Teth'Ala

The Crystal Dreamer. (©SunBlind)

The world was asleep, dreaming crystal dreams, as the silver moon travelled through silent skies. The wind whispered sweet memories of love and laughter to the midnight sleepers. The world was quiet and still when the crystal dreamer woke.

The colt woke in a world he could not comprehend. The noises, the sounds and the constant rush of montrous metallic machines. The earth was hard, no grass beneath his hooves. The sky was obscured by giant stone structures. And mingling amongst all this chaos were the two legged humans, glaring at each other and they brushed shoulder to shoulder in the crowded passageways. Cowering in the shelter of a doorway, Teth'Ala watched all this with a fascinated horror.

The door opened behind him, pushing him into the masses walking down the street. The humans shouted insults at each other, saying to "Look where you're going!" But they didn't notice the young unicorn in their midst. They had forgotten how.

Terrified, Teth'Ala raced through the crowds, weaved his way between the growled, smoking cars on the street. He didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that it had to be somewhere other than here. Somewhere far away and safe from this nightmare from which he found he could not wake.

Eventually he found his way to a park, and oasis of soft grass in a desert of concrete. There he stopped to rest, the sounds of the streets muffled by the gently whispering trees. But even the trees were not the same, they moaned about the poisonous air they had to breath, the tainted ground from which they drew their life. Even this was not a happy place. And Teth'Ala found that he was not alone in his sorrows. A young girl child wept as she sat unmoving upon a swing, while a group of other children played a short distance away.

Even in his fear, the young unicorn was drawn to this sad child as if compelled by some force to make her feel happy. And so he went to her and rested his head upon her lap. Feeling his soft warmth, she looked down at the gentle eyes that pleaded for her to stop crying. She smiled and held him for a while.

But time did not stop, and the afternoon became evening. It was time for the children of the orphanage to leave the park and go back inside to have dinner. Teth'Ala followed but refused to enter the building, prefering to remain in the park. The girl was disappointed but understood. She'd rather stay in the park too.

It rained heavily, so it was a week before the girl returned to the park. At first she thought her unicorn had left her, but he was there, waiting. Once more he lay his head upon her lap and allowed to dream of things she never thought possible.

For years the unicorn awaited the girl in the park. There she dreamed dreams she could not dream while within the walls of the orphanage. He gave her hope that there was something beyond those walls, even beyond the park. A place she might one day go. And so together they grew up.

Though she had never been adopted, one day she rushed to the park and wrapped her arms around her stallion friend. She was leaving the orphanage, she told him excitedly. She was old enough now to live on her own. Teth'Ala was stunned. The girl was leaving, leaving him alone in the park, the only place he could be safe in this world.

He watched her leave. She didn't need her childhood dreams anymore. They were something she would cherish even as she grew old. An invisible friend no one else could see but gave her more comfort than she could put into words. A story of wonder she would tell her children and grandchildren. A story to give them something to dream about.

But Teth'Ala felt nothing but tired, like he had not slept in ages. As darkness fell he sought a safe place amongst the trees where he lay down to rest a while, fading from this nightmare from which he could not wake......

The world was asleep, dreaming crystal dreams, as the silver moon travelled through silent skies. The wind whispered sweet memories of love and laughter to the midnight sleepers. The world was quiet and still but for the sound of a young boy child, alone and friendless, crying quietly in his bed. The crystal dreamer woke.

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• Text © SunBlind
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