When Dreams Take Flight

Heather Bennett frantically rifled through stacks of papers and sketchbooks beside the laptop on her desk.

“How could I misplace something so beautiful and rare?” she wondered out loud.

Heather grabbed her backpack and turned it upside down, sending a small shower of makeup, a designer wallet and drawing pencils onto her bed.

The treasure she was looking for wasn’t there.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Heather whispered under her breath, as she paced back and forth.

Just yesterday, she was walking home from school and noticed something glimmering in the grass. She spotted it near the sidewalk leading to her parent’s massive, gated mansion.

At first, Heather thought it might be a water bottle. When she walked closer, she saw it was a beautiful, perfectly clear quartz crystal. The crystal was about the size of her hand and had a pale blue glow, as if lit from within. At the very tip of the crystal was a prism that made a vibrant rainbow appear when she turned it back and forth in the sunlight.

This crystal was special; like none she had ever seen before.

But how did the crystal get inside the gate? Maybe it somehow fell out of a box of gifts her father brought home from his recent business trip to Brazil, she thought. Heather and her mom rarely saw him as he constantly traveled the world as a top computer software executive. But when dad came home, he always brought extravagant surprises.

A couple of days ahead of her dad’s return from his latest business trip, he had two five-foot amethyst cathedrals shipped to Heather. When he arrived home, he had more presents: A metal case of premium oil paints, the best paintbrushes money can buy, and a small collection of other expensive “rocks.”

In addition to being an exceptionally talented artist, Heather had always loved quartz crystals. Her distant father, unlike her mother, seemed to nurture Heather’s interests and talents.

“My gosh….Dad….” Heather said when she saw the gifts.

“Nothing’s too good for my princess,” he said, kissing her on the forehead.

But sometimes, the most beautiful gifts are the ones you can’t buy, as Heather well knew. Sometimes, they’re the ones you can’t even see.

Heather flung the door of her bedroom open and rushed down a long hallway to the living room, where her mom, Melissa, was playing meditation music and practicing yoga.

“Mom have you seen my….”

“Crystal?” Melissa said before Heather finished her question.

“It’s on the table, right there,” Melissa said with a disinterested wave of her hand.

Heather grabbed her treasure and began speeding back to her room.

“Heather, we need to talk,” Melissa said to her daughter’s back.

“Thanks mom!” Heather said cheerfully, and kept on walking. Whatever her mom was about to say, she didn’t want to hear it right now.

Melissa demanded perfection in everything, including her own appearance. She had a platinum blonde pixie haircut, the kind of style that seems to work only for women like her – the ones with high chiseled cheekbones and small, feminine features.

Melissa’s 43-year-old figure was sculpted and thin, the result of a strict diet and hours spent every day doing Pilates and yoga.

She was smart enough to be an executive, just like her husband. But Melissa chose to spend most of her time at the Glendale Country Club, rubbing elbows with the other beautiful, wealthy people in the city.

Heather was back in her room now, her sanctuary, holding her prized crystal. It was late, and in less than eight hours she’d have to be up for school at the Glendale Arts Academy. The school caters to students who show promise in performing or visual arts. Many of them, including Heather, are considered gifted.

She started heading toward her bathroom to get ready for bed when she heard a firm “tap, tap,” on her door.

The door immediately swung open.

“Hi sweetheart,” her mom said, her face softening. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine mom,” Heather said, trying to not sound irritated. “I have to be up early for a big art presentation I have at school tomorrow.”

“I know,” Melissa said. “I just wanted to make sure you’re OK. Jenna’s mom called earlier and said you were a no-show for the Future Leaders of America Club.”

“I didn’t go because I was working on an art project with Anton and Jessica,” Heather explained.

“Oh,” Melissa said. “The kids who live in the apartments downtown, right?”

Heather remembered the disapproving look on her mother’s face when she met them at her Academy’s open house a few weeks ago. Anton was dressed in all black and wore black eyeliner. Jessica had on a short pink plaid skirt, fishnet stockings and clunky Doc Martens.

“Yes, mom, they live in the apartments,” Heather said. “And they’re my friends. My best friends.”

“I know, Heather,” Melissa said. “But you should start to think about what you really want from life. I mean…I’m a little worried about you.”

“I’m worried about this,” she continued, as she stretched her arms out to either side. Slowly, she turned in a small circle in the center of the fairytale fortress that was her daughter’s bedroom.

A white canopy strung with fairy lights cascaded from the ceiling like a waterfall and hung over the bed. Three bookcases were filled with quartz crystals, fluorite, rose quartz and other precious stones.

In a corner sat Heather’s easel, currently topped with a blank canvas. The corner also housed her work desk with her computers -- an iMac desktop with a 30-inch monitor and a MacBook laptop.

Across the entire length of one of the walls was a mural of Pegasus that Heather painted. The beautiful white-winged stallion was surrounded by stardust as he leapt from a sky of pink and blue. He almost looked like he was jumping out of the painting.

“I mean honestly,” Melissa said. “Pegasus? Heather, you’re 16-years-old, not 9.”

Heather’s white Persian cat, Percy, sat at the end of her bed, swishing his long tail back and forth, as if he was trying to clear the air.

“Mom, I’m an artist. I’m not you,” Heather said. Her straight, ash brown hair was parted down the middle and framed her perfectly oval face with huge brown eyes and flawless skin. “I’m a total klutz except when it comes to anything except a paintbrush and digital art.”

“Please, I’m tired. Let’s make a deal,” Heather continued. “We can talk tomorrow, OK?”

“Of course,” Melissa said. “I don’t mean to push you, Heather. You know I love you right? I just want what’s best for you.”

“I know mom. I love you, too. Goodnight…”

Her mom walked out, softly closing the door behind her.

A short time later, Heather sunk into her bed with the crystal on a nightstand next to her. Exhausted, she clicked off the lamp and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

Then she heard a light “tap, tap, tap, tap” sound.

Heather propped up on her elbows and tried to bring her eyes into focus, wondering why her mom was knocking on the door again. Pale blue moonlight poured through the window and shined across the room. The first thing she noticed was her mural. “Where’s Pegasus?” Heather thought. The only thing left were the clouds she painted.

Then she heard a soft snort and saw Pegasus slowly coming into view. As he walked toward her, his hooves quietly clicked on the hardwood floor. His snow-white coat was covered in glitter that sparkled like a pale pastel rainbow of pink, blue, lavender and gold.

His wings were outstretched and spanned at least 10 feet. They were fluffier and more beautiful than any angel’s.

“Ha!” Heather said, burying her face in her hands. “This is some dream. Mom was right! Maybe I’m losing it.”

“Please don’t be frightened,” Pegasus said. His voice was like a deep wind on a summer day, full of warmth and love. “We have important work we must do tonight.”

“Now?!!??” Heather asked. “How am I going to function tomorrow?”

“You will not be tired,” Pegasus said. “This is just a dream. But the dream is real.”

He turned, backed up, knelt down on a front leg and lowered a wing so Heather could climb aboard.

Well, it’s only a dream, right? Heather thought.

She raised herself onto Pegasus’ back and grabbed a hold of his soft, flowing mane.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Heather asked.

“Just close your eyes and believe,” Pegasus said. “I will look after you.”

Heather closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them, she and Pegasus were flying high across the night sky, nearly as high as the clouds.

The moon seemed brighter and bluer than she ever remembered.

“The moon…is so beautiful,” Heather said.

“Ah yes, the moon,” Pegasus said. “The moon is full of magic that can make the wildest dreams come true.”

Pegasus began drawing closer to earth and Heather saw they were approaching the small lake at the country club. That’s where her mother liked to spend time at community meetings and drink mimosas at brunch on Sundays.

The lake was surrounded by a covering of trees – that was normal – but something else was very strange and out of place. Although it was only October, the lake was covered in ice – frozen solid.

“No one can see this but us,” Pegasus explained. “Again, we are inside a dream.”

At the center was a large carousel of ice, its platform filled with other Pegasus’. Soft beautiful music played, like nothing you can hear in this world. As the carousel slowly turned, each Pegasus leapt from the platform, one by one, and ascended into the sky.

“This is where we make the crystals,” Pegasus said. “The carousel spins them from the ice in the lake. But they’re not ordinary crystals. They’re special. Like the one we gave to you.”

“But why me?” Heather asked.

“Because you believe,” Pegasus said. “Without people like you, we will cease to exist in this world. Too many people have forgotten about us.”

“What can I do?” Heather asked.

“Help us give away the crystals. We can’t do it alone,” Pegasus said.

“For us to stay here, a human must help us,” he continued. “We only need one, and you are her. Every 100 years, we need someone to give out at least 100 of our crystals to this world. You can put them anywhere. In the grass, a parking lot – wherever you feel inspired. People who believe, like you, must find them and tell others about us.”

Pegasus used his mouth to pick up a large pink silk sack filled with crystals. He handed it to Heather.

When she opened the bag and looked inside, she saw dozens of quartz crystals, each one more beautiful than the other.

“One more thing,” Pegasus said. “You must not tell anyone about this. Or, it will not work.”

How could I tell anyone else? Heather thought. They’d think I’m crazy.

“Please close your eyes again, Heather,” Pegasus said in his warm, soft voice. “When you wake it will be morning.”

Hours later, the sound of her buzzing alarm clock jolted Heather awake. What a wild dream that was! she thought and shook her head.

But as she stood up, Heather noticed the silk pink sack on the floor in front of her mural. She walked over to it and opened it, and realized it was filled with the same crystals she saw in her dream.

“Remember your mission,” she heard Pegasus say. He shimmered from out of the mural and stood there for a moment. “When you are done, we will meet again in a dream on a night of another full moon.”

“Will I be able to see you again?” she asked. “What is your name?”

“I will always be with you,” Pegasus said. “My name is Zelthar. Every time you dare to believe that the most beautiful things in this world are free, there you’ll find me. Every time you create something of beauty, I’ll be watching.”

In a moment, Zelthar was gone and the mural was once again just a painting.

Heather picked up her special crystal from the nightstand and noticed something she never saw before. At the very center the inclusions in the crystal formed the shape of a small Pegasus.

“I will help you, Zelthar,” Heather said. “I will help you keep beauty and magic alive in this world.”