I was walking under an bright blue open sky, on top of a hill. My hand rested on the back of a unicorn who walked along at my side. With a flourish and a swirl of color, a dragon uncurled himself from the sky and invited me for a ride. Naturally, I climbed on and we whirled around in the clouds, looking down at the green hills below us.

He touched down and I slid off his back, thanking him with a pat and a hug. The unicorn had left, and he did too. I continued my walk alone down the hill into the woods, where the trees grew thick and it was dark between them. I saw small, wild faces among the branches, and soon felt fingers clutching at my dress. Folk of all shapes and sizes, some winged, some green, some bark-colored, soon surrounded me and laughing, urged me to follow them. We walked down the hill through the woods, where it grew ever darker, but something (will-o-wisps? lightning bugs?) lit our way and danced in front of us. We made a very joyful bunch.

As we walked, worries came to mind, and then actually formed themselves into my hands. One trouble was rough and wooly and tied with red yarn. I let it go from me, and dropped it away from the path. Others crumbled into dust when I let them go. One in particular was a shining heavy ball, a trouble that has been weighing on me for almost a year now. "I'm sorry," I said to it wordlessly, "But you really have to go now." I tossed it away and it rolled off quickly under its own steam off into the darkness of the woods.

Finally, we came to what passed for a table: a huge flat rock ringed with smaller boulders and stumps. I sat down and was presented with tea in a bowl carved from stone, rough to the touch, and heavy. It was filled with steaming tea of some sort, reddish-colored and smelling strongly of mint and fennel and lemon. I drank it all. Tiny cakes and nuts were brought out for everyone. What they were exactly I don't recall, only that they were light and incredibly delicious. The fairy folk and I never spoke words to each other, but communicated with gestures and smiles.

Tea done, they pulled me to my feet, and clearly it was time to move on. It was fully night now, and a full moon lit our path. We walked a short way through the woods to a clearing where a pond of water reflected the moon shining overhead. Everyone jumped into the pool; I got out of my dress and jumped in for a swim too, hearing the splashing of the water and the night sounds of insects and forest animals around me.

And then the yoga instructor told us it was time to start coming out of our meditation, and that we had been laying still for FIFTY MINUTES. I have never been able to stay still and quiet for that long before, and I most definitely had not been sleeping. If that was a meditation, it was the most alive and joyous meditation I've ever experienced (and one I didn't particularly want to leave!) I thanked God for giving me my overabundant imagination, and prepared myself to join the rest of the world again.

(Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting every day for NaPoBloMo. See you then!)