V – The Visit

If you are just starting to read this, you might first want to go back to the beginning of this story –  https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=5045.

At the beginning of this story, I discovered not a horse, but a unicorn in a field. This majestic animal was quick, and I named her Blaze. It appeared that she wanted me to join her in something important. I leapt onto her back and off we went to wherever this story is taking us.

(Part 2 of 4  of The Unicorn and Me)

V – The Visit

The speed at which Blaze took was far beyond my comprehension. The field we had started in disappeared, and the next thing I knew, we were standing in front of a forest. She lowered herself so that I could dismount. Then I heard a voice inside my head. 

“I need your help, O teller of tales.”

I looked around, and there was no one that I could see who could have spoken. Looking at Blaze, I spoke out loud, “Are these your thoughts I hear?”

“Yes,” was her reply. “In your land, it is not possible to communicate, other than through eyes and gestures. Only those who believe in things never seen and are open to their imagination can truly understand the impossible. In your case, we bonded through our eyes and thoughts. Though I couldn’t talk to you, you understood I needed your assistance, you trusted me, accepted my thoughts, and mounted on my back.”

“I take it, in this land you can talk, at least from mind to mind. Am I able to do that too?”

“With practice, maybe. However, there is no time for that. We need to save some friends of mine.”

“Who might they be?”

“In your land, they are referred to as folk and fairytale characters,” said the unicorn. “In our land, they are real. They were instrumental in saving my life some time ago. And now they have disappeared. I fear someone has taken them, and their lives may be in danger.”

“Who are they and how can I help?” I asked.

“To answer your first question, to you, they are called Jack, Gretel, the Teeny-tiny woman, three billy goats from the Gruff family, Pinocchio, and Lion. For your second question, I was told to bring you here, and that the old man of the woods would explain.”

“Where is this old man of the woods?”

“Follow me, and you shall see.

With the unicorn in the lead, I followed to visit this old man in the woods. 

We found him sitting in the middle of the path, holding a walking stick, and he seemed to be meditating as we interrupted his thoughts. 

“I see you have brought us the teller of tales. Well done, my friend,” said the old man. 

The old man turned to me and said, “I have heard much about you. Your knowledge and expertise in matters of folk and fiction are needed. The one you call Blaze has no doubt explained the situation to you. She will share with you the events that preceded this action, and you must determine, if you were writing this tale, who the antagonist might be, what their motives are, and how to rescue our friends. It is not a simple task.”

As I sat there, Unicorn filled me in on the backstory of her capture, imprisonment, and how she was rescued by the eight now missing. 

Author’s note: If you wish to read that story, click here. 

I thought about what the old man had said. I didn’t think that I was so worldly. Maybe he knew something about me that I had not yet learned, for it seemed that he could see things well beyond the present. 

“So you are saying I should write what I would do as a storyteller, and we should follow that lead and hope it works out.”

“Exactly,” the old man and Blaze said/thought at the same time.

I was handed a notebook and a pen, asked to sit by the old man’s fire, and allowed to write.

To be continued in W – Planning For What To Write