by Joan Holub
To everyone’s surprise, the girl broke into sobs. “I didn’t w-want to h-hurt him. I was just afraid h-he was going to climb the tree and b-bite me!”
“Dogs can’t climb trees,” Persephone informed her.
“Besides, Oliver would never bite anyone!” Athena insisted.
“Except possibly Medusa,” Aphrodite noted.
“M-Medusa?” The girl stopped crying but turned pale. She glanced around. “She’s not h-here?”
“No,” said Aphrodite. Softening a little, she added, “Why don’t you climb down so we can talk?”
“I c-can’t!” the girl wailed.
“I’ll hold Oliver so he doesn’t jump on you,” Athena promised.
The tree girl tugged nervously on her braid. “If I let go of this branch, I’m afraid I’ll f-fall!”
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Is there anything you’re not afraid of?” she called up to the scaredy-girl. The minute the words left her lips she felt sorry for saying them. Zeus just had to give her the gift of likability. Then maybe she’d stop blurting out stuff like that!
Luckily, the scaredy-girl didn’t mind. “N-not much. I’m p-pretty much afraid of e-everything.”
“I’m scared sometimes too,” Athena told her. “I remember I was really scared when I first got whooshed to this magic land. But everything’s going to be okay.” She handed Oliver to Persephone. Her sandals’ wings flapped as she lifted off the ground. Quickly, she flew up through the branches.
Aphrodite knew those magic sandals could fly. But until now she hadn’t seen them in action. Wow! She wished she had sandals like that. Or something else magical.
“Take my hand,” Athena said, reaching out to the scaredy-girl. “My sandals are strong enough to fly both of us.”
“Are you s-sure?” the girl asked.
“It’s true,” Persephone said. “They flew Athena and me all the way down to Wunderworld.”
Still the girl clung to the tree. “I d-don’t know.”
Stop being such a wimp, Aphrodite almost said. But she stopped herself just in time. “How about if I fly up there with Athena? Then will you believe the sandals are strong enough for two?” She did want to help. But mostly she wanted to fly!
“M-maybe,” said the girl.
With that, Athena swooped down. Aphrodite grabbed her hand and was whisked high into the air.
“Whee! This is fun!” she exclaimed. And it was! Athena flew her once around the tree. All too soon they landed.
“See? Nothing to it,” Aphrodite told the girl. She wished the flight had been longer.
Finally the girl’s fear eased. “Okay. I’ll t-try it,” she told Athena.
Again, Athena flew up into the tree. The scaredy-girl hung her bow over one shoulder. Then she clasped Athena’s hand. Seconds later, they were safe on the ground.
“Thanks for the ride.” The scaredy-girl smiled at the others. “I’m Artemis.”
The three friends gave their names too. “If you let Oliver sniff your hand, he’ll know you’re a friend,” Athena told the girl.
After some hesitation, Artemis did just that. “Oh, look. He wagged his tail!” she said in delight. She even petted Oliver as Persephone went on holding him.
Just then Aphrodite remembered the girl’s arrow. She went to search around the tree’s roots for it. She figured Artemis might want it back. It was pretty dark here. But a little sunlight came through the trees. Enough to spot a gleam of silver in the grass.
“Gotcha!” she said, grabbing the arrow. “Hey, what’s this?” A round, shiny object also lay on the ground. She picked it up. It was a tiny apple no bigger than a walnut. And it was made of real gold. Huh?
It couldn’t have grown on the olive tree, could it? She looked upward. For a second she thought she saw a tiny blinking light among the tree’s branches.
“Hestia?” Aphrodite called out. But the light blinked off. Had she imagined it? She didn’t see any more apples on the tree. Or on the ground. So where had this tiny apple come from? Could it be magic?
“Aphrodite, what are you doing?” Athena called to her. “We need to get going if we hope to reach Sparkle City tonight!”
“Coming!” Aphrodite called out. She put the gold apple into her pocket. Then she joined the other three girls. “Here. I found this,” she said, handing the silver arrow to Artemis.
Artemis grinned. “Thanks!”
“You’re very welcome,” said Aphrodite. She thought about showing the others the gold apple. But something made her keep it a secret. She’d found the apple, so that meant it was hers. And if it turned out that the tiny apple had magic, well then, that magic would be hers too! There was nothing wrong with that, was there?
5 Sparkle City
“Guess what?” Persephone said to Aphrodite now that the girls were all together again. “Artemis is coming with us to Sparkle City to see Zeus!”
Aphrodite frowned. “Why?” she asked. Uh-oh. That had sounded a bit rude. But really, she was worried. How many gifts could Zeus give out? Would adding one more person mean she might not get her gift? Still, she tried to be nice. “I mean, that’s great, right?”
“Right!” agreed Athena and Persephone.
As the girls started up the road again, those two took the lead. So Aphrodite walked next to Artemis. Oliver trotted alongside them all. Now and then he stopped to sniff the flowers they passed. Athena’s sandals’ glowing wings lit their way until the forest grew less thick.
“Persephone told me she’s going to ask Zeus to give her the gift of good luck,” Artemis told Aphrodite. “And Athena is going to ask him to help her get home. Since he’s king of the gods and super-duper powerful, I’m hoping he’ll grant me a gift too.”
“Like what?” Aphrodite asked.
“The gift of courage. I’m tired of being afraid of everything.” Artemis smiled at Aphrodite. “What are you going to ask for?”
“The gift of, um, likability.” Aphrodite sort of mumbled that last word. It was embarrassing to admit that people didn’t like her.
“Likability?” said Artemis. She sounded surprised. “But you’re already likable. I mean you were so kind about flying with Athena. To show me I shouldn’t be afraid.”
“Thanks,” said Aphrodite. But, of course, she hadn’t really acted out of kindness. She’d mostly wanted to try flying.
“Plus you found my silver arrow for me,” Artemis went on. She patted the feathered end of the arrow. It was in a long thin pouch she carried over one shoulder.
Aphrodite guessed she could take some credit for that. But then she remembered the gold apple she was keeping a secret. She wanted its magic (if it had any) to be all hers. Was that the act of a kind and likable person?
The girls kept on walking. Finally Athena called out, “Look!”
Aphrodite and the others gasped. Because there before them stood… Sparkle City!
A gleaming tower shaped like a giant thunderbolt and lit by sparkling lights stood at the city’s center. Roads stuck out from the base of the tower like spokes on a wagon wheel. Along them stood tidy little shops and houses of various shapes and sizes. They were painted all the colors of the rainbow.
Happy, smiling people were everywhere. Some were walking. Others riding in colorful chariots pulled by horses or leopards. Still more rode upon the backs of fantastic creatures. Like enormous peacocks, and even dragons puffing rainbow-colored smoke!
They were sooo close to getting Zeus to grant their wishes! One big, tall problem though. Sparkle City was surrounded by a high glass wall dotted with sparkly jewels!
“Sparkle City is amazing!” Athena said with excitement.
“So shiny!” Persephone gushed.
“And not at all scary,” Artemis added in relief.
“True,” agreed Aphrodite. “But how do we get in?”
“No problem,” said Athena. “Have you forgotten my winged sandals? I’ll just fly us over this wall.” She glanced down at her sandaled feet, then frowned. �
�Their wings have stopped glowing.”
“Maybe because of all the light from the city?” Persephone guessed. “They didn’t start glowing till it got dark in the forest before, remember?”
Athena nodded. “Yeah, maybe. That would make sense.” She looked around at the others. “What if I take you over one at a time? My sandals might not handle the weight of more.”
“Ooh! Take me second,” Artemis begged. “Going first is scary, and going last would be even scarier. I’d have to wait here alone!”
Aphrodite was about to say she would go first. But then she remembered the gold apple in her pocket. If keeping the apple a secret was an unlikable thing to do, so was asking to go first. “I can go last,” she said.
“Okay, then I’ll go first,” Persephone volunteered.
“Great!” Athena smiled and tucked Oliver into her book bag again. Persephone grabbed her other hand. They waited for the sandals’ wings to begin flapping. But they didn’t.
“Maybe you need to tell them to fly?” Artemis suggested.
“I’ve never needed to before,” said Athena. “But I’ll try it.” She looked down at her sandals. “Fly, wings, fly! Take us up and over this wall!” Nothing happened.
Behind them the girls heard laughter. They whirled around. A boy was walking toward them. He was outside the glass wall too.
He pointed at Athena’s feet. “Zeus, the super-duper powerful god of Mount Olympus, cast a spell on the city wall to keep out troublemakers. Not even magic sandals will fly you inside.”
“Troublemakers? Like Medusa, you mean?” asked Aphrodite.
The boy flinched.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ ” she said.
“We are not troublemakers,” Athena protested. “And we’ve traveled a long way to get here.”
“We just want to talk to Zeus,” Persephone explained. “To ask for his help.”
“Huh?” said the boy. “No one I know has ever even seen Zeus. Much less talked to him!”
6 The Gold Apple
The four girls were stunned by this news. They stared at the boy.
“Well, good luck!” he told them. He went over to the wall. Humming a tune, he walked through the glass as if it wasn’t even there.
“Wait!” Aphrodite called after him. “How did you get in?”
Turning, the boy held up a small gold apple. It looked exactly like the one in her pocket! He shouted something then, but she couldn’t hear him through the wall. And before she could ask him to speak louder, he ran off.
The daisies in Persephone’s flowery hair drooped sadly. “I’m sorry,” she told the others. “I must have brought us bad luck.”
“Baloney,” said Aphrodite. She pulled the gold apple from her pocket.
The others stared at it, open mouthed. “Where did you get that?” Athena asked.
“It was behind the tree where I found Artemis’s silver arrow,” Aphrodite admitted. “I think Hestia must have left it for us, because I saw a blinking light in the tree. But the light disappeared before I could talk to her.” She blushed. “I should have told you about it right away, but I—”
“No problem,” Athena interrupted. “The important thing is that you have it.”
“Yeah!” Persephone said happily. The daisies in her hair sprang back up. “Now we just have to figure out how to use it to get us into the city.”
Aphrodite tried pressing the apple against the glass wall. Nothing happened. “Listen up, apple. I command you to let us into Sparkle City!” she tried. Nope. Still nothing.
“Maybe there’s a secret space inside the apple that holds a key?” Artemis said shyly.
Huh? That’s a dumb idea! Aphrodite almost blurted. She pressed her lips tightly together. That way no unkind words could escape. The apple felt solid. Plus, it was too small to hold a key. Besides, there was no door with a lock to put a key!
Still, Artemis is sweet, thought Aphrodite. She’d said Aphrodite was very likable. And kind, too! So she would be kind back and give her a chance. “Here,” she said, handing Artemis the apple. “Why don’t you take a look?”
Artemis took the apple. She turned it over and over in her hands. She tried pressing on it here and there, but nothing changed. She didn’t give up, though. She poked a finger at the little stem at the top of the apple. “I wonder…” Pinching the stem between her thumb and forefinger, she pulled up on it. Click!
Suddenly to the girls’ surprise, the gold apple hummed a tune. The same tune they’d heard when the boy passed through the wall. “Quick! Try pressing it against the wall again!” Athena called out.
Artemis’s eyes had gone round. She gave the apple back to Aphrodite. “You d-do it,” she said. Humming gold apples were one more thing that scared her!
“Wait!” Persephone said to Aphrodite. “Let’s have everyone hold on to you. That way, if this works, we should all be able to walk through together.”
Artemis and Persephone held on to one of Aphrodite’s arms. Athena held on to the other. Then she pressed the apple against the glass wall. The tune sounded again. They all held their breath… and stepped forward.
Right away the glass began to ripple around them. It felt like a brisk wind was blowing. But then they passed through!
“We did it. We’re inside Sparkle City!” Aphrodite whooped. She smiled at Artemis. “Good job figuring out about the stem.”
Artemis smiled back at her. “Thanks.”
Persephone spread her arms out. “Group hug!” she shouted. Before meeting these girls, Aphrodite would have said that group hugs were silly. But it really had taken a group effort to get to Sparkle City. And it felt right to celebrate! She slipped the gold apple back into her pocket. Then she hugged her friends tight.
“Onward!” Athena shouted after the grinning girls broke apart.
“We can do this!” Aphrodite cheered.
“We’ll get Zeus to meet with us, no matter what that boy said!” added Persephone.
Artemis’s voice shook only a little as she replied, “R-right!”
“To the tower?” asked Aphrodite.
“To the tower!” the others exclaimed.
And with that, the four happy friends marched toward Zeus’s thunderbolt tower at the center of Sparkle City.
Word List
clung (KLUNG):
Held on to something tightly
courage (KER•idge):
Bravery
distract (diss•TRAKT):
To draw attention away from something
flinched (FLINCHD):
Made a sudden small jerk from fear or surprise
foil (FOYL):
To keep someone or something from succeeding
goddess (GOD•ess):
A girl or woman with magic powers
gods (GODZ):
Boys or men with magic powers
Greek mythology (GREEK mith•AH•luh•jee):
Stories people in Greece made up long ago to explain things they didn’t understand about their world
hesitation (hez•ih•TAY•shun):
A pause before saying or doing something
huddled (HUD•uhld):
Crowded together closely
likability (like•uh•BILL•ih•tee):
Being easy to like
Mount Olympus (MOWNT oh•LIHM•pus):
Tallest mountain in Greece
retreat (ree•TREET):
To draw back, go away
stalling (STAWL•ing):
Delaying, slowing something down
trudged (TRUJD):
Walked slowly and heavily
wimp (WIMP):
A weak and fearful person
Wunderworld (WON•der•wurld):
Underground home to Hades and Cerberus (called the Underworld in Greek mythology)
Questions
Sometimes Aphrodite says things that she is later sorry for saying. Have you ever done that? What do you think she could do to stop herself from saying things like th
at?
Aphrodite told some fibs to trick Medusa and rescue her friends from the poppy field. What were the fibs? Do you think telling these fibs was okay? Why or why not?
Artemis tells Aphrodite she is already likable. How does knowing what Artemis thinks of her change how Aphrodite acts toward Artemis?
Aphrodite keeps the tiny gold apple she finds and doesn’t tell her friends about it right away. Do you think that was fair of her?
What does each of the four girls do that helps them all finally get into Sparkle City?
Do you think Zeus will agree to see Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis and give them the gifts they are hoping for? Why or why not?
Authors’ Note
Some of the ideas in the Little Goddess Girls books come from Greek mythology.
Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love and beauty. A seashell was one of her symbols. She sometimes became jealous of others. When that happened, she could be quite bad-tempered!
Persephone was the Greek goddess of plants and flowers. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom. Artemis, skilled at archery, was the Greek goddess of animals and the moon.
We also borrowed a few ideas from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a book written by L. Frank Baum. In that book, there is a road called the Yellow Brick Road. In this book, there is a Hello Brick Road. There are other similarities too, including a poppy field that puts people and animals to sleep! We’ve also added lots of action and ideas of our own to this book.
We hope you enjoy reading the Little Goddess Girls books!
—Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
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