Once upon a time, a girl and her brother lived with their stepmother, who was not at all nice to them. She would call them names and stick her tongue out at them, and sometimes even give them noogies.
Once they got a little older, they decided they had had enough and ran away from home, bringing with them only what they could carry. They left in the night, while their stepmother snored and muttered something about donkeys in her sleep.
After a long night and long day of traveling, the two became tired and thirsty. But at the first stream they discovered, a fish wearing glasses popped out and said quite clearly:
“Don’t drink the water. It will give you a big fluffy tail, like a squirrel!”
So the girl pulled back, but her brother drank deeply. When he stood up, he did indeed have a big fluffy tail, just like a squirrel. He had a hard time controlling it at first, and it kept brushing against his sister’s face, making her sneeze.
After a while, it got so bad, they had to stop so she could sit down and blow her nose repeatedly, and her brother resolved to get her some water. So he went off to get some, and while he was gone, a friendly chipmunk hopped over and told her,
“Don’t you drink that water! It will turn you into a kangaroo!”
She told her brother immediately when he returned, but he only shrugged and then drank the water himself.
And turned into a kangaroo.
With a big fluffy squirrel tail.
He asked if she wanted to ride some of the way in his pouch, but she declined.
Finally, they came to a little house with a stream running next to it. There didn’t seem to be anyone there, but for a bird who sat in the tree just outside.
“Don’t drink the water,” the bird said. “It will turn you into a llama. The tap water inside is just fine, though.”
The girl turned to tell her brother, but he was already drinking the water from the stream. When he came up for air, he did indeed have the head of a llama. With the body of a kangaroo, and a big fluffy squirrel tail.
“There’s good water inside, you know,” she said. Her brother just shrugged, and hopped into the house.
For a while, they were actually pretty happy. It was a nice house, in a nice little area, with a faucet and a stocked fridge. Every day they went for walks, and watched animals who drank from the stream turn into llamas.
But one day, the house’s owner came home. The girl and her brother fled into the woods, and watched as their home was taken back by a man with the head of a llama, and his dog with the head of a llama. Every day, though, when the man and his dog went for a walk, the brother sneaked back in and came out with food.
Except one day, the man saw him. He watched from just outside as a kangaroo with the head of a llama and tail of a squirrel sneaked into the house, removed a loaf of bread and some turkey, and hopped back into the woods. He watched as the creature stopped and set out the food for the prettiest girl he had ever seen, and then ate his out of a little bowl.
He watched a few more times, but one day went over to talk to them. He explained that he was really a king, but he was so embarrassed at having been turned into a llama that he hid out in the woods. He asked the girl to marry him.
At first, she was conflicted. She didn’t know if she believed his royal claim. And, even if he was really a king, did she really want to marry something with a llama’s head? But she did love the house, and besides, her own brother had the head of a llama now, and she couldn’t very well discriminate against others of his kind.
So she agreed, with the stipulation that her brother was able to stay with them as well.
“That’s just fine,” the king said. “My sister needs to stay with us as well.”
Next to him, the dog nodded.
The End. For now…
Source: Brother and Sister, Brothers Grimm
