The Pool of Dreams

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Skye that couldn’t fall asleep. She twisted and turned, tried counting sheep and playing with her toys. But nothing seemed to help.

"I know" said Skye, "I’ll go for a walk in the woods." So she got out of bed, opened the door and started walking. She walked and hummed and hummed and walked and before you know it, she passed all the things and places she’d seen before.

Soon she noticed something was missing. She walked a little farther and then she figured it out. The animals had all disappeared. "I wonder where they could be" thought Skye..

She walked and wondered and wondered and walked and pretty soon she came to a strange part of the woods. And there she found all the animals gathered around a little pool of water. "Is this the Pool of Dreams that my father told me about?" thought Skye.

She squeezed in for a better look between a chipmunk and a turtle. A bullfrog sitting on a lily pad said "Ribit, lay down, Ribit  and put your Ribit face in the water Ribit, Ribit." So the little girl did what she was told and stuck her face in the water.

At first the water stung Skye’s eyes and she couldn’t see a thing. Then her vision cleared and she saw herself, then another self. The deeper she looked, the more selves she saw till they dwindled and she saw nothing of herself, only her parents. Then nothing of them, only their parents. Then nothing of them.

Other people started to appear and disappear the deeper she looked until she fell through her vision and saw only the night. She pulled her head out of the water and found she was alone. All of the animals had gone home. She thought she’d go home too, but when she tried to find her way back home, she couldn’t!

It grew dark, so she came back to the pool. And there, still sitting on a lily pad was the bull frog. Only this time, it looked like her brother Devon. Then she understood.

So she jumped in the water and before you could say jack rabbit, she was back in her own bed and Devon was poking her saying "Wake up Skye, Wake up. It’s time to get up and play. Want to look for the pool of dreams today?"

By Johnny Mayer.
Copyright 1999 Johnny Mayer.

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