Once upon a time...
A beautiful baby was born into a magical kingdom of hope and possibility. Her Fairy Godmother and the Wicked Witch both brought her gifts of stories: one gift was Stories Of Dreams And Adventure, and the other was Stories To Keep Her Safe. But the gifts got muddled up and no one was quite sure who had given which gift.
As the baby grew into a young child she loved the Stories of Dreams And Adventure with a passion – her imagination ran wild and life seemed to sparkle with endless excitement and opportunity, and so, indeed, did she!
It’s true that sometimes things didn’t work out quite as she had hoped, but she soon moved on from that in the excitement of the next story, becoming more curious, strong, bold and determined with each new adventure.
As she grew into adulthood, though, people began to chide her for being unrealistic. It was all very well wanting to ride off on a white charger to rescue imprisoned princes, they said, but what if she got hurt? And who did she think was going to pay for her to go gallivanting off like that, and what would people think? Wasn’t it time to stop being so selfish and start paying more attention to the Stories To Keep Her Safe, which must surely have been given to her by her Fairy Godmother?
This made her sad, but she wanted to make others happy, and for them to like and accept her, so she read more of the Stories To Keep Her Safe. At first she found them boring, and returned to the Stories Of Dreams And Adventure often.
However, she started to find it harder to move on when an adventure went awry, instead turning to the Stories To Keep Her Safe – at first to appease the concerns and disapproval of those around her, but increasingly because she was seeking the comfort they gave her. Without her ever noticing it, the excitement that the Stories of Dreams and Adventure had always triggered slowly turned to fear.
For many years, the Stories Of Dreams And Adventure gathered dust, whlle she read the Stories To Keep Her Safe often. She built what she knew was a good life, and was grateful for the security and comfort it gave her.
And she lived happily ever after….......didn't she?..........
She told herself so, and yet there was always a guilty feeling she could not quite explain, as if something important was missing.
Then one day her Fairy Godmother came to call, and on seeing her cried out: “You’ve lost your sparkle!”
“But I have so much else,” she said “And it’s all thanks to your gift to me: Stories To Keep Her Safe.”
“Oh, my child!” exclaimed the Fairy Godmother sadly, “My gift to you was Stories Of Dreams And Adventure.”
