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Secret
Life of Bubbles
by
Sarah Gallant
"This satisfies
my urgent need for solitude,"
I thought
to myself as I sat quietly on a tree stump
deep in the
forest.
The scents
of pine and honeysuckle hung
delightfully
heavy in the air.
Treetops
bowed to some invisible entity
as the wind
whistled past, sounding notes
I faintly
recognized.
I watched,
and listened, mesmerized.
So deep was
the connection I felt to earth and heaven,
both seemed
to merge, in iridescent hues,
swirling,
spiraling designs
that melded
with the remnants of long-forgotten dreams.
All motion
ceased, and a bridge stood before me
with a sign
pointing that read
"TO THE FUTURE."
Millions
of bubbles rising from a stream below
floated around
the bridge, dancing on the breeze.
Extending
my arm with open hand, a delicately formed sphere
came to rest
on my palm.
It seemed
to breathe, then to vibrate,
and bursting
open, a tiny fairy appeared.
"Who are
you?" I questioned her, surprised.
"I am," she
replied, "Does it matter who?
Isn`t the
fact that I am enough for you?"
"Well, ummm
. . ." I stammered, at a loss for words.
"Follow me!"
she said with dainty wings drumming the air.
And so I
followed that captivating creature.
so bold and
yet so small;
that tiny
fantasy, or was she
(real, or
the makings of a broken mind
or an
overactive imagination?),
across the
bridge to the other side.
What lie
beyond the bridge, much to my dismay,
was a vast,
vast space
filled with
unidentifiable shapeshifting forms in spectra gray;
nothing at
all like the glorious colors and designs
I had just
seen 1/4 mile behind
"So this
is it?" I thought "Interesting, no doubt . . .
but so drab,
so vague,
and certainly
not what I had envisioned."
And that
tiny little being who somehow knew,
said as she
handed me a rainbow colors palette
and paintbrush
with crystal handle:
"Paint the
day, I have uncovered the Way,
the rest
is up to you!"
She then
quickly withdrew into a circle of vibrant light,
scattering
fairy dust before its radius
diminished
and disappeared from sight.
I was again
aware of the tree stump,
the honeysuckle
and the pine.
"How long
have I been sitting here?"
I thought
aloud,
"It must
be way past early afternoon."
Feeling something
in my pocket,
I reached
inside, pulling out
a paintbrush
with a finely faceted crystal handle.
I held it
up in front of me, enchanted,
as the setting
sun`s rays became
refracted
beams splayed into exquisite
patterns
at my feet.
The light
then consolidated, forming an arrow
directing
my gaze toward the sky,
where I caught
a glimpse of a bubble,
a delicately
formed sphere, floating up . . . up . . .,
and I watched
with my entire being
until it
faded from view.
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This page last updated September 24, 2000