Persephone & the Giant Flowers

  Welcome to ALADDIN QUIX!

  If you are looking for fast, fun-to-read stories with colorful characters, lots of kid-friendly humor, easy-to-follow action, entertaining story lines, and lively illustrations, then ALADDIN QUIX is for you!

  But wait, there’s more!

  If you’re also looking for stories with tables of contents; word lists; about-the-book questions; 64, 80, or 96 pages; short chapters; short paragraphs; and large fonts, then ALADDIN QUIX is definitely for you!

  ALADDIN QUIX: The next step between ready to reads and longer, more challenging chapter books, for readers five to eight years old.

  Cast of Characters

  Persephone (purr•SEFF•oh•nee): A girl with flowers and leaves growing in her hair and on her dress

  Athena (uh•THEE•nuh): A brown-haired girl who travels to magical Mount Olympus

  Oliver (AH•liv•er): Athena’s puppy

  Zeus (ZOOSS): Most powerful of the Greek gods, who lives in Sparkle City and can grant wishes

  Medusa (meh•DOO•suh): A mean mortal girl with snakes for hair, whose stare can turn other mortals to stone

  Hestia (HESS•tee•uh): A small, winged Greek goddess who helps Athena and her friends

  Cerberus (SIR•ber•us): Hades’s three-headed dog

  Aphrodite (af•row•DIE•tee): A golden-haired, beautiful girl found in a large seashell

  Hades (HAY•deez): Boygod of the Underworld in Greek mythology

  1

  Through the Crack

  Whoosh! Persephone’s new friend, Athena, flew past her on golden winged sandals.

  “Careful! You almost crashed into me!” Persephone shouted up to her. The leaves and flowers that grew from her dress fluttered wildly.

  “Sorry!” Athena called back. “That’s why I need to practice!”

  The white wings at the heels of her golden sandals whisked her back and forth. And then high in the air for a loop-the-loop.

  Suddenly, the sandals took a big dive. Athena was zooming straight at Persephone now!

  “Yikes!” Persephone leaped out of the way. The daisies that grew from the top of her head twirled.

  “Slow down!” Athena told her sandals. For once, they obeyed. They floated her gently lower. Soon she was standing next to Persephone on the orange, blue, and pink Hello Brick Road.

  “Wow,” said Persephone. “Great landing! You’re getting better!”

  Athena smiled. “Thanks. There’s no magic in the land I came from. Learning to fly is hard!”

  “Woof! Woof!”

  Oliver, Athena’s little white dog, came bounding over. He’d been chasing butterflies. She scooped him up and gave him a big hug. Then he jumped down.

  Athena and Persephone linked arms. They skipped down the road while Oliver trotted behind them. Up ahead they could see rainbow-colored sparkles. These were coming from Sparkle City, where they were heading. The city stood far away at the very top of magical Mount Olympus.

  “Won’t you miss flying if you leave Mount Olympus forever?” Persephone asked.

  Athena nodded. “But I want to go home. Zeus has to help me.” A storm had blown Athena to this magic land. Ever since, she had dreamed of getting back home.

  “The super-duper powerful Zeus can do anything,” Persephone promised. “He’s king of the gods. We’ll go see him in Sparkle City. I’m sure he’ll give me the gift of good luck. And he’ll help you get back home.”

  Persephone had bad luck-itis. Her bad luck was always rubbing off on others. So she really needed good luck. Besides, she loved growing things. With good luck she’d be able to help all plants grow strong and beautiful!

  But the thought of Athena going home made her sad. Before they’d met, she’d never had a girl friend before. Only flower friends. Once her bad luck-itis was cured, she hoped the two of them would become best friends.

  Persephone belonged here in Mount Olympus. She wished Athena would change her mind about going home. It would be great if she stayed here too!

  “Hisss!” The girls jumped.

  “Was that Medusa?” Persephone whispered. Medusa was a mean girl with wiggly green snakes for hair. She could turn you to stone with an eye zap! Had Persephone’s bad luck-itis brought her?

  “No! Look!” said Athena. She pointed up in a tree. There was a furry animal sitting on one of its branches.

  “Woof! Woof!” barked Oliver.

  “Hisss!”

  “Phew! It’s only a cat,” said Persephone. “I thought Medusa was back, trying to get her hands on your winged sandals.”

  Hestia, a tiny, fairylike goddess, had warned them not to let Medusa take Athena’s sandals. Because the snake-haired girl might use their magic to make big trouble for Mount Olympus!

  “Phew is right!” said Athena as they began walking again. “But as long as we stay here on the Hello Brick Road, that awful Medusa can’t hurt us. An owl named Pink Tail told me that.”

  But Persephone was still worried. What if her bad luck-itis made the road lose its magic to keep them safe?

  After a while the girls stopped to eat pomegranates from some trees at the side of the road.

  Thump! Out of nowhere, a chariot pulled by four black horses appeared. It came rolling across a field beyond the trees.

  Athena scrunched her nose. “Hey! There’s no one driving that.”

  Crack! To their surprise, the ground split open! Sparkles burst from the long crack that formed. The horses and chariot dove through it. They zoomed out of sight. The girls rushed over to the crack. They tried to see where the chariot and horses had gone.

  “Woof!” Oliver ran to the crack too. Persephone scooped him up before he could fall into it. The girls stepped back as more sparkles burst up from below.

  “Sparkles?” Persephone said in excitement. “Maybe this crack is a shortcut to Sparkle City!”

  “Maybe,” said Athena. “Stay here. I’ll go check.”

  “Wait! It might not be safe to follow that crazy chariot underground,” Persephone said. She reached out and grabbed one of Athena’s hands to stop her. She didn’t want to lose her friend!

  Too late! The sandals jerked and pulled them down through the crack! Uh-oh! Where were Athena’s sandals taking them?

  2

  Cerberus

  Athena, Persephone, and Oliver flew down, down, down underground. They spun around and around. It was a wild ride!

  “Hold on tight!” Athena warned as her sandals zigzagged them left and then right.

  It seemed to Persephone like the sandals had minds of their own! Who knew what else they could do. Or what other magic powers they held. No wonder Medusa wanted them so badly.

  Thunk! Finally, the three of them landed near a big rock on the bank of a river. Both girls managed to land on their feet. Persephone handed Oliver to Athena.

  “You okay, boy?” Athena asked him. She hugged him close. Oliver happily licked her face.

  Not far ahead, Persephone could see a gate made of diamonds! Her heart sank. “Maybe the sparkles we saw through the crack were only these jewels,” she said to Athena. “Not Sparkle City after all.”

  “Whoa!” a boy’s voice shouted before Athena could reply.

  Persephone and Athena peeked out from behind the rock. The four black horses pulling the driverless chariot came to a stop before the gate. Suddenly a boy appeared, standing in the chariot. He had dark curly hair and was holding a shiny gold cap.

  Persephone blinked. “Where did he come from?”

  “I think maybe he was driving the chariot the whole time,” said Athena. “But he was invisible before.”

  They watched the boy leap from the chariot. He shoved
his cap in a pocket. Then he clapped his hands together. The horses and chariot magically disappeared.

  “That’s a neat trick,” whispered Athena.

  “Yeah!” Persephone agreed.

  The boy walked over to the gate.

  “Hey! Think that gate might be a shortcut to Sparkle City?” Persephone asked. She wasn’t ready to give up on the shortcut idea yet. The sooner they saw Zeus, the faster she would get her good luck!

  “I hope so,” said  Athena. “Because we can’t go back the way we came.” She pointed up. The crack they had fallen through had sealed itself!

  The girls started to leave their hiding place to follow the boy. But then a huge dog came racing toward the gate from the other side of it. They froze in place. Because not only was that dog big, it had three loud heads!

  “Growl. Bark! Roar!”

  Oliver perked his ears. “Grr.”

  “Shh,” said Athena. “No fighting. That big dog could eat you for breakfast.”

  “Yeah, like, in three bites,” Persephone added. “Because it has three mouths!”

  All six of the dog’s eyes stared through the gate. It looked right at the rock they were hiding behind! Then the dog began to jump against the locked gate’s bars. “Growl. Bark! Roar!”

  Persephone giggled. She sometimes did that when she was super worried. “He can probably smell us.”

  “I hope we don’t smell like dinner to him,” Athena whispered.

  The boy unlocked the gate with a big black key. “Chill, Cerberus,” he said. “It’s just me. And since I’m not wearing my cap of invisibility, I know you can see me.”

  “So that’s why we couldn’t see him in that chariot!” Athena said.

  “Another super neat trick,” Persephone replied.

  Creak. The boy pushed open the gate.

  Persephone and Athena gulped. Would Cerberus escape? Were they about to become dog food?

  No! The boy went through the gate and closed it behind him before Cerberus could get out. He gave each of his dog’s three heads a pat. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

  The boy headed off. The huge dog licked its chops and jumped at the gate one more time. Then it gave up and trotted after him.

  Persephone breathed a sigh of relief. The girls waited till the coast was clear. Then they came out from behind the big rock.

  Oliver leaped from Athena’s arms. He ran up to the gate. “Wait for us,” Athena told him.

  “Woof!” Oliver replied. He wagged his tail and sat until the girls caught up to him.

  There was a sign on the gate. Persephone read it aloud: “Wunderworld. Keep Out.”

  “Back home where I come from, ‘wunder’ is spelled with an o. Not a u,” Athena remarked.

  “It’s spelled with an o here, too,” Persephone replied. “I w-u-n-d-e-r what Wunderworld with a u is? Should we go find out?”

  Athena frowned. “The sign says ‘Keep Out.’ ”

  “Yes, but it doesn’t say, ‘Athena and Persephone, Keep Out,’ ” Persephone joked. She gave the gate a little push. It creaked open. “That boy forgot to lock the gate.”

  “Woof!” Before either girl could stop him, Oliver squeezed through the gate and ran off!

  3

  Shell Shock

  Persephone and Athena raced through the diamond gate after the little white dog.

  “Stop, Oliver!” Athena called.

  Oliver usually obeyed her. But this time he kept running.

  Uh-oh, thought Persephone. Would Wunderworld bring them more bad luck?

  They followed Oliver into a field of tall white star-shaped flowers called asphodels. Persephone had seen them in pictures, but never real ones. She would have liked to study them more closely. But there was no time!

  “Oliver!” called Athena, huffing and puffing as they ran. “Where is he? I don’t see him!”

  “Probably because he blends in. A white dog in a field of white flowers,” said Persephone.

  The wings of Athena’s sandals began to flap. “Grab on,” she shouted. “My sandals will help us find him!”

  Persephone took Athena’s hand. The sandals zoomed them up in the air.

  “There he is!” Athena said, pointing. “Oliver!” she shouted.

  They flew over him across the field, then past a river. Suddenly, yellow-orange flames shot from the river. It was on fire!

  Beyond the river was a giant hole with a railing around it. And Oliver was headed right for it!

  “Oliver, stop!” yelled Athena. Too late. He slipped under the railing and started to fall down the hole!

  In the nick of time, the sandals swooped down. Persephone grabbed Oliver’s red collar. “Gotcha!”

  The girls flew back out and landed. Oliver leaped into Athena’s arms, and she hugged him. He snuggled against her, looking tired from his run. “You shouldn’t have raced off like that. You scared us!” she told him.

  Persephone gave his head a scratch. “Yeah. You sure did.” She stared into the hole. It was so deep, she couldn’t see to the bottom.

  There was a warning sign beside the hole. Athena read it:

  “TARTARUS

  “Only rotten people are welcome here.

  “If you are rotten—come in.

  “If not—keep out for your own safety!”

  “Rotten? I guess that means Medusa would be welcome,” joked Persephone.

  Athena giggled. “But we’re not rotten. And I don’t want to meet anyone who is. Let’s leave.”

  She set Oliver inside the book bag she carried. Its top flap was open. That way he could still peek out as they walked on.

  Minutes later, they passed pretty purple-flowered bushes, and they heard chatting and laughing.

  They saw a shining silver gate in the bushes. A sign on the gate read:

  ELYSIUM

  ONLY PERFECT PEOPLE ARE WELCOME HERE.

  IF YOU ARE NOT PERFECT—GO AWAY.

  WE DON’T WANT YOU!

  Persephone let out a huff. “Nobody is perfect! Maybe whoever is in there can tell us how to get to Sparkle City, though. Should we ask?”

  “Worth a try,” Athena agreed. They knocked and knocked on the gate. But no one answered.

  “Never mind,” said Persephone. “Whoever is inside is probably perfectly stuck-up!” Athena and Persephone laughed.

  The girls walked on. Minutes later, Athena stopped so fast that Persephone bumped into her. Oomph! They both stared at an amazing sight.

  In front of them was a blue, heart-shaped sea no bigger than a swimming pool. And behind it stood a big golden palace.

  They were just in time to see the chariot-boy and his big, scary dog disappear through the palace’s front door. “Wow! That’s their home?” said Athena.

  Persephone cocked her head. “Do you hear singing?”

  Athena listened, then nodded. “Where is it coming from?”

  On sneaky feet, they tiptoed closer. Suddenly, a garden of colorful flowers shot from the ground and bloomed all around them.

  “Wow! Those are giant flowers!” Persephone exclaimed.

  “And they’re singing!” Athena added.

  The flowers’ high, sweet voices were in perfect harmony. They were singing a happy song:

  It’s a wonderful thing

  To be able to sing

  With a ring-a-ding-ding

  And a la-di-la-ling!

  Persephone looked around in wonder. She stood next to a clump of giant daisies that matched her hair. “Hey! Look at me. It’s like when Oliver was in that field of white flowers. My hair and I blend right in. See?”

  “Yes, you daisy-do,” the giant daisies sang in her ear. They giggled.

  Suddenly, a distant voice cried out.

  “Help me! I’m trapped!”

  “It’s coming from that sea!” said Athena.

  She and Persephone ran through the giant flowers. Out in the middle of the little sea, a small sea serpent was swimming around. It had shiny black scales.

  Ic
k. Another snake, thought Persephone.

  Athena called to it. “Hello! Did you just ask us for help?” It wasn’t a silly question. As both girls knew, a lot of things in magical Mount Olympus land could talk. But the serpent was silent.

  The distant cry came again. “Hey, you guys! Help? Any day now!”

  Persephone glanced in the direction of the voice. “Over there!” she said to Athena. She pointed to a gleaming white scallop-shaped shell. It was beautiful. The size of her hand, its two halves were closed tight.

  Persephone and Athena stared at each other in surprise. Hestia had told them they would find a beautiful shell.

  “You found me stuck in the muck,” Persephone said to Athena. “This shell is stuck too. In the middle of the sea.”

  “Right. We have to help it,” said Athena. “Or whoever is inside it.”

  “Remember what else Hestia told us?” said Persephone. “If we tap on the shell three times, it’ll open.”

  “Yeah, but Hestia also said we’d find troubles on our way to Sparkle City. What if this shell is full of trouble?”

  “Hello?” the voice called out again. Sounding a little mad now, it asked, “So are you going to help me or what?”

  Persephone looked at Athena. “Should we?”

  Athena shrugged, then nodded.

  Together they replied, “We will!”

  4

  Unshelled

  “That shell is too far away for us to reach. And the sea looks pretty deep in the middle,” Persephone said to Athena. She also didn’t like the idea of wading into water with a sea serpent. Not even a small one!

  “I have an idea,” said Athena. She held up a stick Oliver had been playing with. “I think I can push the shell closer with this.”

  Athena carried the stick to the other side of the small sea. Then she gave the shell a hard push. It floated toward Persephone.

  Athena ran back to join her. They watched the shell float closer. When it was only a couple of feet from shore, it stopped moving. But now it was close enough to reach.