In one small but very beautiful town lived a family: father Andrew, mother Anna, daughters Melanie and Amelia. When the girls were still little, the family was very close. Mom and Dad had always dreamed of having two daughters, and when their cherished dream came true, they couldn't have been happier. The family often held celebrations, Mom baked pies, and in the evenings the whole family gathered in the large bright room. The entire household would have a friendly tea party.
In winter, the whole family went to the hill to ride sleds, in summer they went to the river to swim and play badminton. In autumn, everyone got in the car and drove to the forest for mushrooms, and in spring they planted the entire yard with flowers that bloomed until autumn. And so they would have lived, rejoicing and loving each other, if one fine day…
Nothing foretold trouble in the morning. The children went to school, Mom and Dad to work, and when they returned, they found a strange telegram in the mailbox: "Coming. Meet me. Aunt Hedwig."
Aunt Hedwig was a distant relative of Dad's. She lived in a small abandoned village near a cemetery, she had neither a cat nor a dog, let alone children, she never loved anyone and there were even rumors that she consorted with dark forces.
What could this be about? We haven't seen each other in so many years.
Said father Andrew.
Yes, strange. But perhaps after so many years Aunt Hedwig has changed.
Mother suggested.
Hooray, hooray!
The children shouted. They loved it when guests came to visit them. They didn't know how mean and envious their relative was.
That day it rained from morning. The sky was covered with clouds, lightning flashed, crackling peals of thunder constantly sounded. Such a terrible wind blew and the trees swayed with such terrible force that it seemed they were about to break and crash down on the house with their entire sprawling crown.
There was a knock at the door. The children rushed to meet the guest, laughing loudly and shouting: "Auntie, auntie has arrived! Hooray!"
Hedwig stood on the threshold. Immediately she struck Melanie with her umbrella, pinched Amelia and croaked:
Shut your mouths! I don't like it when brats are running around and disturbing my peace.
And a terrible life began. Every day there were quarrels in the family. The children completely stopped obeying their parents, Mom and Dad quarreled every day even over trifles. The family was falling apart, no one walked together anymore, there were no tea parties or celebrations, everyone sat in their rooms. And if something bad happened to someone, the others only rejoiced.
One day there was a knock. Opening the door, Dad saw an envelope on the doormat. It contained tickets for a ship cruise for the whole family. Andrew had already forgotten how he once talked with his colleagues at work and how he dreamed aloud about such a voyage on a ship with the whole family. Maybe one of them decided to help?
They had to leave tomorrow, everyone began to pack, not suspecting that it was Hedwig who decided to finally destroy them by cursing the voyage to a deadly misfortune — a shipwreck.
On the second day of the voyage, from early morning the sky was covered with heavy terrible clouds. Mom and Dad still quarreled, the sisters also didn't make peace, but constantly played dirty tricks on each other. They didn't even notice when the storm began. Huge waves hit the ship from all sides, testing its hull for strength. And unable to withstand the blows of the elements, the ship cracked and simply began to fall apart into two parts. Panic began on the ship, passengers rushed every which way, paying no attention to each other…
Andrew opened his eyes and froze in horror. Where was he? What was this? Where were his wife and children? There was forest all around, the father of the family found himself mysteriously in the forest. But what a forest it was! All the trees looked at him with human eyes, the birds had thorns instead of feathers, and the plants moaned as if calling for help. This was an enchanted forest. Gathering his last strength, Dad wandered off to look for Anna and the girls.
Anna, Melanie, Amelia! Where are you?
Andrew shouted weakly and strenuously. But the cries drowned in the moans of the plants. Suddenly he saw that a bunch of huge ants with fangs were dragging the wounded mother into an anthill. He ran up, desperately grabbed his wife's hand, began to pull and… from exhaustion lost consciousness. Dad came to his senses because Anna was pouring water on him. She didn't have a single wound.
Andrew, you won't believe it! It's simply a miracle! This stream has living water. It instantly healed all my wounds.
And Mom pointed to the stream flowing nearby.
The children, the children, where are our girls!!! We need to find them as quickly as possible. There are so many dangers here, and they are so defenseless!
Dad shouted.
Mom and Dad rushed with their last strength to look for the children. Anna and Andrew ran, shouted and called for their daughters. Now their strength was running out, all hope was lost, night was falling. Suddenly they were blinded by a bright light that appeared from under the ground, and a lunar path descended from the sky. These two lights connected, and before them appeared a strange female figure, one half of her body was black as tar — darkness, and the other bright white — light. This was the Mistress of Light and Darkness.
You are looking for your daughters? Give your lives in exchange for their lives, and I will return them home!
Take mine!
Anna sobbed.
And mine!
Andrew roared with his last strength.
The earth opened before them, they held hands and jumped into this abyss. The chasm immediately disappeared, the earth closed and the light went out.
Meanwhile, the girls woke up on scorching sand. There was not a tree or bush around — this was a real scorching desert. Golden sand sparkled under the sun's rays, the air smelled of something very cloying, and in the distance they heard music, as if a thousand beautiful birds were making gentle trills. The girls felt as if they were being rocked, like in childhood, in a cradle.
I want to sleep so much.
Melanie whispered quietly and closed her eyes. But Amelia — the older sister, suddenly remembered how in childhood Mom told the girls about quicksand that drags you into an abyss from which you can never escape.
She screamed:
Open your eyes! I love you, little sister! We need to get out of here, otherwise we'll die and never save Mom and Dad.
Suddenly some unknown force picked up the sisters and carried them through the air like feathers. The girls closed their eyes in fear and surrendered to this unknown force.
In the middle of the enchanted forest, in which the trees, flowers and birds became alive, sparkled with bright colors and sounded with kind songs, near the stream with living water, a clearing suddenly appeared, covered with rainbow flowers and green silky grass. In the middle of the clearing swayed a snow-white huge hot air balloon, ready for takeoff. To prevent it from taking off prematurely, mighty oaks held it with their magical branches. The balloon was waiting for its passengers.
Mom and Dad did not perish, that unknown force brought them together with the girls aboard the hot air balloon. The family was reunited and all exhausted but happy set off on a long journey home. Anna, Andrew and the girls never learned that this difficult ordeal was the work of Hedwig, who never appeared in their lives again. And the house in which the old woman lived disappeared altogether along with its cunning, deceitful and vile mistress.
From that moment the family became strong and united. The sisters shared secrets with each other, helped their parents in everything, and Mom and Dad never quarreled again, because a strong family is the most important thing!
