My fingers were turning blue. I couldn’t feel my toes. It had just started to get warm outside and my co-workers decided to make the office freezing cold. On top of it all, it was a hectic day at work: the phone wouldn’t stop ringing and people kept demanding things from me on top of jobs I had to do on a daily basis. I was already getting a headache and could feel my heart rate increasing. Usually by the end of a day like this, I would be unmotivated to do anything else. I just wanted to go home!
I changed my winter screen saver on my computer to a spring scene, hoping it would calm my nerves. I needed something soothing to look at, somewhere where I could fantasize about; an exotic place where everybody dreams of escaping. I stared at it for a good five minutes and then I had an A-ha moment. Not like a light bulb going off in my head. I meant like the A-ha video for their song “Take On Me” from the eighties, where the girl in the diner goes into a comic book.
I put my hand to touch the screen and felt a tingle. The hair on my arms started to become erect, and then everything went blank for a few seconds. It felt like I was in a void, a black hole perhaps. I closed my eyes and could hear nothing. Ten seconds later, I could smell a sweet aroma, like that of flowers in the spring time. Then I could hear a bird whistling, like the pleasant tune of a nightingale. I could feel a warm breeze brush up against my face. I opened my eyes slowly to view a spectacular sight.
I was standing on a hill of grass so green and soft, it looked like carpet. I bent over to touch it, and it was as soft as a peacock’s feathers. The hillside extended for miles, and patches of colorful flowers scattered throughout, some next to a small stream that flowed gently. I saw a butterfly looking creature fluttering above a peculiar breed of tangerine colored blossoms. As my eyes followed the creature fly from flower to flower, I was astounded by the vision I saw in the sky.
A planet so enormous was floating above my head. It looked as though I could reach out and touch it. Another one next to it was a slightly bigger than our moon. These objects filled so much of the sky that I couldn’t help but stared at it, so I just stood there absorbing the tranquility of this place. Minutes later, I finally realized where I was. This was my spring fantasy screen saver and then it hit me that there was also a structure here. I turned to my right and spotted the tree with orange leaves. I saw the object in the distance and started my trek towards it.
About a mile or two into my journey, I came upon a forest. The trees were skinny and tall and had branches that looked like feathers, with shades of green starting dark at the bottom and becoming lighter to the top. They swayed so elegantly in the wind and as I approached to go through, they parted to form a single path. I was a bit taken aback and looked closer when I realized they had faces. “Hello?” I said, trying to talk directly to one of them. They all opened their eyes at the same time and bowed when they saw me,
“Welcome back fair lady of Evernia” they spoke in unison.
“Um…thank you” I replied. They kept their heads…or stumps, bowed as I walked through the entire path, which led me to a bridge in front of the structure.
It was a castle like I have never seen before. Numerous cylindrical towers of different heights, clustered on top of a huge lush green hill. A crystal clear stream surrounding it like a moat, and several small waterfalls that protruded from the earth flowed into it. A staircase of stone led the way to the castle doors and as I got closer, I could see how the grey walls sparkled, looking like diamonds embedded in the stone bricks it was constructed with.
Two knights in full armor bowed as I arrived and opened a giant wooden door that led to another bridge made of stone. This led into the castle courtyard, and as I walked in, I felt so small being enclosed in such a monumental place. I saw a woman in fancy garments run toward me, her hands outward as she screamed, “Donatella! Donatella!” She was beautiful with long brown hair, olive skin and was draped in a burgundy velvet frock. She looked eerily familiar and the resemblance to me was uncanny. She embraced me so fiercely, I almost fell over. I smiled like I knew what she was talking about and she looked me in the eyes very seriously and said, “I’m so glad you’re home!”
She gave me a ring and told me to put it on to remember what I did. A flood of memories came rushing into my head at that moment: I had visions of the hills playing in them as a child, the waterfalls and how I used to throw petals in the stream and I remembered how I liked to paint the floating planets. This woman was my mother. This was really my home. I left my kingdom to visit a planet called Earth because I wanted to experience something different. I wanted to see what life was like outside of Evernia.
This planet I visited was a horrible place. In the year I stayed there, I was treated disrespectfully by some, while a few welcomed me with open arms. It was a beautiful planet like mine, but greed seemed to overcome its people. So many people were hurting but so few could afford to help them. I was amazed how the inhabitants of Earth could treat their own kind. I shed a tear for this place I left behind, but I could not help them.
Then I looked at the ring my mother gave me. It held my memories, my life, and my emotions. I wondered what was real. Was Evernia my real home, or was Earth? If I took the ring off, would it take me back to that horrible life? To that place where my spring fantasy was just a screensaver? I grabbed my mother’s hand and smiled at her, “It’s good to be home.”
