The Gift

“Faster” I yell.

My horse and I are flying, but still aren’t going to win at this pace. My friend Ven has always been a better rider than me, and it doesn’t help that I have to wear these dresses. Right before he rounded the big tree and went out of sight, he looked back and smirked. Once he was out of view, I stopped. He had already won. There was no point in continuing the race. I dismount my horse, straighten the skirt of my dress, and pull an apple from my bag. I give Winter the apple and lead her off the trail.

I have always loved these woods that I've grown up next to. There has always been something wonderful and a little magical about them. I have ridden through these woods with Ven so many times, and I know them better than anything in the world. So, when I stumble and fall over a chest, I'm confused. In all the years I had been to the woods, I had never found anything in them. Especially never anything so unusual.

The chest I find is made with such intricate detail, that it doesn’t seem it could possibly be real. When I go to stand and look at the other side I gasp and fall back down in shock. The amazingly detailed chest is rooted to the ground like it has been there forever, which cannot be possible. I inch over to the chest, and when I go to touch it, I hesitate. I don’t know what lies inside, I don't know what’s worth it to risk opening the mystery chest. But I must see what this treasure holds because it seems like a gift from these magical woods, and it demands to be opened.

I reach out and touch the chest, and start to open it. What lies inside is small and seems insignificant compared to it’s holder. It has no great design and is uninteresting in all ways but one. It is a solid black book, no color in any way except feeling. It feels like it’s calling to me even more than the chest had. I take the book into my hands and feel like every other thing in the world disappears.

Only the world isn’t gone when I look up, all the colors in the world have vanished. I look back to the mysterious book in my hands and I am once again shocked by the things these woods give as gifts. The plain, insignificant in detail, solid black book has turned into sheer beauty and has become every color imaginable.

All of this has happened in a few seconds, but in these seconds I see everything in a new light. As suddenly as these precious seconds have come, they were gone, and the forest was back to its normal. I feel a great loss at that, but I have also gained the knowledge of true beauty and worth. I flip through the book to look for a glimpse of the color. I don't find what had been there, but what I do find is beautiful, white lettering in as great of detail as the chest I found this book in.

I go to read the beautiful words hoping they can share a fraction of the beauty that I felt before.

Before I can read these words, I feel the thumping and then hear the horse hooves. I can feel the unease of the forest. I replace the book in the chest. Unsure if I'll be able to find something so beautiful and important again, but I can't risk it being taken or destroyed by anyone, even those I trust.

With Winter, I stand and move back towards the trail, promising to myself and the book in a way that I will try to return to it, no matter the cost.

Ven yells “Delaney… Delaney…”

I wake up with a start to my mother sitting on my bed saying my name. “Good morning, darling. Good dream?”

“Yes” I mumble.

In a daze I get up with the dream that wont fade still in my mind; for which I'm very grateful.

Dressing in one of my plain dresses and I start my chores for the day. I find myself distracted many times thinking about how real the dream felt, and decide that I must try and find the mysterious place the chest could be.

It’s impossible, I know that, yet there's also a part of myself that knows the place is real and the chest will be too.

Telling my mom I’m going for a ride, I run to the stables and saddle Winter. We travel through to the woods so fast that, if Ven were here, I would have won our race for the first time. Finding the place I stopped in my dream and I dismount my horse. The second my feet hit the ground, I start running.

The closer I get to the spot, the stronger the pull to the place becomes... and then I drop to my knees. In front of me is the chest. When I see it I feel such joy and relief that tears begin dropping on the top of the chest. I reach down and touch the chest, about to open it. Just like the dream, I hesitate, afraid of what I might find, and most importantly fearful of the disappointment that might come with being hopeful.

I decide the chest has to be opened. The dream has proved to be real to this point and so is the demanding feeling to open the chest again. I close my eyes and open the chest.

When I open my eyes, I start crying harder. The chest is filled with gold, more than I have seen in my entire life. The amount here is at least worth Twenty thousand dollars, this sum could change someone’s life. Somehow, though, I know that it was not worth as much as the little black book could have been with the amount of wisdom it could have shared.

Suddenly there is a flash, just like in my dream, and for a second the gold holds all of the color in the world. Once the flash is gone,the sadness that I felt when losing the book also fades.

From the very first time I entered the forest, I knew it was wonderful. Magical. This gold is proof of that magic, and somehow I know it is just for me.

Right then, the chest turns into a basket that holds all of the gold. I pick up the basket. I feel a gust of wind like the forest is telling me to follow its flow.

I go with the wind and come to a meadow filled with the most beautiful flowers. I know then that the forest has chosen me. The forest has given me the greatest gift of all. I will never again take small beauty for granted. I will savor every little thing given to me.

I glance down into the basket and along with the gold I see the book. I feel a contentment so strong and know that I must write my story so it will never be forgotten, especially by me.