Beautiful, Wild and Brave

Deep in the forest of your wildest imagination, there is a place before time, try to remember… When your natural childlike wonder was free to wander the endless golden fields and gargantuan trees adorned in every shade of green, ripened with the sweetest fruits. Can you taste it? The dark ripened plum pulled fresh from the tree, the juice running down your chin and arms, a bite into heaven. Do you remember running wild with your tribe, screaming in an ancient tongue, feeling the spirit of the universe pulling you forward into the unknown? Or have you forgotten the place that’s called Always, where three little creatures run wild in the safety of the sunshine, of the moonlight and of all the stars in the sky.

             On a particularly bright, sunny day, the three little creatures were running wild toward their destiny, bathed in the blissful light of their loving sun, adorned in all the fancy clothes that they only wore for special occasions such as today. Screaming and jumping they ran, free as any wild thing of their personal haven, the girls were buoyant with excitement- more so than usual for today was a very special day for the littlest of the tribe, an event that called for loud howling, screaming and laughing as they made their way up the giant cliff that overlooked a vast, beautiful, crystalline blue ocean.

Piper had seen more moons than her tribe and so she wore the crown of wisdom, a feathered crown made by the ones that came before her, cross-stitched purple, jewel-encrusted with topaz and amethyst in the center of her crown. It was a heavy burden to bear, this crown- to be the one who came first meant the other two would look to her for the questions there weren’t any answers to. Piper was tall, and the fastest runner of the tribe, her red hair was long and would trail behind her in the wind. Her eyes were blue and wild, like the ocean during a storm. Her mermaid sparkle shirt and purple tutu were covered in dirt from today’s adventures and her green-lipstick-streaked-cheeks were freckled in the sun. She looked behind her as she hiked up the mountain, her tribe was not far behind. She could see the edge of the Earth now and knew what would come next, the smell of salt was thick in the air and the wind was whipping her hair like long red strands were dancing around her.

             Ellie came to this place not long after Piper, and so she wore the crown responsibility for she had the great honor to water her crown of flowers, entwined, and alive with the magic of the peridot that the vines had been wrapped in, in her unicorn backpack was the prize of the journey, a crown that she once wore, but now was time to pass along to the small one who spoke both their language as well as the language of the gods. Ellie was proud to be in charge of the little’s crown, it was the first to have ever been made, fur and a foxtail, embroidered in garnet; she knew Sillow would shine and wear the crown with pride. Ellie's blonde hair stood out as Sillow, the littlest one; had red hair like Piper. Ellie’s eyes were a brilliant shade of blue with starburst patterns with the same green lipstick marks on her freckled cheeks nearly faded from sweat as they journeyed toward the top.

             Ellie stopped to help Sillow step down from a large boulder, as she could see Piper ahead of them, jumping in excitement as she waited for them to approach. “Do it myself” said the little, whose hair was free in the wind, ringlets flowing as she hopped down the trail without any help at all, stiffed the landing, and then as she grabbed Ellie's hand she ran to the edge of their world eager to meet her destiny. Sillow wore the same cheek streaks, but hers were purple, symbolizing her day of greatness. As the two girls approached Piper, Sillow could see the calm waters a million miles down, her stomach grumbled and she sat down on the edge of the cliff, nothing but the big, big waters forever from here. She had made it to the edge, the sunshine on her face was the source she knew was telling her how proud it was of her, she felt big and brave then. Her tribe worried she was nervous. Piper placed a hand on her and reminded her that they could try again later if she wanted. But Sillow just pulled an orange from her little purse and handed it to Piper. “Open it?” She asked and Piper peeled the orange, split it into thirds and the three girls feasted on the edge of oblivion. Once Sillow finished the orange she stood and started walking away from the edge, toward the forest. The other two girls followed, assuming that Sillow had decided that today was not the day.                   

             Without warning Sillow turned toward the cliff, her hazel-green eyes alive with excitement, she screamed wildly in the ancient tongue as she ran towards the cliff her tribe now following behind her, wild cries of excitement filled the air as Sillow grew closer to the edge, she did not look down, rather she kept her eyes on the clouds, and jumped so far as to touch them. For a moment she was flying, her arms at her sides, the edge of the cliff passing her by a billion miles a second. Taking in a breath she anticipated the water below, and met it feet first, her tribe hitting the water seconds after her the three girls were sinking deep into the water from the force of the fall, their friends greeted them in the depths. Dolphins Sillow knew the word but this one was called Bobbi and she slipped onto her back, holding the fin at the top as her friend delivered her to the air at the top of the water. Sillow felt the calm waves pushing her and Bobbi back to land, her tribe had yet to emerge and Sillow waited to see their faces when they saw how big and brave, she was now!

             Under the water Piper was greeted by Izzy, her friend who she had met at her first big jump; was a manatee, guiding her to the surface as she kicked her feet and swam, bubbles trailing after Piper and she found Sillow at the surface, her face beaming with pride. Ellie emerged and was pushed up into the air as Olli the Octopus playfully threw her into the air before guiding her to the tribe where they formed a circle. Now was a time of great honor, Ellie knew and she reached for her backpack, shocked to find her back bare. Must have dropped it in the fall! Ellie recalled lifting her arms in the jump. She opened her mouth to explain but found the other two girls giggling hysterically, to her great confusion she turned to find her backpack, safe and sound, Ollie was holding it up behind her. It must have saved her bag and now was being a silly trickster. Ellie’s laugh was shock and relief as she unzipped her bag and pulled out the crown that now belonged to Sillow, she knew this tradition well and handed the emerald, foxtail crown to Piper. It was sopping wet, Piper’s own crown was falling into her eyes, weighed down by the water. Even soaked, the emerald foxtail crown was of the most beautiful treasures in the land, it would only be worn by the bravest of girls, she remembered her time of wearing it until she passed it to Ellie.

             Sillow lit up with pride as Piper placed the crown on her soaking wet hair, it fit her perfectly, in every way for Sillow embodied the Spirit of bravery. Her smile was so big, but once the crown was placed on her head her face turned serious and she straightened her posture to make herself bigger. “I jumped” she spoke the words with conviction, knowing the importance of this moment. Everything in existence stopped and acknowledged this moment with her, the sun which was setting proudly on its dear sweet wild girls, the moon bursting from the opposite direction, bright and delighted at Sillow’s day’s accomplishment, the ocean friends danced joyously and the friends in the forest howled, yelped and squawked for her.

             “You jumped.” Piper was taken with pride but deep down she knew that Sillow would jump, for the same reason that she and Ellie jumped. They were creatures of the wild, brave and kind, and loved by all that entered their world. Piper led the girls closer to shore, their friends would stick around while they played in the water. Splashing and jumping and diving into the water, rolling with the tide, and letting Ollie toss them into the water and help them to the surface. Soon the sun had fallen behind the water and the moon had risen above the trees, full and bright, to light the path home for the little wild things.

             When their friends from the forest arrived, Piper knew that Mother Nature was calling them home, and so they bid their friends in the ocean a farewell for the night and joined their forest companions who had come to deliver them home. Each of their companions was a rather large dog-looking animal. Piper never knew the name of what, but she called this one Amber, Ellie's was called Ladle, and Sillow’s was called Fuzzy, which it was, actually- fuzzy and grey and as Sillow approached wearing her crown of bravery Fuzzy let out a howl of honor for its companion and bowed low so Sillow could climb onto its back for the moon was moving quickly to the center of the sky, shining through clouds and highlighting their edges in pink and purple hues; and Fuzzy knew they had to have the girls home before the moon was to the center of the sky. Together they rode on the backs of wild beasts that delivered them home safely, guarded by the light of their loving moon.