Once upon a time there was a little boy and a little girl named Milan and Martina. They grew up in a tiny village hidden away in the mountains of Czech called Cibule. Like many tiny villages hidden away in the mountains, Cibule was sourrounded by lush, green forest. Most of the forest was welcoming, and warm with chirping birds, and sunshine streaming down between the boughs. Most of it was beautiful. But there was one place in the forest that the children were forbidden to go. It was called The Dark Corner. No sunlight penetrated it, not even at the full sun of noon. Even the adults were wary enough of it to give it a wide berth.
One day Milan and Martina were playing in the forest. They were playing a one-on-one game of Cibule Ball, when Milan accidentally kicked it a little too hard, and it got away from them. It went shooting down a very steep hill where it picked up even more speed. The children giggled and happily ran down the hill after it, but as they reached the bottom the giggles stopped. Their faces fell as they watched it roll right into The Dark Corner, and vanish into the inky blankness.
"Nice one, Milan! That was our only Cibule Ball. Papa saved for a year to get that for us. Now what are we going to do?" Martina folded her arms and plopped down on to a small boulder to sulk.
"What's the big deal. Let's go and get it." Milan shrugged and showed his sister his winningest smile. He was scared of The Dark Corner too, but didn't want her to see.
"Milan, no! It is forbidden. Even the grown-ups don't go there. They say there are evil spirits living there."
"Whatever. You don't really believe that, do you? Those are just stories they tell to keep us scared so we obey them. What if that's where the grown-ups keep all the really cool toys and the sweetest candy, and they don't want us to find it?"
"Why would they hide those things in the forest?" Martina scratched her head.
"I don't know, maybe because they... um... Oh, who cares! I don't want to lose our ball, do you?"
"No, but--"
"That's it then; we're going." and before she could say one more word, he grabbed her hand and scampered off into The Dark Corner.
...TO BE CONTINUED.
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