The Three Sons Who Lived On Their Own
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They were in the kitchen, preparing dinner. There was a big wooden table there with benches on either side. The kitchen was small but warm and cozy, just like an old-fashioned house should be.
There were three brothers: Big Brother, Middle Brother, and Little Brother.
“What are we having tonight?” asked Big Brother. He’d been asking that question every night since they moved into this old house, but he never did find out what they would have for dinner.
Middle Brother said, “I don’t know.” Then he added, “But I bet it’s something good.”
Little Brother had heard all of these words before, but now he decided to make up his own answers, as well. His favorite one went something like this…
“I don’t really care. Just cook it fast, will ya? I’m hungry.”
As the boys were talking over the dishes and cleaning up after their meal, the doorbell rang. All four of them froze at once. They looked around for a moment then began whispering urgently among themselves. Finally, Big Brother put down the dish he’d been washing and walked slowly toward the front door.
It was a beautiful day outside. The sky was clear, and the grassy hills beyond the porch shone with bright sunlight. It seemed as though everything was shining too brightly today—the birds in the trees, the bees buzzing lazily about on the bushes, even the sun itself. But the brothers didn’t seem to notice it. They only saw that the front door of the old house had opened and closed again by its lonesome. And no matter how hard they tried to ignore it, the boys could hear someone walking across the floor above them. A woman who sounded like she was crying, perhaps.
“She must’ve left us,” muttered Big Brother to himself.
“Probably some poor soul trying to get into our home and steal all of our valuables,” suggested Middle Brother.
“Maybe she lost her way and is looking for directions.” Suggested Little Brother.
Big Brother took another step toward the stairs leading upstairs and then stopped dead when he felt something grab him firmly on the shoulder. He turned around and found the three sons all staring back at him.
“Well, well, well,” said Big Brother, looking very suspiciously at Little Brother. “Looks like you’re going to be our guest tonight, little man.”
Then all of a sudden, Little Brother grabbed onto his big brother and threw both arms straight overhead, as if he was giving himself a big hug. The force of this action pushed Big Brother off balance and sent him sprawling backwards down the hall. He fell right through the doorway to his bedroom. When Big Brother landed on the ground below, he looked up at his two brothers standing there and asked, “Where’s my room?”
Little Brother answered with his usual answer, “Over here.” Then the boy quickly darted away from the open doorway and ran up the stairs. Big Brother got to his feet, brushed himself off, and headed after him.
He followed the footsteps up the stairs, but it was so dark in the hallway that he wasn’t sure where he was going. As soon as he reached his bedroom, however, the light suddenly burst inside.
The door opened, and a young girl stood in the entryway wearing a pretty red dress. She was smiling brightly at Big Brother. It made him feel rather uncomfortable because he couldn’t tell whether she meant him any harm or not.
That night, Big Brother prepared a delicious feast for their new guest and sat her at the head of the dining room table. He told everyone at the table to be quiet and let her have a nice rest while eating their meals without interruption. The boys were supposed to wait until she was finished before taking seconds, dessert, or anything else, except maybe water, which would be okay.
When they were done eating, Big Brother served up a bowl of steaming hot soup for their visitor, telling her she could eat whenever it suited her best. After he’d set it in front of her, the old woman said nothing. Instead, she just stared at her food.
“You don’t mind if I call you ‘Ma’am,’ do you?” Big Brother asked softly, but still loud enough to be heard over the soft murmur of conversation throughout the dining room.
The woman smiled gently and nodded. “Call me whatever you like, dear boy,” she whispered to him. And then she lifted her spoon.
“Oh!” exclaimed Big Brother as he watched her fill the entire spoon with the thick white soup. Then she ate every bit of it.
This was very unusual behavior for an old lady who was obviously starving, but somehow the sight of her slurping down her soup filled him with deep pride.
“How was that, Ma’am?” he asked anxiously.
But when she raised her eyes to look at Big Brother, they had gone blank again. The woman seemed to be having some sort of out-of-body experience. Her gaze was directed somewhere far away as she kept on eating the soup Big Brother had lovingly prepared for her.
Suddenly, she shivered, like a leaf caught in a sudden gust of wind. It was as though she were falling into cold water and trying desperately to hold back tears…
After dinner, Big Brother took the tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen and came back to find his guest sitting by herself in one of the chairs. He placed the empty serving platters beside her.
“Is everything okay?” he asked gently.
“I’m afraid I don’t know where my manners are these days,” replied the woman.
“Don’t worry about your manners. You need to get some rest.”
“Are you sure? Do you want to sit next to me and make yourself comfortable?”
“Yes, I’ll stay right here and keep guard.”
And then he waited quietly for the woman’s eyelids to close, but all he found was darkness. There was no sign of sleep in her eyes or anywhere else on her body. It didn’t matter. Even though he knew he wouldn’t ever catch a wink of shut eye in that chair, Big Brother decided to lie down across from his guest and go to sleep.
He closed his eyes tightly and thought about his wife and son and tried to remember what each of them looked like. His wife was beautiful and always laughing; his son used to love playing with Legos and now he liked to play football. As long as his family was happy, he didn’t care much for the things he owned. They might be gone someday, but his sons would never forget the lessons of life they’d learned from him, and neither would his lovely wife. As she once said, “I’ve loved you more than words can say.” He believed those words completely, and he had no regrets.
Big Brother dreamed that night that his children were waiting patiently on the shoreline. A great wave washed over him, but he swam to safety and then helped his sons climb up the side of the towering wall. The three of them stood on top of a cliff that overlooked the sea, looking out into its depths. He could see a small boat approaching and the figure of a little man waving his hat wildly in the air.
They boarded the boat together and the old man said, “You’ve been saved, sir! We’re going home now!” But even before the boat set sail, Big Brother woke up to a terrible noise.
It came from outside the house: something heavy hitting against the windows and walls. He ran to the front door and threw it open, expecting to see the sky falling down around him, but he only saw stars and bright moonlight shining down upon him.
“What happened?” he cried to the night sky. “Why am I being haunted?”
As soon as he said those words, all of the stars began to flicker and shine brightly as the moon grew dark and red.
Then, suddenly, there appeared a huge, fiery serpent with six heads that flew high above Big Brother’s head. Its body was so thick, it blocked out the starry heavens.
***
“HELP!” screamed Big Brother, trying to run after the giant snake. The monster’s body was so big and broad, he couldn’t even fit inside the doorway. With both hands he reached out and grabbed onto the nearest part of the monster’s neck, and then he tried to pull himself up. His fingers burned with pain and heat—they were melting off his hand…
“Stop it!” cried the serpent. It sounded as though the voice was coming from a great distance away, yet he recognized that sound. It was the voice of a man whose heart was filled with sorrow and grief. He knew it well because he could feel the same emotions burning deep within his own chest.
“Stop it right now!” shouted the giant snake. “You can’t hurt me anymore!”
A terrible cry went up from somewhere deep in the monster’s throat and Big Brother was pulled under into boiling water as far as his shoulders. It was like being boiled alive, but at the same time as though he were floating in a pool of ice-cold water. He felt like his skin was burning off, but he also felt an icy chill creeping through his veins. When the pain became too intense, he passed out and slipped down into unconsciousness.
And then he woke up on the ground, soaked in sweat and trembling as if from the fever.
“Oh God!” said Big Brother, reaching out desperately to touch his fingertips to the floor. He knew that his dreams were not real, but he had still lost control over his own body. That was when he realized that the nightmare was actually happening and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
That horrible creature from his dream was already in front of him. In the middle of the room he saw another beast that looked almost like the one from his nightmares, but this one had seven heads and ten tails, and each of its wings stretched farther than Big Brother’s arms could reach.
The first beast roared and the other two beasts screeched in response, causing waves of wind to blow through the trees and bushes. The forest was shaking. And Big Brother was paralyzed with fear, frozen where he stood. He just wanted to scream, but he couldn’t utter a single word. Then, suddenly, the first beast spoke again, and Big Brother finally understood that this was no dream.
“Do you know my name, old friend?” asked the snake who called himself King Cobra. His voice was gentle enough to bring tears to Big Brother’s eyes; yet his words were terrifyingly harsh.
“King Cobra? You mean the Snake King?” exclaimed Big Brother, surprised by such an unexpected title. “But why—”
“You’re very clever,” answered King Cobra, looking at Big Brother with amusement. “I’ll have you know that we are a people of honor and respect.”
“So what exactly is your business here?” demanded Big Brother.
“We want the power you possess,” replied King Cobra, “and we need your help to get it for ourselves.”
Big Brother shook his head in disbelief and said, “I don’t understand.”
“If you give us the power you hold, all will be forgiven,” said King Cobra. “Your life is in danger. If you don’t surrender your powers, they may end up killing you.”
“Who would dare…” But Big Brother trailed off because he didn’t want to admit to any kind of wrongdoing.
He was about to ask how he could possibly know their secret, but suddenly his eyes fell upon three young women standing behind King Cobra. They looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where or when he’d seen them before. One of them smiled at him and nodded her head once.
“These three are my daughters, Lady Serpent,” said King Cobra. “They are all much stronger than you. I have made sure to keep them far away from the affairs of men.”
Lady Serpent, the second beast with six heads, stepped forward. She wore a necklace of bones wrapped around her torso and hung on either side of her breasts were two long, sharp horns that shone like metal. Her long, flowing hair was like firelight and she held a large dagger in her right hand.
“How wonderful,” she said. “Now all four of us can work together.”
King Cobra chuckled and said, “This is true magic, indeed. A family reunion! I haven’t been able to enjoy one of those since my dear brother and I were parted by fate.”
Lady Snake, the third serpent who possessed eight heads, laughed as she stroked Big Brother’s cheeks with her finger. “It looks like you’re having some trouble making up your mind, so let me offer you the choice of two options: We can fight to the death, or we can share your power and live happily ever after.”
She grinned and reached inside Big Brother’s cloak to grab something, but then stopped suddenly when he screamed. Her face turned pale. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” said Big Brother with embarrassment. “Just forget about that thing.”
King Cobra’s laughter rang out across the woods. “No one else knows that you have it. No one else has ever even heard of it. You are safe with us. Now come closer and let us show you that our intentions are sincere.”
As if hypnotized, Big Brother approached his captors and looked down into their cold eyes. His body trembled with fear. But he knew he had to do what they asked—for the sake of the world. There was really no other option.
A few minutes later Big Brother sat next to Lady Serpent, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. The snake had cut a thin strip of skin from his left arm and now held it up to the light. When he was finished inspecting every inch of the magical object, she carefully put it back in its hiding place.
King Cobra looked at each of the women in turn and said, “Let us begin.”
The snakes lifted Big Brother up and carried him toward the pond. The water was murky and filled with strange fish with bright red fins and scales.
“Why are you doing this?” whispered Big Brother when they reached the shore. He was still trembling from the nightmare he’d experienced. He wasn’t used to these kinds of encounters anymore, and the fact that he hadn’t even managed to scream made him feel weak.
“Because we are evil,” replied King Cobra simply. “And we are also greedy.”
“I am hungry,” said Lady Snake. “I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
King Cobra smiled and said, “Don’t worry; there is plenty of food. Just wait and see.”
Big Brother felt his heart skip a beat as the snakes placed him on a small island in the middle of the pond. It seemed to go on forever, surrounded by green trees that swayed slightly in the breeze coming off the water. In the distance, he could just make out the mountains.
King Cobra stood on the opposite shore and raised his hands over the surface of the water. He spoke a single word, and instantly all of the water boiled away to create steam. Steam rose straight up into the sky until it was finally sucked out through a tiny hole in the ground. Then everything was calm again…
The three women watched with excitement and curiosity as they waited for him to finish his magic trick. Big Brother looked down and saw that the earth had opened beneath him and that the island was sinking into the center of the pond.
“Stop!” yelled Big Brother, but it was too late. The ground disappeared completely and his stomach plummeted straight into the dark water.
The End