The cold winter air sent a chill up Divine's back. She knew she would so regret shedding her outer coat half way up the hill side, but her thermal snowsuit underneath was so heavy and bulky it was hard to climb the steep slope.
Divine had just managed to climb to the top of the hill and was just about to explore a new patch of the woods when she heard a scream that echoed through the frozen hills.
Something inside her said "Turn back now. Go home!" but, being a curious child she often ignored that little voice in her head.
She started slowly towards the section of woods that the scream had come from. She stopped many times and heard nothing, but the sounds of birds and wind rustling snow covered tree branches.
Divine entered into the new woods cautiously. Then, suddenly as if by magic she was entangled in the frozen tree branches of a near by tree.
She could feel her body slowly lose its warmth and begin to freeze. Her hands started to turn to ice. The ice crystals were slowly creeping up her arms, and then she noticed in the snow below her feet was a small heart.
Divine moved one foot over to the heart and she could feel warmth flow through her body once more. The heart had some kind of magical ice melting property. She eventually was able to touch the heart with her hand, but unlike most drawings in snow this one remain the same no matter how much you stepped on it or touched it.
Then, she noticed a series of small hearts leading the way deeper into the woods. The ice branches would not let her go back the way she had came in so the only choice she had now was to follow the heart path.
NOW IT IS YOUR TURN TO CONTINUE THE STORY IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
27 comments:
Will have to think on this one. This one takes me waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone. I was a little girl who would have run back home the minute I heard that scream.
Divine moved forward, stepping cautiously into each heart, constantly looking from side to side and peering ahead into the deep, dense forest. The trees opened up as she approached, but behind her they closed up in a tangled garb of limbs and branches.
With each step she took, she could feel her own litle heart pounding with fear, anticipation and excitment. The unknown loomed ahead of her like an abyss and over her shoulder the view seemd to melt into yesterday. And then, the scream came again. What or who could it be? Was something injured and hurting, she couldn't tell. That small quiet voice inside her spoke once again, "Follow your heart, Divine", she continued on further an further into the woods, following the heart path and listening in the cold emptiness for the direction of the screams...
This is a seriously creative group!! I think I'll have to just read along for now....
...and there ahead of her in the thick snow covered brush, she saw two big eyes staring at her, and she heard the cry again. The eyes looked to be asking her to help. She moved closer. It was an animal of some sort, but one she had never seen before. Should she move forward to see if it needed help? Would it harm her?...
Divine took one step toward the unknown creature. Its eyes seemed to be asking for help. It was rather small looking similar to a new born baby deer in appearance, but it had more of a lion like mane and tail. She could see the claws were very sharp on the creature, too.
She took one tentative step after another, and just as she reached it she could see one of the ice tree branches had pierced into its side. Blood was dripping out, and the creature had just went limp. Somehow this creature was immune from the freezing powers of these trees, but it didn't stop the ice branch from piercing its leathery skin.
The little creature appeared to be in trouble, and Divine wasn't one to stand by and not get involved. Slowly, carefully, she inched forward, not wanting to scare the little animal, but keeping in mind the sharp claws. Very cautiously, Divine eased the scarf from around her neck and began to move toward the injured baby (because it appeared to be very young). She had just stopped to wonder where the mother was when she heard the rustle behind her.
with one hand out holding the scarf and the other balancing her on the edge of the frozen heart she slowly, ever so slowly turned around to face the sound that had come from behind her.
It had risen up from the heart, and it's eyes were glowing. There was also a warmth surrounding it, which grew more intense as it came closer. It reached out to her with a sharp claw that looked almost like an eagle's talons. The heat enveloped her, and all went dark...
Divine, awoke in a beautiful garden full of flowers of every kind. The glowing eyed creature now was the most magnificant bird that she had ever scene. She heard a new voice in her head that was not her own. It said, "You past the test my child."
"Oh I'm so glad that it was all just a bad dream - I was so frightened!! But wait - look at those gorgeous flowers I see - - could they ??? could they be 'lily of the valley' - all fresh and clean and sweet smelling?" Divine bent down to take in the glorious fragrance and was overcome with the scent and found herself kneeling down in prayerful thanks.......but before she knew it fell back into a deep satisfying sleep......
Not able to grasp how much time had passed Divine heard the little chirping sound mingled in with her dreams as she tried to wipe the groggy sleep from her eyes. She wanted now to awake. Her mind still remained foggy as she rubbed her eyes.
"Where am I?" she thought. Nothing was familiar anymore. It was as if she had been transported into a different time and place. Coming to her feet she tried to gain her bearings and take in the grandness of this new place. The sweet fragrance of flowers engulfed the air. Looking around, she saw what appeared to be streams and brooks of a golden liquid and overhead was a magnificent rainbow. She felt an overwhelming need to know what was happening. Where was she? Where was the little creature she had been trying to help?
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move. She looked down on the ground and near her feet was the end of her scarf. She knelt to pick it up and again saw those doe-like eyes looking at her. It was clutching her scarf...
Again she reached for the scarf, but it ran a few steps away, and out from behind the tall grass. She could see all of it now. It was not the same hurt creature, although it was the same type. This one was a bit bigger, but still quite young.
It seemed to want her to follow him. She took a few steps toward it, and looked around.
She had never seen such beauty. The flowers were the most vibrant colors she had ever seen, and she was sure she heard music...
She could hear someone humming a song that seemed slightly familiar, but she couldn't see where the sound was coming from. The perfume from the flowers and grasses was the most pleasant she had ever experienced. Divine slowly began to slowly follow this strange and interesting new animal.
Divine followed the new animal for quite some time. She was starting to get very thirsty. She came to a small creek flowing out of tree. She bent down to take a sip. It tasted like lemonaid with just a hint of strawberries. Suddenly, the new doe eyed creature looked at her and spoke.
"Now, that the water flowing from the tree of knowledge has given you the power to understand me, I have something that I must tell you."
"Our little ones are very ill", said the creature, as his big doe eyes filled up with tears. "There is a special fruit that will heal them, but we cannot get to it. That is why we called you here."
"Me?" said Divine, "But what could I do"
"The special fruit is at the other end of the rainbow", said the creature. "We cannot climb the rainbow, as our claws will tear it's very fragile threads of color. But you can do it", he growled, and pointed his claw at her...
Divine stood speechless for a moment. Of course she would help, but what a challenging task.
"But how do I begin?" she asked.
He answered with his clawed hand as he pointed with one of the sharp talons.
And as she looked, as if by magic she saw a small clearing filled with the beautiful baby animals. Some were asleep and others looked very weak. Far behind them in the distance, Divine could faintly see a rainbow.
Divine, started towards the rainbow. And the creature disapeared before her eyes.
It took her several hours of going through thick forest and grasses. But, she made it to the edge of the rainbow. She started to climb the rainbow when a jolt like static electricity made her jump back. Then, a tiny lilac fairy popped into view.
"I am the gardian of this rainbow." said the lilac fairy.
"I must climb it to get the special fruit to save the baby animals!" said Divine.
"And why should I believe you? You are but a child and a nosey one at that. Going where you are uninvited...."
Divine knew time was of the essence, and she had to think quick. What should she do? How was she to get past the lilac fairy?
Then she heard a voice. "Everything here is magic. You need only to believe." She also noticed that the scarf was back around her neck.
Suddenly she had an idea. She took the scarf from around her neck. It was her favorite scarf with a pretty garden scene on it.
She touched one of the butterflies on the scarf and it came to life. It flew over to the lilac fairy.
The fairy was mesmerized by the butterfly fluttering around her face. This was Devine's only chance, and she took it...
Divine reached out with a hesitant hand for the rainbow. It gave her a slight shock again, but not enough to stop her from beginning her climb. The little spurts of energy actually seemed to keep her attached to the beautiful array of colors. So she climbed higher...
The little fairy had disappeared below her in the clouds and the ground was no longer clearly visible. Just as she felt the first twinge of fear, she reached the peak and suddenly she could feel herself descending the other side quite rapidly.
Divine, started to excellerate with extreme speed as she was sliding down the other side of the rainbow. She closed her eyes because everything was one big blurr of color. Suddenly, she hit the bottom with a big bounce. She landed on something that was very springy. She went up in the air and tried to get her feet under her, but bounced again when her feet hit the springy thing again. This time she bounced even higher in the air. She was on her way down very quickly, and she had to think of a way to stop bouncing.
Divine just kept bouncing and bouncing. Higher and higher she went with every bounce. She started to worry, but still did not know how to stop it.
Then she remembered the words she had heard on the other side of the rainbow. "Everything here is magic. You need only to believe."
Would the magic work over here in this cold, dark world? It looks nothing like the other side with all it's colors and warmth.
Divine remembered the scarf, and realized it was yet again around her neck. But what could she do to stop her bouncing.
Then she had an idea. She flicked one end of the scarf into the air...
... and it became a big beautiful umbrella. She could see the garden scene from her scarf on the umbrella.
The umbrella caught the wind and she started to descend...
Down, down, down drifted Divine. Below she could see orchards of colorful luscious fruits.
As she drifted downward she saw her shadow cast from a bright light above. There was no mistaking what she saw.
Divine was feeling warmed by a large heart shaped sunbeam making it's way down onto the fields below.
Could it be...oh my, she glanced up and saw the opening... yes indeed, she must have slipped on the edge of the ice encrusted heart and fallen inside it... down into this stunningly beautiful misty underworld.
She would need to figure out how to get back up and out... but first she must save the baby animals.
For a momemt, Divine had to stop to take in the loveliness of the orchard. Beautiful little white trees and all of them heavy with friut: A pretty little heart shaped red berry. And the berries were heavy on each tree as far as she could see in all directions.
Divine knew instictively that these berries were what she had been sent after. Their perfume was very heady and she felt a bit dizzy... maybe a little sleepy even. Fighting the need to give in to sleep, Divine had an idea. Looking down, she saw her mystical, magical scarf at her feet and began thinking slowly and with increasing difficulty.
"I'll use the scarf like a basket to gather as many of these berries as I can hold."
She took a step toward the nearest tree, where the fruit grew within easy reach. But her step was unsteady, and with her next step she fell to the ground.
When she fell to the ground, she landed on a heart shape berry that was on the ground. Divine looked around and there were so many of the berries that had fallen from the tree. She scooped them all up into her scarf basket. She just packed it all up when a pink fairy flew by her ear. "I am the gardian of the heart berries. May I ask why might you be gathering up the ones that I have set to sprout new heart berry trees." said the pink fairy.
"I need them to save the baby animals on the other side of the rainbow." Said Divine.
"Well, then you must be in a hurry then so take this." The pink fairy handed her a pair of red sparkly shoes with little wings attached.
Divine placed the shoes on her feet and was suddenly back to the garden with the sick baby animals. She went about giving each of the animals a heart berry. "Thank you for saving us," said all the babies.
The story book cover shuts, and in David's lap sound asleep is his 4 year old daughter Divine. He slowly takes her up stairs to bed. He kisses her goodnight, and wishes her fairytale dreams.
Post a Comment