Fotostefanos – HALO by 13 year old Alex Avetissian from Las Vegas

There was once a man named Fotostefanos (this translates to ‘Halo’ in English) who
lived in a village and had one daughter, Fengari (which translates to ‘moon’ in English.)
Fotostefanos wasn’t a wealthy man, but he also wasn’t a poor one either. His wife Angelos
(meaning ‘angel’ in English) passed away while giving birth to his only child, a daughter.
Fotostefanos was devastated by the death of his wife and never remarried. But while giving birth,
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, watched on and witnessed the death of
Angelos and felt pitiful. Aphrodite gave the daughter the gift of immense beauty to compensate
for the loss of Fengari’s mother, but no one knew except for her father.
Fengari was loved by everyone in her village. She was beautiful, intelligent, and kind. To
say that she was beautiful would be an understatement. She had white hair and pale skin. Light
blue eyes that shone like the moon at night. Her smile was beautiful, with her blindingly white
teeth that could be seen even in darkness. But she was also a modest and caring young woman.
Everyone loved her, that is everyone except for another maiden in her village. Another beautiful
maiden named Asteri (meaning to ‘star; in English), but even her great beauty was incompara  ble
to that of Fengari. Fotostefanos was proud of his daughter and what she had become. He was a
very protective father, as all fathers are of their daughters. Fotostefanos would sacrifice anything
of his to protect her. One day Asteri had had enough of Fengari, for she had woed over Asteri’s
own fiancee! Asteri drew the line there and decided to put an end to Fengari and her beauty. So,
in all her jealousy, Asteri went to the Underworld to talk with Hades, the god of the Underworld
and Dead. Hades heard of Asteri’s misfortune and wasn’t at all surprised when he found her at
the gates of the Underworld. She asked Hades to release Cerberus upon her village with one
mission, to maul Fengari and scar her face, ridding her of her beauty. Asteri believed that once
Cerberus did his job her fiance would see that Fengari wasn’t as beautiful anymore and return to
her, she was wrong. Hades agreed to this under one condition, if Cerberus were to hurt anyone
other than Fengari, he would immediately be called away and Asteri would never show her face
in the Underworld again. She agreed to this.
On the night Cerberus was released Fengari was having dinner with her father. From their
table they could hear screams and roars coming from the center of the village, Cerberus had
arrived. Cerberus ran on through the town, looking for Fengari and ignoring everyone else as if
they weren’t even there. Cerberus found Fengari and cornered her. Cerberus lunged forward,
claws and teeth baring for Fengari’s face. Fotostefanos stepped in front of her body, shielding
her. Everything seemed to freeze momentarily for Fengari after that. The only thing that Fengari
cared about dropped down in front of her, limp body and blood in all. Cerberus had simply run
away, going back to Hades in the Underworld who was watching on. Fengari dropped to her
knees and sobbed as she watched her father die right in front of her eyes. But Fotostefanos was
willing to make that sacrifice and knew what he was doing. As his spirit was traveling to the
afterlife he pleaded for Zeus and Selene, god of the moon. “Oh Zeus! Selene! Hear my cries and
grant me a reply!” the gods heard his pleas and obliged. “Why must you beckon to us so loudly
Fotostefanos?” Zeus groaned. “Please, I sacrificed myself to save my daughter from spending the
rest of her life, scarred. I love my daughter too much and wish to protect her and watch over
her!” cried Fotostefanos. Selene, the Greek god of the Moon replied, “Fotostefanos, do you wish
to watch over your daughter through the moon? You would be able to watch over your daughter
and protect her in life.” “Yes I would very much enjoy that!” said Fotostefanos. “Very well! We
grant you this!” Boomed Zeus. So Zeus turned Fotostefanos into the Halo that surrounds the
moon at night to act as an eye, watching over his daughter.

By: Alex Avetissian , age 13