughter,
but also to eat her, and, now, since Olaf had come so far,
he would also be devoured. . Two of his slaves grabbed
Olaf and threw him into a dungeon along with his
daughter.

When Harmonia saw her father enter the same dungeon

where Falsewind had her imprisoned, she was furious
with him. She could not believe that her own father had
sold her to a hideous goblins for five thousand gold coins.

Olaf begged his daughter to forgive him, and explained

that the goblin had lied to him, making him think that she
would live very well in his country. He then explained that
he had brought the money to Falsewind to buy her
freedom, but that the goblin was not willing to make a
deal, since his real intention was to devour them both.

54
Upon hearing all this, Harmonia, who had a good and
pure heart, pardoned her father and hugged him and told
him that she still loved him. She was ashamed to have
spoken so angrily to him, despite the fact that he had sold
her to a goblin.

The two slaves took Olaf and Harmonia to where

Falsewind was waiting to marry her. He was already
dressed in his best uniform, well cleaned and pressed. But
no matter how much his uniform was washed and ironed,
Falsewind was still a disgusting little creature. Behind him,
several goblin cooks waited to cook Olaf and his daughter
in the castle s kitchen.

Just at that moment Harkon came into the throne room,

and without saying another word, he threw the great
hammer directly at the throne with full force. Upon
striking the throne, the hammer and the throne broke
into a million pieces and with a great blaze of sparks and
magical fire broke all the illusions that held the castle
together and Lord Falsewind’s magic.

Lord Falsewind cried out in great pain, for the throne was
where he had all his strength, and instantaneously, he
became stone, and when he became stone, the rest of the
goblins in his castle, including the goblins and their dog-
goblins became stone too.

Olaf and his two children managed to leave the castle and
get far away from the country of the goblins without

55
much trouble. They returned to their own city without
stopping anywhere to rest.

When they arrived in their city, they no longer had a

home, because the bandits had burned down their house
and stolen everything. And all the pigs had been stolen as
well. So now they were very poor. Olaf had forgotten to
pick up his gold when they escaped from the goblins. But
they had something much more valuable than gold: true
love and forgiveness.

56
The Monster Under the Bed that was Afraid of the Crying
of Children

Once, there was a girl named Tabitha who cried every

night, because she knew there was a monster under her
bed. She was always very afraid of falling asleep, because
she knew that if she fell asleep, the monster would come
out and devour her as soon as she did. Her parents had
told her that if she kept crying before going to sleep, they
would not serve her dinner any more, and so Tabitha tried
her best to cry without making any noise, so her parents
would not hear her and take away her dinner.

57
But sure as sunset, every night, when the lights of her
room were turned off, Tabitha would begin to hear little
noises under the bed. And when they did, she would hide
her little head under the blanket and cry silently, trying
not to make any noise.

Every night, after her parents turned off the lights, she
would begin begging the monster under her bed to please
not eat her, because she was not very fat. Although she
knew she was not really skinny either, she wasn’t fat
because her parents didn’t give her any dinner any more.
Finally, exhausted, she would fall asleep crying silently.

Tabitha became very ill from so much crying every night.

Her parents took her to the doctor. The doctor did not
know what was wrong with her, but he suggested to her
parents that they give her a few days of rest at home
without going to school. He also told them to make sure
she stayed in bed all the time. She looked like she hadn’t
slept well in weeks.

When Tabitha heard this, she began to cry very loudly in

the doctor’s office begging her parents not to send her to
bed.

But her parents were very worried about her, so they

decided to do exactly what the doctor had told them, and
not let her get out of bed for as long as she needed to
recover. And then they took her back to their little house,
and they put her in her little bed even though it was still

58
daytime and there was still a lot of sun. And Tabitha cried
and cried, scared of the monster under the bed. But her
mom and dad told to stay there until she slept a full eight
hours.

The first day in bed was terrible for Tabitha. She began to
hear twice as much noise as before. The monster was
restless fore sure. But Tabitha wanted to show her
parents that she was better, so she didn’t make any noise.
She wept against her pillow and almost made no sound.
Almost no sound.

That night, Tabitha thought she saw shadows get out

from under her bed, and she thought those shadows ran
and hid in her closet, but whatever it was, it went so fast,
that she really was not sure if she really saw it or not. Of
course, she didn’t sleep a wink all night!

The second day, Tabitha felt much worse. She was very
pale with big bags under her eyes. But he could still hear
the little sounds under his bed, scratching and pushing
and making little snorts and giggles. Just the kind of
sounds one would expect from a horrible monster.

During the second night, Tabitha not only saw shadows

moving back and forth between her bed and the closet
but she also saw a pair of bright red dots that looked
suspiciously like the eyes of a monster. Her terror was
absolutely unbearable. But she couldn't cry out for fear of
losing her dinner.

On the third day, Tabitha was so tired and scared that she
became angry. All the fear she had for the monster under
the bed began to turn into a mixture of curiosity and

59
anger. She wanted to see the monster really badly just to
tell him to go away.

This time, when her parents turned off the lights, she
decided not to sleep at all, and find the monster under
the bed herself. And she thought that if the monster ate
her, well, then at least her parents would know the truth.
And they would feel very guilty for not having believed
her when she told them about the monster under the bed
before they took her to that stupid doctor who didn’t
know anything about monsters.

So, that night, Tabitha found all her courage, and

gathered all her strength, and went down to find the
monster under her bed. At first, she could not see
anything, just an old carpet she had never noticed before.
But suddenly, from under the old carpet, Tabitha heard
the most chilling scream she had ever heard before.

Tabitha now was really afraid. But her curiosity was even
greater than her fear. So then, she pulled away to see
what was below it. When she pulled the carpet, the girl
fell intoin a gigantic hole on the floor, and she fell, and
fell, and fell... into a huge dark void. Still falling, all she
could see from her own room was a little point of distant
light that got smaller and smaller as she kept falling.

Tabitha finally landed on a huge, leathery surface, and

when she looked down, she almost fainted from fear! She
had landed on the most gigantic, most horrible monster
in the entire world. It looked about the size of a house,
with two giant bulging eyes the size of Tabitha herself,
and large hands that looked like spiders, and he was all
made of dirty brown skin. His teeth were so big they

60
made Tabitha think of the white wooden fence posts
around her own house.

But to Tabitha's surprise, the horrible monster did not eat

her instantly. Instead, he placed her gently on the floor
and with an apologetic voice said:

“Oh, excuse me, I did not want you to see me, please do
not turn me into stone!”

“But why should I turn you into stone, Mister Monster?”

she asked, more curious by the moment.

“Well, because you are one of those witches from the

outside world, and you have that terrible spell of tears,
which has turned so many of my brothers into stone …”
explained the monster.

“I'm not a witch, and I can not turn anyone into stone. All
I know is that I want to go back to my room and that you
are a giant and horrible monster.” she said indignantly.

“Every time you cry, your tears fall in our world, and when
they touch us, they turn us into stone. That's why some of
my brothers go to your world and try to make sure you
don’t cry.” explained the monster sadly.

“Well, in that case, I promise not to cry anymore. But

please, take me to my room, because I miss my parents."
Tabitha promised.

And as soon as he said that, he returned to his room and

his bed, and everything seemed as it was before.

61
The Meerkat and the Tiger

There is a special place where animals can talk and walk

just like people do. That place is behind the shadows of
dreams, and below the music of the poets' songs.
Children know how to go to this place, and it is a very
beautiful and magical place, which some call “the World
of Shadows”. To get there, what you have to do is close
your eyes and make a wish before going to sleep. The
story that I am going to tell you now happened in this
special place.

There lived in a sunny forest a meerkat named Bors who

always wanted to be a tiger. Bors was a bit afraid of the
tigers, but he admired them a lot, for their strength, and
their agility, and their speed, and their size. Bors thought
his destiny was to be a tiger, because after all, he had

62
stripped yellow hair, he was a great hunter, and he was
also a cat, kind of.

Many times in his life, Bors pretended to be a tiger,

roaring and stalking his prey in the forest. This certainly
looked very funny, because really, Bors was just a
ridiculous little meerkat. The more he wanted to look
fearsome and ferocious, the more absurd he seemed.

Now one day, when this meerkat was lurking in the forest,
he found a real tiger. He was an impressive looking tiger,
with huge teeth and terrible claws, and two beautiful blue
eyes that seemed to burst into flames when they looked
at you.

When the meerkat saw the tiger, he was really happy.

Bors went as close as he could to the magnificent beast,
wishing he could see every little detail, every nail, tooth,
and hair.

Truly, the tiger was an awesome creature. Muscular and

terrible to behold. He was a being created for hunting. He
was a killing machine. The poor meerkat could not
contain himself, and he walked straight to greet the
tiger.

63
“Your divine eminence, I am but a kitten at your side.
Please teach me how to be a great tiger just like you!”
Bors asked, bowing deeply.

The tiger’s response was to devour Bors in a single bite.

“Wish granted.” - the tiger replied.

64
Sir Torich and Lady Feige

Of all the princesses of all the peoples of all times, none

ever lived who was more beautiful than Lady Feige. She
was by far the most perfect princess. Her eyes were blue
and round like pools, her lips were full and red, like blood,
and her hair the color of golden honey. But for glamorous

65
and beautiful that might be on the outside, on the inside
Lady Feige had a miserly and terrible heart.

There was nothing she enjoyed more than her enormous

wealth, and her precious stones, pearls, gold, and the
many other gifts that her many suitors brought to her,
trying to woo her hand in marriage.

But for the vain and cruel Lady Feige, no gift was enough,
no treasure worthy, and no proposal enough for her hand
in marriage. So, and for that reason, Lady Feige remained
single, long after other princesses had already been
married off and become Queens.

One fine day, from a distant kingdom, came another

gentleman Knight to ask for the hand of Lady Feige in
marriage. His name was Sir Torich, and he was a very
handsome young man, with long black hair, green eyes
and a well groomed mustache. He was well behaved, and
his smile and good humor were contagious and perpetual.
He arrived equipped with various gifts, like exotic slaves,
birds from distant jungles, precious jewels, peacocks in
the hundreds and the promise of a kingdom ten times
larger than that of Lady Feige.

The gallant Sir Torich begged the maid Feige to let him
court her, but she would have nothing to do with him. She
destroyed his heart, and he asked her if there was
anything he could do to change her mind. He was

66
mercilessly in love with her, and if he could not get her
hand in marriage, he would surely die of sadness.

Not wanting to make him go away, and seeing that he

was indeed very much in love with her, Lady Feige told
him:

“I know it is true that you love me as much as you

proclaim, but to be my husband, you must first bring me
whatever I ask of you. If you give me three things that I
ask, I will gladly give you my hand in marriage.”

Sir Torich was very happy. Of all the princess’ suitors, only
he had found the way to conquer her.

“Divine and enlightening maiden, I will not fail you, ask

me what you will, and I surely get it for you, no matter
the cost.” he said.

And said Lady Feige replied:

“There are three gifts that I require from you, knight: the
heart of a dragon, the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow, and the wings of an angel.”

The knight Torich was very surprised. Surely he could

never get these three wonders. He had never seen a
dragon, let alone kill one. He had never seen the end of
the rainbow, and no one knew where it was, and finally,
he understood the terrible sin that it would be to kill an
angel to get his wings. Surely should he succeed, he
would deserve the lowest hell for doing it.

“My dear Lady, what you ask of me is really difficult, but

you know well that if I can’t have you, surely I will die. So

67
even if what you ask of me means my death, I am forced
to look for these treasures, because I love you more than
life, and I will venture even to hell for you if I have to.”

That said, Sir Torich left in a hurry.

He did not want to look back. If he had, he would have

seen that Lady Feige was actually shedding a single tear
from her left eye. It was the first tear she had ever shed
for a man in her whole life.

Not knowing where to look for the wonders that the

maiden Feige had asked for, the knight Torich decided to
consult with the wisest man in the kingdom, an old
sorcerer named Om. Om listened with great patience to
the story of the knight and after much meditating, said:

“What you say is true, and if you do not get the hand of
the maiden Feige you will die. It is only for that reason
that I am obliged to tell you where to find the wonders
are that you seek. But you must know this; for my help in
this task, I have to ask you to give me your left eye.”

The knight accepted and the sorcerer Om told him where

to go find a dragon, where to find the end of the rainbow,
and where to find his guardian angel. Then the sorcerer
took out a sharp knife and took out Sir Torich’s left eye
with a single blow.

Next, Sir Torich went to the realm of snakes, where a

great dragon lived: He was the king of all snakes. A noble
creature full of wisdom and love for his people. Sir Torich
and the dragon talked of many things before the knight
confided the true reason for his visit. "I am very saddened

68
by your request, Sir Torich ... " said the dragon, "because I
expected you to come as a friend, but it seems that we
will have to fight, because if you want my heart, I do not
want to be dead."

Sir Torich greeted the dragon and drew his sword. A great
battle followed, and Sir Torich managed to kill the dragon,
but with his last breath, the dragon managed to bite Sir
Torich's leg, tearing it completely away. Sir Torich took
out the dragon's heart, and it was his great surprise to
discover that it was a gigantic diamond. The largest
diamong ever seen by man.

Then, Sir Torich went to the village of the Leprechauns,

who lived where the rainbow ends. When he got there,
what he saw was incredible: a beautiful lake of light,
where a cascade of colors came like an upside down
cascade, from the sky. True, it was not the end of the
rainbow, but rather its beginning. Or was it both?
Approaching, he found a gigantic pot full of gold coins, the
brightest gold coins he had ever seen.

Sir Torich lifted the cauldron on his shoulders and began

to walk back. Waling was now more difficult because now
he had a wooden leg, which, by the enormous weight of
the cauldron, threatened to break. And with his one eye
covered with a patch, he could not see the path as well as
before. But just as he was leaving, someone called him
out:

“Stop! Thief!”

Sir Torich put down the cauldron and drew his sword,
ready to fight with whoever came to take it away from

69
him. But instead of some dangerous thief, what he found
was a little man, the size of a squirrel, dressed all in green,
smoking a huge pipe bigger than himself and threatening
him with a four-leaf clover, which he waved in front of Sir
Torich..

Instead of fighting, Sir Torich put his sword back on its

sheath, and spoke with the little man, telling all about his
mission. The leprechaun liked Sir Torich, and he offered
that he would part with his gold, but it would cost Sir
Torich his other eye. And having said this, the leprechaun
rubbed his clover over Sir Torich’s head and disappeared.
But the poor knight could not see any of that, because
now he was completely blind.

Sir Torich now had two of the wonders that the Feige
maiden required. But the third gift was really the hardest
of all to get. But Sir Torich would never give up. He went
to the hill where God told Isaac that he should sacrifice
his only son.

Sir Torich had to be escorted there by his royal guards,

because he was not only blind but he also had only one
leg. There, he prayed and prayed for his guardian angel to
appear. And finally, his own Guardian Angel came from
heaven to see him.

“Poor Torich, don't you know that this is the wrong way?
Now you have murdered a noble creature, and stolen
gold from a good spirit. Now, far worse, you want to take
the wings of your very own Guardian Angel! You have lost
your mind!”

70
 But Sir Torich was extremely firm in his love for the
maiden Feige, and he told the angel that his life and soul
meant nothing if he could not have the hand of his
mistress.

“Then, you can take my wings Torich, but you must know
that the hand of the one who takes the wings of an angel
rots away, and for your sin, you will not be allowed to
enter through the gates of paradise.”

And having said that, the angel disappeared but where he

had been there were two beautiful white wings tied to
each other with a golden cord.

In his blindness, Sir Torich got down on his knees and

began to search on the ground to find the wings. Finally,
he touched the wings with his right hand, and a terrible
pain seized him right there. He could not feel his arm.
They had completely rotted with gangrene and now it was
just a stump.

Sir Torich called upon his loyal guards to bring the three
presents to the maiden Feige, knowing that now, his very
appearance had changed too much, and not wanting to
surprise her negatively. He did not want to scare his
beloved. But when the gifts arrived, the maid demanded
to see him, and ran past the guards to the garden where
he was waiting for her.

But instead of finding a handsome prince, the maid found

a poor invalid with only one arm, one leg and no eyes. Sir
Torich asked: "Brilliant maid, is that you? Have you come
to greet your soon-to-be husband? " With tears in her
eyes for the man he once was, Lady Feige said:

71
“Horror! How can you, a lame, blind, invalid husk of a
man, battered, crippled, ask for my hand in marriage? Do
you not understand that I could never love like you like
this? You could only bring my misery and pain.”

She returned to her castle and ordered that the

impossible gifts be returned to their owner. Foolish with
sadness, Sir Torich drew his sword and buried it in his own
heart, condemning himself to wander like a ghost for the
end of time, forbidden from entering paradise. Truly, he
could never live without the love of Lady Feige.

72
Selwyn and his Sister the Ghost

Once upon a time, there lived a scholar and his two

children in the great library in a small town by the name
of Lachenburg. The old librarian was much loved by
everyone in the town, and it was said by the townspeople
that he knew all the secrets of the universe. He was very
many years old and his wife had died long ago. His
children, on the other hand, were young and full of life,
and they loved their father very much. His eldest son was
Selwyn, and his youngest daughter was named Elayne.

73
Selwyn and Elayne spent their time reading great books
for their father who was already losing his sight in his
advanced age. They loved reading to their father, because
they brought to life the words of the old dusty old books.

Eventually, the old man died of old age, and Selwyn and
Elayne were left alone with all the books, becoming the
new town librarians. Selwyn and Elayne were not
surprised when their father died, as he had been quite ill
for a while, and they had very much in mind that they
would lose him someday. And even though their father
had died, they had each other, and they kept reading
books aloud to each other as if their father had never
died. Many were the wonders that the brothers read
together, and there was no end to books to read. The
brothers were happy with their lives.

But one bad luck day, Elayne climbed a large ladder to

grab a forgotten book about spirits and ghosts. When she
reached the last step, a considerable distance from the
ground, she lost her balance and fell to the floor, breaking
her neck. She died there, instantly and her spirit went up
to paradise with her father who was there to receive her.

Poor Selwyn entered the room and found her dead, lying
among a pile of books with the ladder on one side. Broken
by sadness, Selwyn ran to her side and put her little head
in his arms. He did not want to admit that she was dead,
and he sat there by her side for many days. He did not eat
food and he did not drink water. He could not sleep
either. Eventually, thirst and fatigue pulled him away from
the rotting corpse, and he knew he would have to bury

74
her, because flies had begun to gather in her face. But he
felt he could not do it. And then, instead of burying her,
he put her in her bed, as if she were only asleep. And to
scare the flies away, he put a lot of franken incense on a
chalice and began to burn it. And finally, he was able to
sleep by her side.

In his dreams, he dreamed about a very special book of

alchemical potions hidden away in the library. There in
that book, was written the recipe for a special potion to
return his sister to life. When he woke up, he went
directly to the same place where he would find the magic
book in his dream.

And strangely, the book was really there, just as he saw it

in his dream. A huge book covered in black leather, and
written in an almost forgotten language made with
ancient runes. But Selwyn could understand the runes
without any problem. Without wasting time, Selwyn
began the preparations for the magic potion. And when
he had finished looking for them, he began to sing the
magic words that the book dictated to him speak.

At the end of his enchantment, someone knocked on the

door of his bedroom.

Selwyn knew that he could only be one person. I jump to

open the door and hug her sister Elayne. But he
completely forgot that his sister's body was still there, in
the bed, where he had left it. When he opened the door,
he cried with joy, because standing there was his sister
Elayne, with a book under her arm and a smile radiant as
the sun.

75
Full of joy, Selwyn tried to hug his sister, but to his horror,
his arms passed right through her as if she were made of
smoke. His sister was a ghost!

At first, this scared Selwyn a lot, and he tried to cover his

face with his hands ... but it was then that the ghost
began to speak with a sad voice ...

“My beloved brother, I am your sister, Elayne. You called

me from beyond the grave, and I've come to take you
with me. "

Listening to his sister's voice, Selwyn lost his fear and

replied:

"But the potion I made was to bring you back to life. Why
have you returned as a ghost?”

Said the ghost:

“The alchemy that you prepared brought me back to life

true, but now I am in limbo, neither here in the realm of
the living nor there, in the realm of the dead. Your desire
to have me back with you has turned me into a ghost, and
now I am infinitely cold and alone, and that is why you
must come with me.”

Selwyn said:

"The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. But it's not fair
that you die, because I can not live without you. "

The ghost said:

76
"Well, worry not, you will not live... without me. "

The ghost kissed his brother on the forehead and with

that cold kiss from beyond the grave, took his life.

The End.

77
Fay, the Angry Fairy

It happens that some little girls are very bad-tempered,

and this is the story of one of them. She was a fairy and
her name was Fay. She lived inside a magical fig tree, in
the middle of a petrified forest. Her tree was the only tree
that was not petrified and she spent all day singing with
the birds that made their nests on the tree branches
there. She also ate lots of figs, which she shared with the
squirrels that also lived there, next to her. Generally, Fay
was a very nice little fairy, and she used her magic to
create beautiful drawings with the clouds on the sky, and
to make beautiful music with the sound of dew drops that
fell on the grassy floor during the icy mornings of fall and
winter. But like all fairies, Fay was much more powerful
than she was interested in knowing. And she had a very
bad temper ... Beware!

78
One fine day, a dwarf came to the forest. And under his
left arm, he carried a huge two-edged ax. He had a large
red beard that he held with his belt and a pair of huge
leather boots. And he sang a little song while walking.

“My ax is old and rusty, rusty, rusty.

I do not know how, but I will cut this tree

with my rusty, rusty, rusty ax…”

The moment the dwarf came to Fay's tree, he began to

cut it with his ax. Chop, chop, chop.

It is not necessary to tell you that Fay got scared. And

then, she flew down to where the little dwarf was cutting
and said:

“Excuse me, Mr. Dwarf, but who invited you to cut my

tree?

I live here, don’t you see?

And better you stop before I get more angry!”

To all this the dwarf replied:

79
“Miss Fairy, please understand me,

that cutting this tree is necessary to me,

Please understand me!

I have to warm my old bones ...

They feel gnawed by bloodhounds ..

I hope that this old dwarf

Does not make you barf…

But there is a house on the edge of this green forest ...

And there, it’s too cold, I dare molest.”

But Fay It was not a reasonable fairy tale, and without

delay or thought, she conjured a terrible spell and, I am
not afraid to tell you, turned the dwarf into stone. But
that was not the end of this ..

She was still too angry to sit quietly, and then, she flew
with her wings at the end of the forest and there she saw
a small house (which seemed modest even for a mouse),
and she knew immediately that whoever lived there had
sent the Dwarf to cut her tree .. And then she threw
another terrible spell, and inside the house, and all
around, there began to grow horrible plants full of
poisonous thorns ... And Fay heard the cries of pain that

80
came from the house, and saw Two little children coming
out, all wounded and poisoned from the thorns. And both
fell to the ground, crying and dying.

Fay felt very bad. She didn't mean to hurt children, she
was just angry that the dwarf tried to cut her tree. But
seeing the children lying there, she felt very sorry for
what she had done.

And then, she grabbed the kids in her arms, a boy on her
left and a girl on her right, and she flew with them to the
moon, where the moon’s healing powers fixed the
damage caused by the terrible poisoned thorns. And then,
she returned with them, and with another spell, she
turned their little house into a beautiful crystal castle.

The children were very surprised, not knowing who had

caused them so much pain before. And then, they really
liked the castle that Fay had made for them. But there
was a big problem. The castle was very cold, for it was
winter. So then the little fairy returned to her fig tree and
turned the stone dwarf back to life and flesh and blood.
She told him that he could cut her tree. So the dwarf did
as he was told, and when he had finished cutting the tree,
she threw some fairy dust on it, and it flew to the
children's castle, where it served to make a large fire that
lasted all winter. It was the fire of love, and that never
goes out.

81
The Bad King of the Good Heart

Once upon a time there was a Kingdom called Lieberheim

where the folks called Liebervolk lived. Lieberheim was
very beautiful and the people of Lieberheim were very
beautiful too. Everything was clean and tidy, and people
spent their time singing and creating music, dance, art
and crafts. They also studied science and mysteries and
history. The libraries of Lieberheim were the most
complete in the entire world.

Just south of Lieberheim there was another Kingdom

called Hassenheim. There lived a dark and evil people
who called themselves the Hassenvolk. They had no King,
but they were ruled by a council of old merchants who
made sure their people were foolish and full of hatred for
each other, always trying to buy bigger things than their
neighbors out of envy and greed. Those hated most by
the Hassenvolk the most were the Liebervolk because of
the great envy the Hassenvolk had of them and all the

82
arts and crafts they owned. The Hassenvolks were also
very afraid of all the inventions of the Liebervolks,
because they were too stupid and envious to invent new
things themselves.

One cold winter, the King of Lieberheim died of old age.

His son, Prince Alfredo became the new King, and he
explained to his people that everything would remain the
same. But some things did change. King Alfred was a
wise monarch and full of piety. He wanted to help his
people improve their lives in every way. He wanted to
build many schools for children, and museums of science
and history and large zoos where animals from all over
the world lived comfortably.

As time passed and the Liebervolk were educated and

learned a lot and were never so happy. But the
Hassenvolk became much more suspicious of the
Liebervolks and their new King. The merchants who
controlled Hassenheim began to think that it would be
good to go to war against Lieberheim. And then, the
Hassenvolks prepared for the war against Lieberheim.

King Alfredo realized the danger to his people and

decided to act before the merchants could build their
army. So he took his own army and easily defeated the
merchants and their leaders. But now he had a more
complex problem on his hands: Many Hassenvolk had lost
their lives in the war. The cities of Hassenheim were
destroyed, and the Hassenvolk who survived the war had
to ask for help from their aggressor.

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King Alfredo felt very bad about invading Hassenheim. He
had completely conquered them, and thus decided to
open his borders completely and make the Hassenvolks
the new citizens of Lieberheim. It was a terrible idea.

And it was precisely because of his feelings of

brotherhood and human rights that the good King Alfredo
destroyed his own people: You see, the Hassenvolk were
not ready to live with the Liebervolk. And since they could
now go where they wanted in Lieberheim, thousands and
thousands of them began to improve their lives. The
Hassenvolk were a desperate people, because they had
been raised as slaves, so they had no education at all.
They ate the animals of the zoos, and they began to steal
and kill the liebervolk out of envy of their wealth. The
Hassenvolk quickly understood that the Liebervolk would
not defend themselves, because the Libervolk were a kind
and generous people, always wanting to forgive and help
their former enemies, and they also felt very guilty about
having won the war. But the Hassenvolk only knew how
to hate, because that is what they had learned from their
government for many hundreds of years, so this hatred
was very much their religion.

The terrible children of the Hassenvolk joined the

innocent children of the Liebervolk, who didn’t know how
to hate, and eventually they caused the Liebervolk
children to become equally violent and evil to defend
themselves. Hatred and intolerance grew in the hearts of
both Hassenvolk and Liebervolk because now they had to
live together.

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The Liebervolk, now furious with their King for allowing
this disaster to happen, came together against the King
and a terrible civil war began. Meanwhile, the Hassenvolk
in the defeated cities of Hassenheim, chose another
council of merchants to rule over them, and this council
of merchants created an army and attacked Lieberheim,
taking advantage of the civil war to destroy the country.
When good King Alfredo saw his city in flames, invaded by
enemies and torn asunder from within by his own people,
he committed suicide, because he knew that was the only
way out to end the civil war he himself had caused. But it
was too late: the citizens of Hassenheim, empowered by
the death of their greatest enemy, enslaved the rest of
the surviving liebervolk, and took away everything that
had made them a great civilization in the first place. For
one thousand years, evil merchants, using the terrible and
clever inventions of the libervolk, ruled the world,
enslaving and dumbing down all the tribes and nations
who were still free.

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POSTSCRIPT

I have written more about these stories than any other

stories I have written. I think it is because I have to justify
myself. I have been writing since I was 4 years old, I have
also been smoking dope since I was 4 years old. Benefits
of a hippy mom. But not everything we write about is
correct or proper or even wise. Many times, we write
stuff out of our anger, anxiety, frustration and all the dark
stuff that goes on inside us. It is not our “final” answer,
just the process, and certainly, these stories are about the
process. Words have a way of becoming crystallized.
They gain momentum and suddenly, we are facing our
own stupidity in black and white, trying to remember why
we were so stupid as to write something. But at least, we
have the chance to look back at it, to analyze what went
wrong at that particular moment in time. And it is finally
time-travel that becomes the most excellent destination
of all our stories: going back into the past to learn about
our future.

Iztapalapa

April 8, 2020 – Quarantined by corona virus.

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