The Sphinx's Secret Pool

Lily loved exploring her grandmother's overgrown garden, especially on warm summer evenings when the fireflies danced like tiny floating lanterns. One night, she noticed something glinting behind the old rose bushes—a small stone creature with the body of a lion and the head of a wise woman.

"Are you... a sphinx?" Lily whispered, her eyes wide.

The stone creature blinked. "Indeed I am, young adventurer. I am Cleo, guardian of the Secret Pool." Cleo stretched and suddenly moved, her golden scales shimmering in the moonlight.

"Secret Pool?" Lily asked.

Cleo led her through the bushes to a small crystal-clear pool she had never seen before. "This pool shows you your heart's truest wish," the sphinx explained. "But you must answer my riddle first."

Lily nodded bravely.

"What has horns but cannot charge, is strong but cannot fight, and appears in the night sky but has no light of its own?"

Lily thought hard. She looked up at the stars twinkling above them. "A bull! Like the constellation Taurus!"

Cleo's face lit up. "Correct! You may look into the pool."

Lily peered into the water. At first, she saw her own reflection. Then the image changed. She saw herself reading bedtime stories to her little brother, who was usually too fussy to sit still. But in her vision, they were both laughing and happy.

"That's my wish," Lily said softly. "I want Tommy to like reading with me."

"The pool shows you how to make your wish come true," Cleo said wisely. "Read to him with funny voices. Make up stories together. Be patient."

Lily nodded. "Thank you, Cleo!"

"And thank you," the sphinx said. "For hundreds of years, everyone who found me just wanted gold or wishes for themselves. You're the first to wish for something kind for someone else."

The next evening, Lily sat with Tommy and read a story about a brave little mouse, using her silliest monster voice for the owl. Tommy giggled so hard he fell over, and then he asked her to read it again.

From that night on, Lily and her brother read together every evening. Sometimes, when the moon was bright, she would visit Cleo by the Secret Pool, where the sphinx would share ancient stories and riddles.

And every time Lily looked up at the stars, she would wave to Taurus the bull, grateful for the riddle that taught her that the best wishes are the ones we make for others.