09 January 2014

My love of Paris continues...

I have been fascinated with Europe since I was a very young child. My obsession with Paris began the day I stepped foot onto Parisian soil. I was completely encapsulated with how stunning everything looked. The fashion, the food, even the snobby people made me gush over how French it all was. I ate as many crepes as my little 13 year old body could contain and had the sugar topping of creme brulee toasted right before my eyes by a very proper waiter at an expensive restaurant. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person is beyond what words can express. It is a symbol of the Iron Age. It is strong and bold yet graceful and beautiful. Everything about Paris is romantic and lovely especially the language. French can make anyone weak in the knees and learning it makes you feel like a class above the rest. I could sit here and talk about Paris all day long but I will save that for another post! for now, fall in love with the city on your own and read my stories to pass your time! Au revoir mon amis!

7 January 2014

A Dream Come True

Amelia loved to travel. She lived to travel. Her parents engrained the tradition of exploring the world from the day she was born. Her family went all over the states and all over the world. She had a wanderlust that just could not be quenched. Since she was a little girl her mother taught her to love Paris just like her mother had. They had traveled there before on a mother daughter trip but Amelia was an adult now and wanted a new experience in Paris.

She made plans and gathered her friends. Off they flew from Denver to New York to start their trip. The girls walked Fifth Avenue, they visited Little Italy and Chinatown. The friends took a ride through Central Park and just before they left, they took a tour of the Statue of Liberty that Gustav Eiffel helped built. The next morning they took the long flight to Paris.

Amelia was just in heaven in Paris. She floated in joy along the streets visiting the Latin Quarter, drinking coffee in the cafes that Hemingway wrote in and shopping at the fanciest stores. Her and her friends spent days touring the Louvre and even made a day trip to the Palace at Versailles. Amelia walked along the same corridors that Marie Antoinette walked and imagined the elegant wedding the tragic queen had in the Hall of Mirrors.

On the last warm evening the girls decided to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. What a sight they saw. All of Paris was lit up in all of its glorious splendor! Amelia was in complete awe of what she saw. She knew why her mother loved this city so much. Amelia leaned over the edge of the railing, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to absorbed all that she could of the moment.

Suddenly the railing disappeared. The tower was disintegrating around Amelia. Shocked and confused she grabbed for her friends but they evaporated into think air. The city lights were gone and she was spinning into a black abyss.

“Amelia. Amelia honey wake up!” Her mother was shaking her awake, “do you know where you are? You were so sick I was letting you rest but you started talking about Paris and you said you were falling? What were you dreaming about?”

“Nothing mom,” She said with a slight smile, “just dreaming is all. I am feeling better I must have been really sick I don't even remember falling ill.”

“You've been in the hospital for a couple days,” said her mother. That is when Amelia realized she was hooked up to an IV and there were flowers all around her. She was so disappointed that the trip wasn't real.

“Thanks for waking me mom. Who are those from?” she pointed at a very large bouquet of multicolored calla lilies, her favorite flower.

“I'm not sure sweetheart. They were just delivered to you today. A few minutes before I woke you up actually. I didn't get to read the name card.”

Amelia's mother handed her the very full envelope to her and she opened it up. There was no name on it anywhere. It only read: It wasn't a dream Amelia, it was a vision. Her are the tickets for the flights and hotels you stayed at. Even the places you visited are in here. Enjoy your real trip to Paris and this time I promise you won't fall off the top of the tower! Au revoir Amelia!

Was she still dreaming? Who in their right mind would pay for this trip? Who made her dream of it? She wasn't dreaming. One thing in her dream she never thought of was how she afforded such an expensive trip. She pinched herself. It hurt. She wasn't dreaming but some power of the universe made it happen.

“What's in the card sweetheart?”

“Mom we are going back to Paris with Auntie Robbi and Auntie Nikki,” Amelia explained her dream and showed her mother the note with the flowers. She realized her friends in her dream were her mother and her mother's best friends, whom she called her aunts. They were her greatest supporters and best friends. Amelia and her mother could not believe their gift from a stranger. They always wondered where it came from but never found out. Nevertheless, they were New York and Paris bound! For real this time.

8 January 2014

Petit Cochon

He did not like his name. It was given to him by his siblings and the other piglets on the farm. Why was he called Petit Cochon? Well, he was the runt of all the piglets and the smallest runt they had ever seen. He really should not have lived. His mother did not so much reject him, she just didn't keep him warm and he wasn't allowed to eat until everyone else had. His sister, who was born at the same time as him, was the only one who loved him and kept him warm.

“I will be a big great pig! I will have lots of little piglets and make our farmer very happy!” said one piglet.

“I will sire many pigs because I am so big and fat. What will you do Petit Cochon? Be tiny and useless? Haha!” squealed another piglet. They were so mean to him and often reminded him that the farmer would eventually put him out of his misery.

One day Petite Cochon and his sister went out to walk the great green pasture. The sun was high in the sky and there were only a couple of pretty clouds on the horizon. A warm breeze rolled through and the two little piggies just loved watching the grass blow in the breeze.

“Petit, why are you crying? It is so pleasant out here and this grass is so soft. What could possibly be causing you enough sadness that you shed tears?” asked his sister. She hated how sad he was and how much the other piglets hurt him with their cruel words.

“Oh sister, I just know that I am not worthy of this beautiful farm. I am a runt and an extra small one at that. They all hate me and I feel such great joy that at least I will have you in my last few days here before the farmer takes me away. I wish I could be one of those beautiful birds on the sky. I wish to fly all over the world and see all the places that are as beautiful as this day. I wish I was colorful and happy. I don't want to be weak and useless anymore I want to be...”

Petit Cochon was about to continue on through tears but suddenly the winds picked up around them. The loose grass and petals from flowers nearby swirled up and about until suddenly a tiny little fairy appeared. She was green at first but kept changing colors. She had enormous iridescent eyes, pointy ears, pointy teeth and a set of wings that fluttered like a hummingbird's. She was wearing an outfit that changed color as well and seemed to sprinkle sparkling dust below her which perked up the grass and everything it touched.

“Sweet piglet, your tears and wishes have called me here,” said the fairy.

“Who are you?” replied both the piglets at once. They were surprised to see such a magnificent tiny creature in their presence.

“I am the wish fairy but you can call me Tana. I am the Fairy Queen and I get the privilege of making things better in the world. I can only do so if someone or something makes a powerful wish and seals it with honest tears of pain and sadness. Sweet piglet, your life is unhappy. The other piglets are unjust and cruel to you, with the exception of your sweet sister,” Tana the Fairy Queen smiled at the piglets after her explanation.

“But I am just a tiny runt. No one wants me not even the farmer who loves his pigs,” cried Petit Cochon.

“Ah yes, a tiny runt you are but it seems a tiny runt you don't want to be? Am I correct that you do not want to be this tiny runt you say you are?” asked Tana.

“No I certainly do not! I want to be a colorful and happy bird! I want to fly!” Petit Cochon was so happy thinking of the birds he so adored that day that he was squeaking and hopping around. Just then Tana spun around him so quickly he didn't even realize what was happening.

“Petit!” exclaimed his sister, “You have wings! You're... you're... A BIRD!” She was in happy hysterics at how beautiful and regal he looked.

“There you go sweet piglet, you are what you so deeply desired. Now go and enjoy the world! Be happy and forget all the mean little piggies you lived with before,” Tana looked on in joy at Petit Cochon, “please do me a favor though and change your name as it no longer suits you, goodbye my dears!”

“WAIT!” Tana the Fairy Queen was about to disappear when Petit Cochon called on her,” What about my sister? Why does she have to stay here with these mean piglets? Can she too be a bird with me?”

“You know little one, I do not often grant wishes for those who have not sealed them with tears but I suppose I will grant your sister her wish she hasn't wished for since she does shed the tears I need,” said the Fairy Queen.

Tana and Petit Cochon looked at his sister who was walking away. A tiny tear rolled down her cheek. It was a goodbye tear but a tear nonetheless. Tana performed her magic to the joy of Petit Cochon and made his sister a similar looking bird to him. The only difference was on her chest. Her coloring looked like a heart to symbolize her kindness with Petit Cochon.

With that Tana disappeared from the piglets turned birds. She had granted their wishes and had to go on to save other sad souls. The siblings danced around and chirped at each other in joy. How glorious they looked. How colorful and beautiful. They were small still but so agile and so mobile!

“Sister I think we need new names what shall we call ourselves?” asked Petit Cochon.

“I will call you Petit Bleu! Then you are still my Petit,” said his sister with a sweet smile, “and what will you call me?”

“Bon Coeur for you are the kind hearted sibling who saved me.”

The siblings embraced in a new way that they had never been able to. They wrapped their wings around each other for a sweet embrace. They smiled at each other and flew off without looking back at the farm. Petit Bleu and Bon Coeur had the adventures they had only dreamed of and found birds similar to them who welcomed them with open wings. They were happy and loved, just as Petit had desired.

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