Wide Awake in Dreamland

Two sprites, clever and quick, darted through a verdant and stately wood, jumping from bough-to-bough as they played a game of hide-and-go-seek. The tails of their olive-jade overcoats sailed on the shoulders of the wind and shimmered in the evening hours’ thinning light.

“What is his name?” you may ask.

Jokul Frosti.

“And what’s her name?”

Ostara Blumen.

You may know them as high elves or wood elves or water elves or wind elves. They are all this and none of this at all, but we will get to that later. For now, let us talk about these two. They were best of friends and most passionate of lovers.

"Jokul!" she called.

"Yes, dear?”

"Where are you?" she called again.

"Over here!”

“Where?” she called again.

Jokul twitched his wings, which were silver and lace-like. Sunlight sparked off their glossy tips and glinted brilliantly.

"I see you!" she said as she darted towards her friend. Jokul jumped twig-to-twig, keeping just clear of Ostara's grasp.

Some days, it was hide-and-go-seek, some days, it was a game of tag, and still other days, it was adventuring the grove hand-in-hand. Regardless of the game, every day they were together was a good day indeed.

When Ostara finally caught Jokul, he was laying on the craggy bare roots of an old Shag-oak, resting comfortably in the shade.

“There you are!” Ostara exclaimed as she flittered up beside Jokul and collapsed in a thick patch of moss.

“Today is the greatest day!” he said.

“You always say that,” she replied.

“Today is different, though. I had the most magnificent dream.”

“Oh! Please do tell!”

“If you insist,” said Jokul.

“I do insist. I do. I do.”

Jokul pulled himself to a seated position. He pressed his back against the trunk of the old Shag-oak. As Jokul spoke, Ostara gazed toward the sky.

“In this dream, we were playing the forest.”

“I was in this dream?”

“Of course you were…”

“…and what were we playing?”

“Hide-and-seek, of course.”

“Who was the hider and who was the seeker?”

“I was the hider, of course.”

“Where were you hiding?”

“In one of your favorite places – in the high branches of an old green tree. I stretched my arms up high imitating the shape of the tall, thin trunk.”

Ostara’s ears perked up as Jokul described his dream in great detail.

“While I stood there, you walked through the grove along a dusty trail. You kept calling for me, but I would not answer. Instead, I just kept watching you.”

“How did I finally find you?”

“You simply closed my eyes and thought of me. It was so intense that my wings began to shimmer. They  changed color, from green to silver to blue and back to green again. Right then, you found me.”

“That is quite some dream,” said Ostara, “I wish I could dream like that.”

“Maybe you can,” said Jokul.

“I don’t think so.”

“Just close your eyes and think about something right before you fall asleep. If you can imagine it, you will surely dream it.”

Ostara pressed her eyes closed and concentrated on Jokul’s dream. Even when she daydreamed, her thoughts were nothing fancy, like Jokul’s.

“I can’t do it,” she groaned.

“Yes you can, just be patient.”

“Still nothing,” said Ostara.

“Okay, open your eyes!”

She opened her eyes and looked down at her overcoat. It glowed in a shimmer of silvery-pink. A smile lit up her face.

“I did it!” she exclaimed.

“Of course you did.”

“How did I do it?”

“You just followed your dream.”

“I guess I did.”

“Dreams are wondrous things. Without dreams, what would we have?” asked Jokul.

“I don’t know.”

 “Without dreams, we would have nothing,” said Jokul.

Jokul closed his eyes and concentrated. His body shimmered and rippled like water. Suddenly, it was as if he vanished into thin air.

“Where did you go?” called Ostara. She reached towards the place where Jokul had been sitting, but there was no one there. On the first low branch just above her, Jokul shimmered and appeared again.

“Here I am!” he said.

He jumped off the branch and softly landed on the ground beside Ostara. His green overcoat blended with the colors of the forest. Then, his wings flittered and he quickly darted away. He was the hider and Ostara was the seeker. She ran after him until darkness fell upon the grove. Then, as the last traces of light disappeared from the grove, they returned to the mossy patch under the old Shag-oak and laid their heads down for a dream.