Aesop's Secret Read Free

hid her seal skin so that she would have to stay with him and be his wife,” Melinda said seriously.
    Elaine nodded. “I think you understand the kind of story I’m talking about…in each of these tales, people changed into something else. Melinda, I’ll bet they’re like your dreams aren’t they?”
    Melinda nodded. Felix rocked his head back on the sofa in disgust. “This is stupid―it doesn’t have anything to do with me, can I go?”
    “I’m afraid it does have everything to do with all of us. This is all about the changes that you two will both experience,” Jake said sternly.
    Elaine looked at the figurines, paintings and sculptures of mythological creatures she had collected over the years. There were winged horses, bull-headed men and dancing half-man, half-goat creatures everywhere. She needed another prop to help her in her explanation but when she looked into the faces of Melinda and Felix she knew that this tactic wasn’t working. “OK, this is more difficult than I thought. Let’s try something else,” she said almost to herself. “I want you both to close your eyes and imagine what a seal might feel like. Try to sense what it would be like to be in the water and experience the excitement of gliding through the surf, darting after fish as you dive weightlessly into the depths of the sea.”
    Felix didn’t understand what his mother wanted from him. He barely remembered any of the stories she used to read to him. He knew he had enjoyed listening to them when he was a lot younger but that was a long time ago. He couldn’t feel anything about the stories and he couldn’t see anything in his memory except his mother sitting with him and reading aloud.
    Melinda closed her eyes. It was easy to see and sense how the water would feel rippling over a seal’s sleek body. She visualized herself turning from a girl into a seal.
    “That’s enough,” Elaine said so abruptly that Melinda jumped while Felix’s frown deepened.
    Felix looked from his mother to his father, both of whom looked like something miraculous had occurred. He turned to see if Melinda understood what was meant to have happened and shuddered. Her face looked grossly different. Her skin was grey and her eyes seemed almost black. He rubbed his eyes with an involuntarily shiver and looked back at her. She looked like she always did, cheerful and clueless in his opinion. Everything seemed normal, and should have felt the same, but Felix was uncomfortable.
    Jake smiled proudly. “Well done, Melinda. I’ll bet you feel terrific.”
    Melinda smiled weakly. She had no idea how her father knew about the exhilarating sensations she had just experienced but he certainly seemed to.
    “Felix, did you feel anything different?” his mother asked cautiously.
    A corner of Felix’s lips curled unpleasantly as he shook his head.
    Jake cleared his throat. “I don’t have a medical explanation for what’s happening to Melinda: she is growing up rather quickly.” He turned his attention to Felix. “Felix, you are not going through the same changes yet but you will soon. Our bodies usually start to mature at around fourteen or fifteen, not at age ten like in Melinda’s case.”
    Felix’s head was pounding. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. All I know is that I woke up to see Melinda standing out in the garden without anything on, then you and Mum start talking nonsense about myths and maturity. WHAT’S GOING ON?”
    Jake massaged his forehead with one hand while his other hand massaged the back of his neck. When he was finished he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly then met Felix’s frustrated gaze. “We are descendants of a race of people known as Athenites. We believe the name is connected to the goddess Athena because of her ability to metamorphose into different creatures. To be honest I don’t know whether we were named after her, or she was named after us, but that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that