Caroline McAllister

As the sun slowly set behind the hills surrounding the lake, the sky turned a deep velvety blue, stars dotted the sky like drops of silver on an ocean of purest beauty. Everything was silent, nothing moved, a light breeze danced over the blades of grass making them sway gracefully. It seemed like the whole world had gone to sleep. But then, quite suddenly animals emerged from the depths of the forest surrounding the lake. As each animal gathered round the lake, they all lowered their beads in unison and began to drink from its dark waters.

All at once an amazing thing happened, the water slowly began to turn from black to green, not the yucky green you get in swimming pools but a beautiful emerald green. The animals all stopped drinking and raised their heads to the milky white moon as if calling softly to it. The few clouds that were scattered in the sky that night seemed to shine brighter than ever before and slowly but surely lowered themselves towards the now emerald water, until they seemed to hover a meter or two above the lake.

This was a very magical time of night; this was the time when the magical creatures of the forest gathered around the lake.

Suddenly, ripples formed on the smooth surface of the lake and then heads popped out from the water and swam to the shore. Slowly mermaids lifted themselves out of the lake and plopped onto the rocks scattered loosely upon the shore. One rather pretty mermaid pulled a shell comb from a bag slung over her shoulder and began combing her long golden hair. The animals had changed, the deer had grown wings and the rest had a special glow around them and were floating above the ground them and were floating above the ground and plunging themselves into the fluffy clouds. Even the mermaids were jumping out of the water and skimming the clouds with their multicoloured tails.

Fairies started emerging from the forest and flying joyously between the animals, stopping for a moment or so to gain their breath. This continued for hours and hours until at midnight the animals, fairies and mermaids stopped and looked up at the sky. A minute or two passed, then a magical thing happened. Stars fell from the sky and showered the magical folk in a cloud of shimmering dust. The animals that were due to die that day because of old age or wounds, were carried up to the sky, shouting their farewell to their friends and relatives. This time of the night was the most magical moment of the evening. The animals that were going to die could have some fun before their departure with Mother Nature.

The animals in the sky burst into glittering stars and slowly floated upwards, where they settled to watch over their loved ones. For a few more hours the animals, fairies and mermaids looked up at the new stars in the sky remembering the good times they had with them. Dawn settled around the lake and as the water slowly returned to crystal clear, the clouds floated back up to the sky and the stars disappeared. But the moon still remained faintly as the animals retreated back into the woods. The fairies hid amongst the trees and the mermaids slid back into the waters.

The memories of that night's events were still fresh on the minds of all - somehow not feeling sad, but happy that their beloved ones had enjoyed a magnificent night and had gone to rest in the most enchanting place in the universe. The animal's wings and flying abilities had also disappeared. The magical folk lay to rest waiting for the next coming and whatever magical events would await them there once again.
(A story for Charlie and all my other loved ones - animal and human).