Once upon a time, there was a lovely little girl with golden blond hair that flowed down her shoulders in ringlets. The little girl was born with a great gift – the gift of colours, fairies, voices and many worlds of wonder. Her parents loved her so and when she was very small, they would travel with her as she told her tales of wonder.
But as she grew, all the people around her would frown and cluck their tongues when she told her tales. Nobody would travel with her anymore to her magical places.
“There are no such things as fairies”, they would say. “Dragons and snakes and gardens of wonder belong in fairy tales”.
“We’re so proud of you for being so big and grown up” they would say.
So the little girl, who so wanted to be loved, began to believe them. After all, they were adults – all the knowledge in the world was available to them in their big heavy encyclopedias and dictionaries. The words and places in the little girl’s “fairy world” didn’t appear in those books – so they couldn’t be real.
Not wanting to be different and wanting to be loved, the little girl placed her magical gift inside a beautiful golden box. She buried the box deep into the ground and decided to forget about it.
So the little girl grew up, and became an intelligent young woman. She was admired for being so rational and practical. She married a loving, rational and practical young man and they had 3 children, with the fourth on its way. The fourth child was born and was very sickly. All the doctors in the land couldn’t help her child.
One day, she met a woman who said she could teach her how to heal her child. Having nothing to lose, the young woman went to study with the teacher, but she told not a soul what she was studying for there was still no name for it in the dictionary. So she studied and took great care of her son and he thrived. So amazed was she, that she studied more. But she began to feel threatened and uneasy.
Back in the garden, something magical was happening. Deep in the ground, an old, very ancient treasure box began to stir. It began to glow until a beautiful, golden glow could be seen emanating from the earth.
Meanwhile, the restless young woman came home to tend her garden, pruning here, cutting there, everywhere but in the vicinity of the box.
In the meantime, the box glowed and glowed.
The young woman felt uneasy and lonely, empty and sad. So she walked through the garden, searching for a place to rest and be refreshed. She came upon a clearing, and to her amazement, she saw an intense glow emanating from the earth. She wanted to flee, because it reminded her of all the warnings she had been given as a little girl. But the glow was too beautiful to turn from and being curious at heart, she began to approach it. When she stepped into the light of the glow, a most beautiful sensation of completion filled her being. She felt the longing change to joy, the loneliness to contentment. Suddenly, she remembered the box of treasures she had buried as a little girl. With the help of just the perfect branch, she gently dug away the warm, fragrant earth until she reached the box. As she embraced it, it’s contents magically flowed out, filling her being with a wonder and knowledge so vast, she nearly lost her balance. So, she took a deep breath and welcomed the sensation into the core of her being, like an old friend. She walked home with her long lost treasure, all contained within her.
People everywhere noticed how different she looked. Rather than clucking their tongues and turning away, they were drawn to her for they wanted to be in her presence and feel the magic. So the young woman opened her heart and home to all who wanted to learn. The more she gave, the more she received. The more she gave, the more she learned, for by giving, she made room for more and more knowledge to come to her. And she was happy, for the longing and loneliness was replaced by love and acceptance and the joy of sharing.
Copyright Rhonda Joy Eagle, 2011
