Persephone and the Abduction by Hades

This is a story about a little girl named Persephone. She loved bright, happy flowers more than anything. Her mommy was named Demeter, and they lived in a big, green meadow where the sun was always warm, warm, warm. Persephone would pick yellow flowers and purple flowers all day long. One day, she saw a special flower. It was so dark and sparkly. It was the prettiest flower she had ever seen. This is the story of Persephone and how the seasons began.

When Persephone reached down to touch the flower, the ground went rumble, rumble, rumble. A big door opened in the grass. A quiet king came out. His name was Hades. He lived deep, deep down under the ground. His home was full of shiny, sparkly rocks and red gems and blue gems. But there were no flowers and no sunshine. He was a little lonely and asked Persephone to visit his sparkly home. While she was gone, her mommy missed her very much. She was so sad that she told all the flowers to go to sleep. The world became cold and gray.

Persephone's mommy, Demeter, missed her so much. Everyone on Earth missed the warm sun. It was time for Persephone to go home. Before she left the sparkly place, King Hades gave her a yummy snack. It was a red fruit with little seeds inside that looked like tiny red jewels. Persephone ate six little seeds. One, two, three, four, five, six. Because she ate the special snack, she would now have two homes. For part of the year, she lives with her mommy in the sunshine. Then the flowers wake up for warm spring and sunny summer. Then, for a little while, she visits King Hades, and the world gets cozy and sleepy for cool fall and quiet winter.

And that is how we got the seasons. When Persephone is with her mommy, it is warm and sunny. When she visits her other home, the world gets quiet and sleepy. But don't worry. After the sleepy winter, Persephone always comes back. And she brings the flowers and the sunshine with her.