Are you ready to meditate with Kori?
Get all comfortable in your bed.
Make sure the light is just right so you can relax your body and let go of your busy day.
It was three weeks since the last time Stephanie visited Moonbow Forest.
Three weeks because she was super busy.
It was the summer holidays.
She visited her aunt.
They'd had weekends away.
She was playing and hanging out with her friends.
Life generally was just really good.
On this particular afternoon she woke up from a nap.
She'd been on a really long morning hike with her parents,
Her aunt that was in town,
And one of her cousins.
She'd come home and had lunch and then decided she was going to just maybe lay down and listen to some music.
And before she even realized she was fast asleep.
She slept for over an hour.
It was a deep,
Deep sleep.
And she felt really rested when she woke up.
She went over to her dressing table and stared at her jewelry box.
She looked in the mirror,
Looked at herself and thought about Moonbow Forest.
She wondered what was happening with Luna and all of her other unicorn friends there.
The last time she went she wore her horn,
Necklace,
The golden horn and realized when she got to Moonbow Forest that the horn allowed her to become a unicorn.
It was such a cool experience.
And it felt like forever ago,
Even though it was only three weeks.
Stephanie opened her jewelry box slowly and rummaged through the different things inside.
Just touching over each thing gently with her fingertips,
Thinking,
Almost daydreaming at the same time.
And then she came to the part where the special earrings were that her grandma had bought her.
Seemed like forever ago now.
She took out the earrings and without even thinking about it,
With no expectations,
No specific reason,
She just automatically put the earrings in her ears and closed her eyes.
She felt the tingles in her fingers first,
Like by closing her eyes she was journeying already into another world,
Another place in the universe.
This made her tingles feel very intense.
It felt like the ends of her fingertips were vibrating as if she'd been strumming on a guitar too much.
She could still feel the sensations of the strings on the tips of her fingers.
She took another deep breath and the tingles seemed to travel throughout her whole body,
All the way from her head down to her toes.
And then she felt her nose twitch and itch and tingle as if it was a bell that was ringing.
She felt for a moment like Rudolph,
The reindeer or something,
And this made her smile.
And then she felt the curtain,
That curtain that was always there when she closed her eyes.
It wasn't as if it was a real curtain.
It felt like something invisible,
More like a veil that was there in front of her face.
So you could say it was a curtain but you couldn't actually feel it as if it felt like a curtain but you could feel the energy of it,
Like a mysterious veil so delicate that separated her from her normal everyday life.
But yet when she pulled it back and she stepped into what was beyond the veil,
She found herself always,
Always in that special magical place,
Moonbow Forest.
Today she felt the energy of the veil,
The curtain,
There in front of her and she reached her right hand up and pulled the veil to one side and stepped in.
Stepping through the void,
Stepping through whatever it was,
That energy shield there in front of her face.
She felt first the familiar feeling of the grass on her bare feet,
That wonderful soft,
Spongy Moonbow Forest grass.
She stepped on many lawns,
Many fields in her real world but nothing felt quite like this.
It was like the plushest,
Spongiest carpet you would have ever stood on and it felt so welcoming and bouncy underneath her feet.
It was never prickly and hard or it was never mushy and wet.
It was just always perfect.
She loved this grass and the fact that you could eat the grass as well and you could eat the dirt because the dirt tasted just like ground up Oreo cookies and the grass tasted just like coriander,
Oh it was so good.
But no,
She felt the grass underneath her feet and then she opened her eyes.
She saw all the familiar trees.
The sky was so blue,
Like if you were to buy the fluffiest,
Most perfect raspberry Slurpee and it was the tallest glass and you were drinking it with a glass straw,
It was that kind of blue.
Like the perfect blue that you just wanted to dive into as if it was like the ocean but the ocean was in the sky,
It was like that today.
She wondered if you could actually drink the sky like a Slurpee.
When she saw Luna she was going to ask her if that was even possible.
But as she looked around she couldn't see any of the unicorns today.
Luna was always normally right there chewing on the coriander grass but today there were no unicorns at all in the trees,
On the dirt path,
Nope no unicorns.
As she walked forward on the dirt path and felt the different texture underneath her feet she thought maybe there was something special going on there today in Moonbow Forest.
Maybe it was a celebration or a specific holiday that she didn't know about and that's why no one was there in the forest.
Maybe they were all gathered round the bottom of Pizza Mountain.
Maybe they were all by the Strawberry Milkshake Lake.
She wasn't worried but it was definitely different.
She found herself just walking,
Enjoying Moonbow Forest and everything about it.
She noticed as she walked that there were yellow flowers here and there and everywhere and it's as if they were just popping up just for her because she would walk and see no flowers in front of her and then she would get distracted by the sky or a tree or a bird and then she'd look down again at the path and just like that,
Just like magic,
A yellow group of flowers would be there in front of her on the path.
The flowers were shaped funny,
They were shaped like bananas but they had petals around them like the center of them was like a tiny mini banana.
She reached down and got closer to the flowers.
I've not seen you before,
She thought to herself.
The flower as if it understood her thoughts said yeah,
I'm banana split flavor,
I'm delicious.
Oh,
Said Stephanie,
I am a little bit hungry.
She picked one of the flowers and popped it into her mouth.
It was the best banana split flavor that she had ever,
Ever tasted.
Wow,
She said out loud,
You're delicious and just like that as if that's all the flowers had been waiting for.
Hundreds of them popped up,
Pop,
Pop,
Pop,
Pop,
Pop,
Here,
There and everywhere.
Eat me,
Eat me,
The flowers were saying.
Of course in the real world,
She would never just eat a flower.
That could possibly make her sick.
But here in Moonbow Forest,
She knew she was safe and she knew because she'd been there so many times that everything was edible,
Everything.
This made her think about the sky once again.
I could just drink a raspberry slurpee,
She thought.
She carried on walking forward,
Picking up one of the banana split flowers here and there munching away.
She walked and walked and walked and still no unicorns to be seen anywhere.
She found herself walking down a different path.
It looked interesting,
Unusual.
It was unusual because the dirt on the floor changed colors.
It went from your typical Oreo cookie kind of dirt to more of like a butterscotch color.
Hmm,
She thought and just intuitively started to walk down that path instead.
The path didn't have any trees on it on the sides.
It was just open fields,
Lots and lots of grass.
But then far in the distance in front of her she could see one tree,
Just one tree.
She thought for a moment that this was a little bit weird because Mumbo Forest was a forest.
It had trees all over it normally,
Like almost everywhere.
This was the first time she really saw like a big open field on either side of her and the fields were completely empty too.
No unicorns again to be seen anywhere.
Stephanie quickened her pace and started skipping towards the tree.
She was happy.
It was a good day.
She still wasn't concerned about not seeing any of her friends yet.
She got closer and closer to the tree and then when she got there she realized how big this tree was.
It was like literally the biggest tree that she'd ever seen.
Like a tree that you would see in a redwood forest or something.
The trunk of the tree was so big and so,
So wide.
You could have driven a car through it.
It was so big.
And it was tall,
Really tall and really,
Really bushy.
She felt the bark of the tree and the tree bark was really crumbly underneath her fingers.
As she put a piece of it in her mouth,
It made her think about Butterfingers.
That was kind of like the texture.
As she bit into it,
It melted in her mouth a little bit.
It tasted just like peanut butter,
Just like a Butterfinger would.
It was delicious.
She kept her right hand on the tree and walked around the entire trunk slowly.
It must have took her like 20 seconds to get all around the trunk.
It was a beautiful tree.
She thought about the Tree of Life.
How the Tree of Life represented all of life.
Eternity forever.
She thought about how it would take her forever to climb this tree,
Probably if she ever wanted to climb it.
It was so tall and full.
And then the Tree spoke to her.
Hello Stephanie.
Been waiting for you to come see me for a very long time.
Stephanie at first didn't realize it was the Tree and she looked around,
To her left,
To her right,
Behind her.
She kind of ran around the Tree as if someone was behind the Tree talking to her.
No one was there.
Not a unicorn in sight.
No bunny rabbits,
No butterflies,
No bumblebees.
Just the Tree.
She stepped back and stared up at how tall it was.
Are you talking to me?
She said.
The Tree said.
Yes,
I'm talking to you.
Welcome to me.
The biggest tree here in Moonbow Forest.
Oh!
Said Stephanie.
Hello.
I was looking for all of my friends.
I haven't seen anyone today.
The Tree said that's because this visit is especially for me.
What do you mean?
Said Stephanie.
The Tree looked down at her.
It seemed to peer and bend and lean as if all of its branches and its leaves and its entire bush at the top was leaning over towards her so it could see her more clearly.
I have a special treat for you today Stephanie.
It's time for you to feel and experience being something else.
Being in your own dimensional world and reality today.
Something very different.
Oh!
Said Stephanie.
She was thinking to herself how amazing Moonbow Forest was.
How just ridiculously fun it was.
How magical it was.
How every single time she came something new,
Something interesting always happened to her.
This time it was like the most biggest ginormous tree in the world was talking to her.
Telling her it wanted her to go on an adventure of a sort.
To be in her own dimension.
She wondered what that meant for a second and she said,
What do you mean by dimension?
The Tree said,
Well all you have to do is eat one of my leaves.
I'm a special kind of tree you see Stephanie.
I help to transform you into something different,
Something magical.
But something that isn't your normal self.
So you get to experience another dimension.
A dimension is just a different reality.
A different way of viewing the world.
Oh!
Said Stephanie.
I get it.
Like when you read a really good book and it takes you into a different world.
And you forget where you are.
Yes!
Said the Tree.
Just like that.
Okay,
But I can't reach one of your leaves.
You're way too big.
That I am!
Said the Tree.
But luckily for you I have a magical code.
And just because you're Stephanie you get to know exactly what that code is.
You knock on me three times as if you're knocking on a door.
Just three times Stephanie.
One two three.
And when you do that my leaves start to fall.
You can pick any leaf you want.
You'll notice that they're all different shapes and colors and sizes.
Use your intuition.
Trust yourself.
And pick whichever leaf is calling to you.
Oh how exciting!
Said Stephanie.
She was truly,
Literally very excited.
She could tell she was excited because her breathing started to get faster and she was shaking a little bit.
But in a good way.
Like she was super excited.
Like she was just about to go on stage and perform.
Or she was just about to meet a new friend.
Or she was just about to have a taste of her favorite birthday cake.
That kind of excited.
Are you ready?
She said.
The Tree just groaned and creaked a little bit.
And she took that as a yes.
The Tree had straightened back up.
Tall and strong and very,
Very,
Very,
Very,
Very,
Very tree like.
There in front of her.
She banged on the Tree.
Three times.
Very assertively.
And slowly.
But like she knew exactly what she was doing.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
And as if it was raining.
The leaves started to fall from the sky.
Hundreds of them.
All around her.
She reached out at the palms of her hands as if to grab them and catch them like snowflakes or raindrops.
She looked up and they were falling and hitting her in different parts of her face and she had to squint just in case one of them got in her eye.
But it was so magical.
And she just stood there for a moment until the leaves stopped falling.
They were all around her feet.
All over the ground.
All the way around the trunk of the big ginormous Tree.
She walked around in circles.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
Looking at all the different sizes,
The different colors and the smells that came with them.
They smelled like walking into a candy store.
All the different smells and flavors of the candy.
The sweetness in the air.
The sugary sweet smell that you only get when you walk into a candy store.
It smelled like that.
She figured they were all sweet.
Like desserts.
Like treats.
This made her even more undecisive.
Even more excited.
She wondered if the colors represented the flavors.
Some of them were brown.
Some of them were very,
Very green.
Some of them were pale green.
She thought maybe the pale ones were like sour apple and the dark ones were maybe like peppermint.
And the brown ones were maybe all different chocolate flavors.
But she couldn't be sure.
Not until she tried one.
She ended up picking up one that was like an orangey,
Yellowy,
Browny,
Greeny color.
Like an autumn leaf that still had a little bit of all the different days of autumn season mixed in with it.
Like it had not quite decided whether it was fully autumn yet or whether it was still summer.
She placed the leaf in her mouth and closed her eyes.
And she tasted chocolate,
Rich,
Milky and creamy and very sweet and smooth.
And then she got the taste of cinnamon.
Definitely cinnamon flavor.
This made her think about churros and cinnamon cookies.
And then it changed and shifted again and she got like a lemony,
Orangey,
Citrus taste coming through.
And she figured maybe that was the orange and the lemon parts of the leaf.
And then finally it finished with what tasted like peppermint bark and chocolate mixed together.
It was delicious.
But what was even more interesting,
Just as she was going through the experience of tasting and sensing all the different flavors,
She felt the weirdest sensation happen inside of her tummy.
Like her tummy was turning upside down like she was on a roller coaster.
Or she'd just gone too high on the swing.
And that point at the top where you feel completely weightless just before you fall.
That's where she was.
That's what her tummy felt like.
And then just as quick as blinking,
She looked down and saw feathers on her chest.
She looked out at her arms that were once were arms but now replaced by wings.
Bright green,
Cocktail green,
Like parrot green.
Both of her wings were green.
Her chest was green.
She twitched and moved her neck and she seemed to move jittery and fast.
Not like her normal movement.
Like a bird of some kind.
And then without even thinking about it,
She moved her wings and started to fly.
Her wings were so fast.
So fast.
Like faster than 200 beats a minute.
Fast.
She figured she was a hummingbird.
Oh my goodness,
To be a hummingbird she thought.
This is the coolest day ever.
She started to fly up towards the trees,
Leaves,
Its branches.
Up higher and higher and higher to the top of the tree.
Where there at the top of the tree were at least maybe 10 or 12 hummingbirds hovering away.
Pulling out the nectar from purple flowers at the top of the tree.
She didn't even realize this tree had flowers.
Maybe it didn't.
Maybe it just had flowers for the hummingbirds.
Just so they would come and visit.
She flew towards the other hummingbirds and they all just carried on doing what they were doing as if.
Stephanie was just one of them.
Like she'd always been one of them.
Nothing different or unusual.
And she dipped a long hummingbird beak into one of the purple flowers and closed her eyes and sucked.
The tongue was really really long and it had this amazing way of just lapping up and sucking at the sweet nectar in the purple flowers.
It tasted like syrup.
Maple syrup.
But the bestest maple syrup that she'd ever ever tasted.
This is just too good to be true she thought as she flew from flower to flower.
They kind of,
Without talking about it,
Took turns with one another as if they shared.
Sharing is caring she thought to herself and she saw a whole different way of what that statement meant.
She flew down away from the hummingbirds after a while and looked at the tree very differently.
As she flew around the tree it was like it had different parts to it that were different worlds for different animals.
One part of the tree was full to the brim of nuts and there were so many squirrels and different birds.
She flew around to another part of the tree and there was at least five different owls sleeping.
One of them opened just one eye slowly and looked at her and then as if it was too tired to care closed it again and its neck seemed to just disappear into nothingness as if it was folding itself up on itself to go to sleep.
It was obviously a very special tree.
After a while of exploring all the different parts of the tree,
All the different activities and different animals and different sections,
Stephanie started to feel tired.
She wanted to rest.
She flew back to the top of the tree and hovered there in the air flapping her wings at least 200 beats a minute.
She felt tireder and tireder.
She landed on a branch and stopped moving her wings and closed her eyes and everything shifted just like that.
Like she had ended the chapter of a book.
She closed the curtains on her day.
She turned the light off and when she opened her eyes again she found herself staring,
Smiling in her bedroom looking at herself in the mirror once again.
Wow,
She thought.
Just wow.
She took off the earrings and placed them back in her jewelry box and went downstairs for dinner.
And as she happily skipped,
Hopping down the steps,
Missing one or two,
In a very good mood,
She thought to herself,
Wow,
I wonder what will happen next time I go to Moonbow Forest.
And that was the end of that.
The end.
