Once upon a time a long, long time ago in a place far, far away was born a very precious creature. She emerged from seaweed and looked around. She licked down the scales of her tail, stretched out her little wings and tossed her hair to the wind. The fog rolled in and she fell asleep to the sound of the waves. Out to sea and back to the beach, she was rocked over and over again. Small life from the seaweed provided nourishment. She grew…a little. She swam more than walked. She listened to all the voices of the world, but became startled when they came too close. When that happened fire leapt from her mouth as her wings lifted her into the air. She landed into the tree branches, where the wind rocked her over and over again into calmness. She was nurtured and loved by the voiceless ones of the world. She never learned to speak. She had no idea she was feared as she had always been alone.
One day a young man came to the beach deep in thought about his impending marriage. Was he worthy? As he walked down the beach, she took her tail and wrote in the sand, "tell me your story." When he returned he saw the message and looked around. She came out from behind some seaweed. He was startled, but not scared. She listened and then opened her mouth … instead of fire, out came "Once upon a time…" As he listened, he became calm and confident. He left smiling.
The beach seemed to be the place where humans came with their doubts. Is my life worth celebrating? Will my work succeed? How can I honor my grandma? It became simple. Our precious creature wrote her message in the sand. Each person spoke of what they knew. She gave them back a fairy tale, connecting all with the stories unbound by time. Well done.
