Summer Dreams

My mother used to tell me a story
when we would sit out in our yard
and look up at the gleaming stars on a
warm summer night, and all around
was quietude, save for the chirping crickets
singing their soft evening melody to the
setting sun that had just left for her bright
western lands on the other side of the earth.
We would sit out on the cooling grass
just getting damp with crystal dew, and I
would nestle close to her as she whispered:

Once upon a time in a fantastical land
far, far away and a long time ago,
there was a beautiful island far out in
the sea, where grew a flourishing forest
all dense with healthy green foliage and vividly
sprouting flowers that grew in all colors of the
world; there were pinks and blues in all sorts
of wondrous shades, deep crimson clovers,
pure white lilies, royal carpets of violets,
and all other blossoms that could ever be named.

And the creatures that lived there! Well! Never was
there such a sight as the island during the budding
spring days, all just thawing out from a snow-laced
winter, everything simply teeming with life and
joy; this joy, you know, derived from the wonderful
happening of new calves, new colts, new piglets,
new lambs, new pups, new cubs, new fledglings, all
scarcely entering this new and strange land that
would become as familiar to them as this house is
to you. To them, now, though, everything was curious
and odd, but not yet dangerous or worthy of their
cautious step. All was soft as their mother's womb,
and nothing could hurt them while their loving
parent yet stood near like a comforting shadow.

But never did anyone see any creature so
majestic and beautiful and glorious as the fabled
fire lizard. the folk of the island, who lived alongside the
many prolific animals there, would say that it was
the very heart of the island, the life force of their home.
As it breathed, so too did the inhabitants, and
as it shifted in its sleep, the ripples would cause the
fields to become ripe, and the creatures and people
to prosper and live in plenty and peace. Everyone
on the island slept in ease with their protector caring
for their every need and want.

And as she would say this, my mother would
wrap me in her soft, floral-scented arms, and carry me
inside to my comforting bed, which was crisply made
with newly washed sheets. My stuffed bear would be
there waiting for me, with his open, fluffy paws,
and I would sleepily snuggle into the comforter and
fall directly to sleep as soon as my head dropped
to the pillow. That night, I would dream of a beautiful
island draped with magnificent foliage and populated
with the most incredible creatures, and I would feel
the deep comfort of the great island lizard.