~~~Sarah Finds a Different Place~~~

Sarah Kathleen had big blue eyes and long dark hair that hung over her shoulders and far down her back.

Most of the time there was a happy smile on her face or one just about to be. When she smiled and laughed, her eyes sparkled and her whole body seemed to smile too. She would jump and skip and turn circles as she walked or ran and her hands would flutter like a butterfly’s wings, here, there and everywhere.

Sarah was not smiling on this day. She was walking, putting one foot slowly in front of the other, head down; her arms quiet at her sides.

“What’sa matter, Sarah…? Are you okay? You aren’t sick today are you? What’s wrong?”

“Nuthin…” she said, not looking up.

Sarah’s little sister, Penny, looked at her and sighed. Something must be wrong, she was thinking, usually they would run or skip, hand in hand to the school bus stop, laughing and giggling all the way.

“Are you sure nothin’s wrong?” asked Penny again.

Sarah just kept walking.

It was a pretty day, the sun was coming up fast; the air was chilly but not cold.

Sarah had just celebrated her ninth birthday a couple weeks before; she was two years older than her little sister.

It was Spring; the middle of April, but Sarah didn’t hear the birds singing; didn’t see the orange breasted Robin hurry into the sky as a squirrel ran up the tree, didn’t look at the golden Daffodils or the Morning Glory’s bright in the sunshine.

When she first woke that morning the house was quiet, no one else was awake yet. She padded across the cold floor to her closet for the Jean skirt she had decided to wear; it wasn’t there. The soiled laundry was still in a plastic ribbed basket next to the washing machine.

She chose instead a pair of faded blue jeans and a matching blouse and went into the bathroom to brush her hair. As she looked into the mirror she saw a frown on her face and quickly looked away.

As she went down the hall; her two little brothers, Ben and Tommy, tumbled out of their room fighting over a toy truck.

“You cut it out! Right now!” she tried to keep her voice down. Benjamin was four and Thomas was two.

“I had it first!” screamed Ben.

“Did not; did not! I did!” shouted Tommy.

“Keep those kids quiet!” Sarah’s mother called out from her bedroom. “Go fix them some breakfast!”

“Okay, mom...” Sarah quietly answered. “C’mon you guys, let’s find something to eat.”

In the kitchen, Sarah’s older brother Nathan was munching on a bowl of cereal. “Nyah, nyah, nyah…!” he teased as she herded the boys into the room, “that’s the last of the good cereal; you have to have the yucky healthy stuff! Hahah!”

Sarah’s older sister, Elizabeth, stuck her head in the door: “Where are my pink socks? Are they in your room? Have you been wearing my stuff again?”

“Nobody did the laundry,” said Sarah, “they’re like probably still dirty, I don’t have them!”

“Sure! Fine!” hissed Elizabeth. “I gotta have those socks!”

Elizabeth was fourteen and thought her little sister Sarah was a copycat twirp; Nathan, twelve, treated her the same way.

Just yesterday, Sarah’s favorite girlfriend, Molly, had invited a bunch of her friends to a birthday party, but she didn’t ask Sarah. Then Sarah learned that Molly had asked Kevin and he was going.

Kevin was Sarah’s best boy friend and he rode the same school bus.

Sarah did not want to see him.

When they got on the bus, Penny ran to sit with a friend. Sarah walked slowly to the back of the bus and sat down in an empty seat. She looked out the window but saw nothing; she just did not want to look inside the bus at the others.

The big yellow bus jerked into motion. “All you kids sit down and be quiet!” shouted the bus driver. “No talking and no changing seats!”

Sarah kept looking out the window, not seeing the blossoms on the trees or the mass of yellow flowers in the field alongside the road.

‘All I do is take care of Benji and Tommy,’ she thought silently; ’Penny doesn’t help and Liz and Nathan just pick on me all the time.’ She frowned again and closed her eyes as a bright flash of sunshine swept through the window of the bus. She kept her eyes closed, trying not to hear the whispers of the other children up and down the

aisle.

‘I wish I could go somewhere else,’ she thought, ‘somewhere really nice with no hassles.’

The school bus ran over a bump in the road and bounced her almost off the seat. She was startled and her eyes flashed open.

It was completely dark and quiet; there was no sound at all, even the air was still. Sarah could not see a single thing.

“Whoa! That’s really weird!” she said out loud.

She became frightened as she took a deep breath. She looked in several directions, straining to see into or through the darkness. There was nothing. She wrapped her arms around herself, “Where am I?”

Sarah jumped and shivered as a calm voice seemed to speak from inside her head. “You are here.”

“What..?” she gasped, “who are you?” Where am I?”

“I am…” said the voice, “and you are here.”

Sarah’s eyes were wide open but unseeing and she was shaking. “But where is here? I don’t understand!”

“Here is where you want it to be.” said the voice.

“Why is it so d-dark?”

“Because it is...”

“Can you make it light?” asked Sarah?

“Yes.” answered the voice, softly.

“Well, do it then! Please.”

Even as she spoke the words, a soft globe of light appeared before her and grew; larger and larger in all directions. Sarah held her breath as the light passed through her body and kept on expanding.

It was light now, dim, but in all directions; but there was nothing to see. She looked in all directions. Nothing at all...

She spun around on her heels and looked each way again. Nothing, nothing,

nothing….

“But there is nothing here!” she said, almost in tears.

“But, there is everything here.” said the voice.

“Where…?” she cried out. “Where?”

There was no answer.

Sarah sat straight down, crossing her legs as she did; putting her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees. “Huh? What…?” Her eyes and mouth were wide open.

When she sat, she sank up to her waist. She looked in amazement and put her hand into the misty, swirling floor; it went down to her elbow. She jerked her arm back.  “What is this place” Where am I?” she said again, loudly.

“This is here,” said the voice, “and you are here…”

Sarah sat, or floated, quiet for a long moment.

‘I know!’ she thought, ‘it’s a dream, I’m having a dream; a really weird dream!’

She looked all around her again and up and down. Every direction looked a little foggy, or misty, like it was there and wasn’t there at the same time.

After a moment she stood and began walking in a straight line as much as she could; nothing changed.

“Why is there nothing here?” she asked out loud.

The voice in her head answered. “Everything is here.”

“Where…?”

“Anywhere… Everywhere....” came the quiet answer.

“Do you always answer my questions?” asked Sarah.

“Yes, always.”

“Why am I here?”

“Because you wished it...”

“Who are you?”

“I am you and…something more…”

Sarah stopped walking and stood thinking. She sat down again on the floor that was not at floor and watched it gather around her waist.

“Can I go back?”

“Yes.”

She looked all around again. “If everything is here, then why can’t I see anything?”

“Thus far you have only asked for light.” said the voice.

“You mean all I have to do is ask?”

“Yes…but there is more…”

Sarah smiled with a mischievous grin. “I wanna see grass and flowers and some trees and the sky and the sun and I want to see a big white Unicorn, right here! There! Betcha can’t do all that!”

She had not completed the breath she took after speaking when she felt and smelled the warm fragrant air of summer. The sky was deep blue and the sun was high and bright. She was sitting in sweet smelling tall seeded grass and birds were calling and swooping and landing in trees all around her.

“Oh my gosh!” she gasped as she turned to a sound and saw a magnificent white Unicorn pawing the ground with a front hoof, his single twisted horn glistening in the sun. “Oh my goodness gosh almighty!”

“Wow! He’s beautiful! Everything is beautiful!” she looked all around. “Can I ride him?”

“If you wish…” answered the voice.

“O’boy, O’boy, Oh,boy! Wowsers!” squealed Sarah as she ran to the Unicorn. As she came close, it lowered to both front knees and shook its head so that the long mane hung down on one side. Sarah grabbed hold of the coarse hair and pulled herself up on his back.

The large animal raised up on all four’s again as Sarah hung on to the mane, surprised at how far off the ground she was. After a moment, she sat up straight, with her legs hanging down on each side of the broad warm back and said: “Giddyup! Let’s go!”

The Unicorn did not move.

Sarah said again: “Giddyup, C’mon, Let’s go!”

The Unicorn turned his head and fixed one large brown eye upon her: “I must have a name before I can do as you wish.”

Sarah gasped in amazement. “You can talk?”

“Without a name, I am just a thing without identity. I need to know who I am to you, so that I may become that to all who see me.” The Unicorn spoke in a deep but comforting voice, different from the voice in her head.

“This is crazy!” said Sarah, “animals don’t talk! How can I talk to an animal?”

The Unicorn tossed its head and made a snuffling sound and looked back over his shoulder again. “You asked for me even though you know there are no Unicorns in your world. So here I am! But I must have a name before I can do your bidding. It is so!”

Sarah shook her head back and forth several times. “Am I really here? I mean really? I can’t think...What kind of a name? What name would you like to have?”

“You must choose.” said the Unicorn. The name you give me must match that which you expect me to be. I can not be more or less than that which you name me.”

“But a name is just a name!” said Sarah. “You are what you are!”

“Since you called me forth, I can only be what you think I am,” said the Unicorn, “therefore, my name must tell me what I am to be, what you think I am, what you believe me to be.”

Sarah tilted her head to one side and then back to the other. “You are a boy Unicorn, right? Not a girl?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Then you must have a strong name!” said Sarah. “I will name you… I will call you, ‘Gallant Heart!’ so that you may be brave and courageous but still caring about others! There!”

“As you wish, Sarah… I shall, from this day forward be known as ‘Gallant Heart’ and I shall do as you command.”

Sarah listened and nodded and thought for a moment. “Gallant Heart, are there other Unicorns like you in this place?”

“There are none but I.”

Sarah smiled and raised her right arm above the Unicorn’s neck. “Then let there be hundreds of Unicorns! Let them be of all sizes and colors and ages and boys and girls and let them be of great courage and kindness like Gallant Heart!”

The voice inside Sarah’s head said gently: “It is so.”

Sarah and Gallant Heart moved slowly through the beautiful valley she had seen in her mind, passing trees and flowering bushes, crossing bubbling clear streams and climbing gently rolling hills of flowing grass.

“Whoa, Gallant Heart!” she suddenly said. “There are no people here! There should be people! Let there be villages with friendly people and children and dogs and cats and cows and goats and pigs and chickens and farms and barns and all the things that people have to live a good life! I wish it to be!”

The voice in Sarah’s head spoke quietly again: “It is so.”

Sarah sat easily on Gallant Hearts back and watched as roads and trails and fences popped into view. Farm houses and barns followed, emerging from a shimmering light that surround her and the Unicorn.

As Sarah looked in all directions, swinging her head and uttering small squeals of surprise and joy, Gallant Heart turned his head and fixed the same single eye upon her. “Is it as you wished, Sarah?”

Sarah was surprised that the Unicorn had started a conversation, but she quickly answered. “Oh, yes! It is beautiful! Just like I thought it would be before there were cars and trucks and all the modern stuff.” She looked off to one side. “Let’s go over there!” she pointed down a side road, nudging the Unicorn’s sides with her knees.

The trail twisted around trees and bushes and rose and fell through low hills as Sarah and Gallant Heart traveled slowly along, looking at each and every thing that came into view. Rabbits and squirrels and deer and birds of all colors and sizes seemed to pause just long enough to be seen and then scurry or flit away. Sarah smiled and smiled and smiled again.

“Whoa, Gallant Heart, Whoa!” she said suddenly and turned her head this way and that. “I hear something. Shhh…There it is again! It sounds like a baby crying! That way! Over there…” Sarah pointed to a narrow side trail.

They moved slowly around bushes and under low hanging branches, she ducked down low on Gallant Hearts back and pushed branches away as they made their way toward the sound.

The undergrowth thinned out and opened into a clearing with a single tall, heavily branched tree standing next to a sparkling stream that gurgled and burbled in the silence. At the base of the tree was a woven wicker basket. The sound of an unhappy baby was clearly coming from the basket.

Sarah slipped down from Gallant Hearts back, holding onto his mane as her feet touched the ground. She ran to the basket and bent over and looked inside. Her hands flew up, fingers wide apart, palms out as she stumbled back a full step and tried to squelch a small scream.

Inside the woven basket lay a perfectly formed infant about three months of age, mouth open wide crying furiously, kicking and waving its arms wildly back and forth.

The baby’s eyes were wide open and colored a clear yellow that blended nicely with the unripe banana green colored skin and the sharply pointed green ears.

Sarah put both hands to her mouth and turned to look at Gallant Heart who just happened to be looking in the opposite direction.

The baby cried even louder after being startled by Sarah. She hesitated a moment, then kneeled and reached into the basket and took the child into her arms. As she did, a bottle rolled down the side of the basket; Sarah picked it up and pressed the nippled end to the baby’s mouth.

The infant made a final whimper as the nipple disappeared and both tiny hands rose up to grasp the bottle. Sarah noticed there were only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. It became quiet in the meadow as she held the baby, rocking it slowly back and forth in her arms and cooing softly as the baby nursed and stared up into her blue eyes.

So quickly that Sara