I was standing on the river bank. A heavy mist had descended, which seemed to envelop the entire surrounding valley. No one could see me through the mist, as I stood there, lonely and suffering. I could hear the voice of the stream, which seemed to be floating .  .  . floating away like a long lost dream.

With hope in my heart, I crossed the river bank and there I saw a little girl sitting on a boulder, which looked as if it had been gently shaped by a thousand years of the river’s flow. The little girl smiled at me and then she spoke, her words being those of an ancient incantation.

Suddenly, a boat appeared on the water. It was filled to overflowing with beautiful blue flowers. A boy was rowing the boat and he smiled at the girl and an aura of sunshine emanated from both of them.

I called out to them, “What a beautiful day!” But they didn’t seem to hear me. Then I remembered that flower-fairies cannot hear. So I waved to them and they beckoned to me to take a seat onboard. Using the stepping stones, which had magically appeared, I stepped aboard and sat down.

But what was our destination, I wondered. Would we come to the edge of the mist and emerge on the other side into a magical land?

The warbling of the gently flowing stream had an intoxicating effect on me and I soon drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, I found myself in a beautiful garden. The flower-fairies were nowhere to be seen. I searched the entire garden but all I could find were the butterflies and the bees dancing and playing among the flowers.

I sat down on a fallen log and a blue lark sang to me, “The two seeds of your dream are sleeping in God’s arms. Next season, they will become a boy and a girl once again.”

I realised that the energy inside me had produced the vision of the flower-fairies to gladden my heart. When I think of it now, I can still see the empty boat shining like a rainbow on that river.

artwork:   Sylvia Roff-Marsh