Imagine a city with tall, strong walls, called Troy. In this city lived a bright and thoughtful princess named Cassandra.

One day, Apollo, the god of sunshine and music, and also the god who knew all about the future, saw Cassandra. He thought she was wonderful. Apollo said, "Cassandra, I have a special gift for you. I can make it so you can see what will happen tomorrow, and the day after, and even far, far away in time! All I ask is that you promise to be my special friend."

Cassandra thought, "Wow! To see the future? That sounds amazing!" So she agreed.

Apollo gave her the gift. Suddenly, Cassandra could see glimpses of things to come! It was like watching a movie of what was going to happen. But then, Cassandra thought about it and said, "Apollo, I've changed my mind. I don't want to be your special friend after all."

Apollo was very surprised and a little bit angry. He couldn't take the gift of seeing the future back – once a god gives a gift, it's given! But he could add a little twist. So he said, "Alright, Cassandra. You will still see the future. But here’s the tricky part: whenever you tell someone what you see, they will never, ever believe you."

And just like that, Cassandra's amazing gift became a very difficult one.

Soon, Cassandra started seeing terrible things. She saw a giant wooden horse being brought into Troy. "Don't do it!" she cried to her family and the city leaders. "That horse is full of enemy soldiers! It's a trick!"
But everyone just patted her on the head. "Oh, Cassandra," they'd say, "what an imagination you have!" or "Don't worry your pretty little head about such things."

She warned them that their city would be attacked and burn. "Our beautiful Troy will fall!" she sobbed.
They just sighed and said, "There, there, Cassandra. It's just a bad dream."

Cassandra felt so frustrated! She knew the truth, but it was like her words just floated away, unheard.

And so, the people of Troy brought the giant wooden horse inside their city walls. That night, just as Cassandra had warned, soldiers crept out and opened the city gates. Troy was in big, big trouble. Cassandra watched, her heart full of sadness, knowing she had tried to warn them, but no one had listened.

It was a very hard lesson for everyone, and a very sad gift for Cassandra to have.

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