Milton's Secret

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Juvenile Fiction $18.95 US I $20.95 C N

c6Discooering the Potoer of NomMilton has a wonderful secret. Andnow you can discover it too!Milton is a happy kid until a schoolbully starts to push him around.Now he worries all the time aboutwhat the bully will do to him whenhe's at school.BUL Milton encounters a fewsituations (including a very speciallesson from Snuggles the cat)that help him understand a veryimportant thing: the only way tobe happy is to live in the Now.For the first time, Eckhart Tolleand co-author Robert S. Friedmanbring the concept of the best-selling T he P o w er o f N ow toa story for children. Thought-provoking, beautifully illustrated,and a wonderful teaching tool forparents, M i lto n 's S ec re t will inspireand help children who must facedifficult encounters at school, onthe playground, and everywhere.


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Eckhart TolleRobert S . FriedmanMilton's Secret

An Adventure of Discovery through Then, When, and the Power of NowIllustrated by Frank Riccio

!!)Nam as te P u bl is l> il lg ....fl HAMPTON ROADS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . : p o < PUBLISHING COMP~NY.INC.


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Milton, a bright and cheerfulboy, loved life. He loved his momand dad and his nice house.He loved his cat Snuggles.


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\....001 and his teacher. A . . , .0 . se ll- , ~Y.J.rse .~e-l"~ll.sO ' . /).

He loved to play dodgeball at recess.


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But most of all, he loved going to the ice-cream shop with his dad after dinner to gethis favorite sundae.


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One day at school, he was playing catchwith his friend, Timmy, when a mean-looking,much bigger boy named Carter walked over tohim, screwed up his face, and said, "Milton.What kinda name is Milton? You weirdo."Suddenly, he pushed Milton so hard that hestumbled and fell to the ground, scraping bothknees.


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Confused and frightened, Miltonfought back hi tears.

Just then, Mrs. Ferguson ran overand took him by the hand.

"Go back to your classroom atonce," she said to Carter.While walking away, Carter

glanced back at Milton, mumblingsomething under his breath thatsounded like, "I'll get you next time."


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In the evening, his par-ents and his GrandpaHoward, who was visitingwith them, noticed hewasn't the same Milton. Hedidn't smile much, hepicked at his food, and hewasn't even excited aboutgoing to the ice-cream shopafter dinner."What's the matter withyou, Milton? Is somethingwrong?" his mother asked."No, nothing," saidMilton.

That night, Milton couldn't get to sleep. He wasthinking about what happened-and what would hap-pen when he ran into Carter next time."Why did he pick on me," he kept thinking, overand over.

"Why met'"What's he going to do to me next time?"The more he thought about all of this, the morefrightened he became. He thought about it so much that

he became more and more scared until he completelyforgot that he was in a warm bed in his little room.


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In the morning, Milton was so tired he couldn't stoprubbing his eyes .He headed downstairs to do what he did first thingevery morning-give Snuggles his breakfast. But when heopened the door to the kitchen, oh what a sight! Therewas Snuggles all beaten up. His right paw was bleeding, itlooked like a chunk had been taken out of his left ear, andhe was missing several patches of hair.Milton let out a scream. "Oh, poor Snuggles! Whathappened to you?"

He picked him up straight away and rubbed his cheeksagainst his furry body.


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"I bet it was that Brutus. He's supposed to always belocked in his yard. Poor Snuggles."His parents and his grandpa, hearing Milton scream,came running to see what was going on."Look what happened to Snuggles!" Milton blurtedout. "Itmust have been Brutus.""Who's Brutus?" asked Grandpa Howard."He's the Doberman across the street," Miltonreplied. "His owners haven't trained him right, and he's amean dog."Milton took Snuggles to the sink in the kitchen wherehe and his mom washed Snuggles's wounds and band-

aged his ear and paw.


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Once Snuggles was all cleaned up, Milton car-ried him to the couch in the living rOOI11to cuddleand comfort him.

Grandpa Howard sat in an armchair watchingMilton.In no time at all, Snuggles, resting on Milton'schest, was purring blissfully. The purring was sostrong that it made Milton feel warm and tinglyinside, all through his chest and back.

This set Milton to wondering."Grandpa," Milton asked, "How can Snuggles

be so happy just after being beaten up?"


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"Milton, cats are not like humans. Snugglescan easily let go of what happened yesterday, andhe doesn't worry about tomorrow. He lives in theNow. That's why he's happy even though not longago Brutus was attacking him. Most people don'tlive in the Now because they think of yesterday ortomorrow most of the time. And a lot of the timethey are unhappy."Milton paused for a moment then asked, "TheNow? What does that mean, Grandpa? What'sthe Now?"

"Milton? ""Yes, Grandpa.""Pay attention to what's around you. Look ...listen. "


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Then, preading his arms as wide as hecould, Grandpa said, "This is the Now."

"Oh, wow!" exclaimed Milton."Wherever you are," said Grandpa, "that's

the Now. You just have to pay attention."


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"Grandpa," Milton asked "Can you alwayslive in the Now like Snuggles?"

'Sometimes I can," said Grandpa Howard,"But, no, not always."

Just then, Milton's mom called from thekitchen. "Come and get your breakfast, Milton,or you'll be late for school."


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That day at school, hewatched out for Carter. Helooked for him down the halls,

in the lunchroom,in the bathroom,on the playground.He didn't want to run intohim again.


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In the eveningafter dinner, Miltonand Grandpa w~ ~ i ( l _the backyard. M '1 'onlooked worried agaid, lr;a~..:JIUIIIso Grandparsaid tohim, "Your morn anddad think something~ .has bee?-.bptheph~you, Milton, an I


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inside him start up again ..After a while he said,"A boy in the sixthgrade pushed me down in theschool yard-and just becausemy name is Milton ..He's so big,Grandpa, what if he tries to do it again?"Grandpa, holding up his right hand, signaledwith his index finger. HIf he ever tries to hurt youagain, promise me you'll tell your mom or dad atonce, and you should also tell your teacher."

"Okay, Ipromise," said Milton."When did this happen?" asked Grandpa."Yesterday. "H I see," said Grandpa, "yesterday. That was When ithappened. But it's not happening now, is it?"Milton, angry and frustrated, said, "Of course it'snot happening now. But I'm worried he'll try to do itagain."

Grandpa replied, "If he does, it will beThen, won't it? You're worrying about Thenand thinking about When. Aren't you forget-ting something? Then and When are in yourhead. They are not here No u/ ; are they?""I don't understand," said Milton."Then and When are in my head?What are you talking about?"But Grandpa didn'trespond. He just lookedat him with deepunderstanding, andsmiled.


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His legs are wobbly and about to give way.Milton stops dead in his tracks.What can he do ?Just then, he looks to his right and sees a littledoor. It looks like the entrance to some kind ofstore.He quickly opens the door and, to his surprise,finds himself inside the ice-cream shop!"Ah, here you are. I've been waiting for you,Milton" the ice-cream lady says."I'm being chased by a boy named Carter, andthere is a big dog who wants to hurt me, too,"Milton blurts out."Nobody's chasing you, and there's no dog

out there going to hurt you. It's all in your head.""No, it isn't," says Milton. "They're out therewaiting for me."


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"Sit down honey. Let me show you something,"says the ice-cream lady."The new sundae-of-the-month ... choco-cadabra?""No, it's something even better," she replies.She reaches under the counter and takes out a ballof glowing white light on an ice-cream dish. Miltonhas a strange feeling that the light is alive."That's no ice cream," says Milton. "What is it?""It's a light bubble, honey. Isn't it beautiful?"Right then, the light bubble goes "POP" and burstsinto a shower of sparkles. Milton is left staring at theempty dish.


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"Oh no, it's gone," says Milton.'


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"Yes, it is," the ice-cream ladyinterrupts. "The light is in the flower,too. That's why it's so beautiful. Any-where else?"Milton looks into her big, browneyes."Your eyes are so bright," he says."I think the light is in you, too.""You're right, honey ..You see, thelight is in everything, always. Itgiveslife to everything."Milton looks down at this body."What about me? Ian't see any lightinside me.""No, you can't see it in yourself,but you can always feel it.""I can?" asks Milton."Sure, it's easy. Let me ask you aquestion: Are you alive?""Of course, I'm alive," says Milton."Are you just saying that, or canyou actually feel that you are alive?""What do you mean?" asks Milton.

"Start with your hands. Can youfeel the light inside them?"


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Milton closes his eyes for a moment. "I'm gettinga tingly feeling inside my hands."

"That' it," says the ice-cream lady. "You're feel-ing the light. Can you feel i t in your feet, too?"

"Yes, Ian.""Your arms and legs?""Ye .", Can you feel the light inside your whole body?""My whole body feels kind of warm and tingly."Milton looks around the room. "Everything

looks a bit different, too. Just like when my grandpawas talking to me about the Now."


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"That's right, Milton. Grandpa showed you theoutside of the Now. And this shows you the inside."

"The inside of the Now?" asks Milton."Yes, when you feel the light inside your body,

you are in the Now. And you're not scared any-more, The light helps you feel strong."

"Really?" says Milton. "That's great.""And now that you know what it's like, you canfeel the light inside you whenever you want to.""Oh, that's double great!" exclaims Milton."Let's keep the inside of the Now a secret just

between the two of us, okay? Most people are notready to understand this."

"No problem," Milton replies.


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"No problem. No problem," Milton was stillmurmuring to himself when he woke up from hisdream and found himself in his warm bed.He opened his eyes.The half-moon was casting its pale light on hisbed. The tree in the yard outside his window wasvery still. Only a few leaves moved in the breeze.There was the noise of a car passing by ... then itwas still again.Even now he could feel the tingling inside hiswhole body.For no reason at all, Milton felt happy.


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But on the school bus that morning,Miltonstarted thinking and worrying again, and he feltscared of going to school.


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Then he remembered what the ice-cream ladyhad told him in the dream. "Feel the light insideyour body, and you won't be scared anymore."Milton decided he had nothing to lose by tryingit out. So he did. There was that tingling again inhis hands, and then in his feet ... then he could feelthe light inside his whole body again.Now lam in the Now, thought Milton. It feelsgood to be in the Now.


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That afternoon in class, Milton raised hishand and asked to go to the bathroom.Mrs ..Ferguson smiled and nodded her head.


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Milton was washing his hands in the bathroomand enjoying the feel of the cool water when thecubicle door behind him opened, and someonestepped out. Milton glanced in the mirror and sawthe figure of a big boy looming behind him. Theboy looked at himself in the mirror for a moment,paying no attention to Milton.

How unhappy he looks, thought Milton. Thensuddenly, oh no! He realized the boy was Carter.

Carter gave the short hair on his head a rub withboth hands, put on his cocky face, and walked outof the bathroom.

He's unhappy, so he wants to make otherunhappy, too, thought Milton. But I'm not going tobe scared of him anymore. Milton felt the light inhis body. I'm not going to be scared of anything oranybody anymore.


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That afternoon Milton got home just in timeto say goodbye to Grandpa, who was gettingready for the drive back home.

"Grandpa," Milton said excitedly, "I'm notscared anymore-e-of Carter or of anybody. And Iknow the secret of staying in the Now, just likeSnuggles. ""What is it," asked Grandpa?

Milton got close to Grandpa and whispered inhis ear, "You have to find the inside of the Now."

"The inside of the Now? Where do I findthat? "

"I can't tell you. It's a secret. But I know youcan find it out for yourself."


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! : ! . ) Namas t : ePubI i sh ingpublisher of ckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.

A New Earth, and other healing and tran formationalbook audios, and DVDwww.namastepublishing.com 250-954-1693

HAMPTON ROADSP U B L IS H IN G C O M P A N Y , IN C .

publishes books on a variety of subjects,including spirituality health,and other related topics

www.hrpub.com 434-296-2772
http://www.hrpub.com/http://www.hrpub.com/


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ECKHART TOLLE is acontemporary spiritual teacher whois not aligned with any particularreligion or tradition. He is author ofthe bestselling The Power oj Now andA New Earth. He lives in Vancouver,Canada.ROBERT S, FRIEDMANis president and co-founderof Hampton Roads PublishingCompany, Inc. He lives inCha rlo ttesville, Virginia.FRANK RICCIO is an award-winning illustrator and lives inCharlottesville, Virginia. He isthe illustrator for the bestsellingchildren's book, The Little Soul andthe Sun.

HAMPTON ROADSP U B L IS H IN G C O M P A N Y , IN C .

Cover desigll by Mayapriya L o n g, B o ok w n gh tsP M t il ed i ll CM l la


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"When he finullv falls asleep, Milton findshimself in a strange dream . . ."

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Milton's Secret