Ava Mist

ChildHood

March 30th 2006'OS (Making Ava 6 years old)

"Max stop hitting me!" Ava demanded
Max and Ava were arguing over their new toy phone.
"No!"
"Kids!..Sam can you please sort the kids out!" Ava's grandma demanded her grandfather.
"Oh, whoa, whoa, Max you should never hit girls." he exclaimed calmly.
"Why? papa."
"Because its not nice, you will learn to understand as you grow up son."
"Ok?"
"Ava, Max, come sit on my lap and let me read you a short little Myth, before yous go to bed."
once grandpa Sam had gotten his big old book of ancient Myths, he sat in his old wooden rocking chair and Max and Ava made there way over and got comfortable on grandpas lap, whilst he began to read.

"The Myth of Apollo and Daphne
One day Cupid, the little god of love, sat on the bank of a river, playing with his arrows.
The arrows were very tiny.
Some had points of gold, and others had points of lead.
None of them looked as if they could do much harm.

That day Apollo, the great sun-god, walked along the bank of the same river, when returning from his fight with the serpent of darkness,
called the Python.
He had just used a great number of his wonderful golden arrows in killing this gigantic serpent.
Feeling very proud of his victory over the Python, he said, when he saw cupid at his play,
"Ho! What are such little arrows as these good for?"
Cupids feelings were very much hurt at this.
He said nothing, but her took his little arrows and flew to the top of Mount Parnasssus.

There he sat down on the grass and took a lead-en pointed arrow from his quiver.
Looking all about him for some mark for his arrow, he saw Daphne walking through a grove.
Daphne was the daughter of Penues, the river-god.
She was so beautiful that the sleeping flowers lifted there heads and burst into full bloom at her coming.
Cupid shot the Lead-ed pointed arrow straight at Daphne's heart.
Although it did her no harm, this little blunt arrow made Daphne feel afraid, and without knowing what she was running away from, she began to run.

Then cupid, who was very naughty, took a golden-pointed arrow from his quiver, and with his wounded Apollo.
The golden-pointed arrow had the power to make Apollo love the first thing he saw.
This chanced to be Daphne, the river Nymph, who came running by just then, with her golden hair floating out behind her.

Apollo called to Daphne that there was nothing to fear; The, as she would not stop running, he ran after her.
The faster Apollo followed the faster Daphne ran, and she grew more and more afraid all the time, for the leaden-pointed arrow was sticking in her heart.
She ran till she came to the bank of her fathers river, and by this time she was so tired that she could run no further.
She called on her father for help.
The river-god heard, and before Apollo could overtake her, changed her into a tree, a beautiful tree with glossy evergreen leaves and blossoms as pink as Daphne's own cheeks.

When Apollo came up with Daphne, there she stood, on the bank of the river, not a nymph any longer, but a beautiful tree.
Apollo was broken hearted, at first, to see how he had lost Daphne.
It was all the fault of the golden-pointed arrow.
Since this tree was all that was left of Daphne, Apollo loved the tree, and said that it should be planted by the side of his temple.
He made himself a crown from its evergreen leaves, which he always wore for Daphne's sake.
This tree still grows in Greece, and is called the Laurel of Apollo."

"The end."
"Aaaww" Max whaled
"Ooh, i want to visit that tree when i'm older!" Ava exclaimed.
"Well the sooner you go to bed, and fall asleep, your one day closer to being able to visit the tree."
Ava sighed and hopped off her grandpas lap, with Max following.
"But i'm not tired." Max said yawning, causing Ava to yawn.
"Oh i think yous are.
Grandpa Sam then ushered the kids off to bed, tucking them in and wishing them goodnight.