Are you ready?
To meditate.
With Kari.
Climb up into your bed and get super,
Super comfortable.
Make sure that everything is just right in your room.
The lights are just right.
You're wearing your cozy,
Comfy pajamas.
And all is well in the world.
So you can relax your body.
And let go of your busy,
Busy day.
Stephanie had just got out of the shower.
She'd had a soccer practice.
She thoroughly enjoyed,
But she was covered in dirt and mud.
She needed to shower so she could put on comfy clothes and feel so much better.
Before she chilled out in her bedroom.
She got dressed after she'd toweled off.
And laid down on a bed and started to scroll through her phone.
She thought about how much she'd been scrolling on her phone lately,
And that was quite a lot.
Even though all of the content that she was scrolling on social media was really positive and made her feel good and happy.
She was very careful about that because at one point she was using social media and all it did was make her feel sad or hurt.
Less than or just unhappy about our own life like everybody else out there in the world is having an amazing life.
And she wasn't.
Obviously isn't true.
So she was very careful to make sure that she only followed accounts that were uplifting,
Supportive,
Or really,
Really funny.
Like kids or animals doing silly things.
She laughed at a few videos of silly dogs and then decided.
Maybe she should do something more productive.
She got up and went over to a dresser in her bedroom,
Sat down at the dressing table.
She opened up a jewelry box and took out her magical moonbow forest earrings.
So many times now that she'd been to Moonbow Forest wearing her magical earrings.
She's still.
To this day didn't know exactly where Mumbo Forest was.
It didn't seem to matter anymore.
All she knew was that it was just far,
Far away.
It didn't even feel like Earth.
It felt like some special planet somewhere out there in the universe that she visited.
And she was always really,
Really grateful that she could go there.
Maybe.
Maybe.
She was needed there today.
She had a funny feeling about it.
She didn't feel like she needed to go there for any reason for herself.
She would happily still lay on her bed.
Watching silly cat videos and dog videos.
But she did feel the need to go.
So she went with it.
She listened to her gut.
Her tummy talking.
And she did it.
Which you put on the left earring first.
And then the right earring.
And then she closed her eyes and started to feel the normal sensations that she felt in her body every time she wore these magical earrings.
She got tingles first of all in her spine and it made her shiver as if she just sneezed or something.
All the tiny little hairs on her arms.
Her fingertips tingled.
Her nose tickled.
Her nose tickled even more.
Even more to the point where she had to rub it,
Otherwise she was going to sneeze.
And there it was.
The veil between the two worlds.
She saw it there in front of her face,
Just like she did the very first time she wore her magical earrings.
And it looked exactly the same.
Slightly transparent with bits of silver running through.
The light from the other side could be seen but she only saw shadows.
Magical veil,
The curtain that separated her from this world.
Into the other world where all our friends were.
Into Moonbow Forest.
Was right there.
She pulled it to one side and stepped through.
And found yourself.
In a different forest to where she normally landed.
There was just dirt beneath her feet.
No grass.
The dirt was soft and powdery.
And it felt good underneath her feet.
She looked down and noticed she was barefoot and she could whittle her toes in the earth and it felt really nice.
And then she decided to investigate everything else around her.
The trees were very different.
She recognised the type of tree that she was looking at.
There were weeping willows.
They were very pretty.
The type of trees where you could walk under the branches and it was like a cave all to yourself.
Like an umbrella above your head,
But no one could see in.
Like you're special.
Divine,
Sacred,
Secret place.
She'd always loved willow trees.
They were her favourite,
And it seemed interesting that they were all around her.
She did a full 360 turn and everywhere around her looked the same.
These willow trees.
Okay,
She thought.
There were no friends in sight.
Her unicorn friend,
Luna,
Nope.
Nightshade?
Nope.
Cherry Blossom?
Nope.
None of her unicorn friends were here.
Mmm.
It's something about the trees,
She thought.
She made her way over to the closest tree,
Bent down to get under the willow's branches and went into the canopy inside where she could see the trunk of the tree.
She walked over to the trunk of the tree and put her hands on it and instantly felt a very strong buzzing sensation.
The tree was definitely dead.
Very alive.
She tried to speak to the tree.
Aye,
She said.
My name's Stephanie.
What's your name?
The tree.
Didn't say anything.
Her ears didn't hear anything.
Our hands felt the strongest.
Vibrations twitching underneath them.
As if.
The tree was talking through energy.
Through vibration in our fingers.
But she didn't understand what it was saying,
She just felt it.
And then she said.
I see.
This is how you communicate.
Okay,
What do I have to do?
So I can talk to you.
And then,
Just like that feeling that she got before in her bedroom,
That she needed to go to Moonbow Forest.
She didn't know why,
But she just needed to go.
She got that same feeling in her gut.
But this time,
The voice inside of her mind said,
Just listen.
Listen in a different way.
Just listen.
From that moment on.
Stephanie started to talk to the tree telepathically.
She didn't say the words out loud.
She just spoke them in her mind.
She's sad.
My name is Stephanie.
And the tree sat.
Welcome.
My name is Oliver.
We've been waiting for you.
Stephanie was so proud of herself.
She broke contact with the tree and started to jump around with her arms in the air,
Screaming,
Woo-hoo!
As if she was brilliant.
But then she realised when she didn't touch the tree she couldn't hear or communicate with the tree so she remembered that and very quickly she put her hands back on the tree and made contact again.
All of us had.
We need your help.
Stephanie knew it.
She knew it.
She knew that's why she needed to be in Moonbow Forest right now.
Stephanie said in her mind.
How can I help you?
Oliver the willow tree.
The weeping willow tree said,
We need help to cry.
Stephanie.
Thought she misheard him.
You need to cry.
She said.
Oliver said,
We need to weep.
It's been the longest time since we've weeped.
We need someone to make us cry.
Our harvests are very,
Very low.
And you want me to make you cry?
It's definitely sad.
I spend my whole life trying to make no one cry.
I don't want to cry.
I don't want to make people cry.
I don't want to make anybody cry.
Normally you hurt people when you make them cry.
It's because you've hurt them or something's happened.
There's many ways to make someone cry.
Said Oliver.
They can cry from happy tears.
They can cry from laughter,
Tears.
They can cry from being sentimental.
Those tears are very special.
You can cry in many ways.
Yes,
From sadness and grief.
From feelings of loneliness.
But.
.
.
Stephanie.
You can make us weep.
In other ways.
We just need your help.
Stephanie Thao.
She went very quiet for a moment.
How can I make them cry?
I can tell them a joke.
I have a joke,
She said,
I can make you laugh.
Oh good.
Said Oliver.
Go ahead.
Stephanie said.
Um how does the tomato no wait There's a tomato and a chicken?
No.
The tomato crossed the road and the other tomatoes were being really slow and Stephanie said,
Come on,
Catch up.
Hmm,
Oliver said.
You're not very good at telling jokes,
Are you?
Stephanie said.
No,
Obviously.
Okay,
Wait,
Let me think.
She thought about it some more.
Mmm.
I could tell you a poem.
That might make you cry.
Go ahead,
Said Oliver.
Please do.
In the silence of the night.
No sound.
At all.
All I hear.
Other memories.
They fled.
And flap their wings into my mind like loud birds squeaking and crawling in the sky.
I go deeper under the covers,
Feeling scared,
Scared of the noises.
The noises that aren't there.
Except they are,
They're in my head.
I'm scared of the dark.
I'm scared of the unknown.
Yet.
There's a light inside of me.
And when I remember it's there,
I turn it on brighter.
And the birds squawk and squeak.
And fly far away.
My light shines bright and I see that I'm not alone.
There are many just like me.
All over.
The world.
Stephanie looked at Oliver.
And his bark was running.
Like tears were running from the top of him all the way down.
They trickled over her fingers,
Up her arms.
She let go for a moment and he said,
No,
Please don't.
Because where Stephanie went when she spoke about her poem,
She went into her heart.
She went into the deepest parts of herself.
And she allowed Oliver,
The weeping willow,
To feel it,
To see it,
To hear it.
And that was very,
Very special.
And because that was special,
He cried.
He cried with gratitude at Stephanie.
Shared her deepest thoughts.
He cried and cried and then all of the other trees around started to weep,
The message travelling from their roots to one to the other to the other to the other,
All of them communicating with each other underneath the earth and above.
Stephanie thought it was amazing to just watch.
And then,
The most beautiful of all things happened.
Tiny little colorful rainbows seemed to fall from every branch of the willow tree.
Oliver was spreading rainbows.
They were landing on the ground like little tiny pebbles.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them.
Stephanie bent down and picked one up.
It looks like a skittle,
She thought.
No.
Oliver smiled,
But he carried on crying,
And as he weeped more and more,
Skittles fell from the weeping willow.
And all around,
Every single tree was doing the same thing.
There were thousands of the things on the ground.
Orange ones,
Red ones,
Blue ones,
Purple ones,
Pink ones,
Yellow ones,
Violet ones,
Golden ones,
Silver ones,
Black ones,
Blue ones.
Every shade every color every every every single color you could think of was on the ground.
Piling up.
Higher and higher.
Stephanie started to giggle.
All of a sudden,
You can hate them.
She put one in her mouth.
Oh my gosh,
It wasn't a Skittle.
What was you thinking?
This was Moonbow Forest.
It was like a rainbow drop.
It was the most intense.
Flavour she'd ever,
Ever tasted.
Of orange.
The skittle thing that she put in her mouth,
The rainbow drop.
Was orange.
Now she was curious.
She was searching around on the ground,
Finding one of every color,
Popping them in her mouth,
Tasting them,
And they tasted so good.
Who eats these?
Where do they all go?
What are they for?
So many questions,
All of us had.
Don't ask questions while I'm weeping.
You wet?
And where?
And wet.
And the rainbow droplets fell and fell and fell.
It was starting to look like she would have to dig her way out from underneath the willow tree.
There were so many circles of rainbows all around each tree.
She giggled.
And then giggle louder.
She thought it was so funny.
And then.
.
.
All of us stopped crying.
Why are you laughing?
Oh,
It's just.
.
.
Amazing,
She said.
It made me giggle.
And then all of it giggled.
And then instantaneously as if his giggling was felt through his roots to every other tree.
All the other trees giggled and as they giggled more and more and more they cried more and more and more and even more rainbow droplets came from their tears.
What an amazing thing to see.
And how cool was it that Stephanie could make them weep?
She placed her hands on Oliver once again and also placed her forehead right next to him as if she was hugging him really tightly.
And Oliver said,
Thank you,
Stephanie.
We are all so grateful.
Thank you.
Our crops,
Our rainbow droplets,
Will feed many.
You have done something very good today.
It's definitely sad.
Thank you.
Thank you,
Oliver.
And then just like that,
She opened her eyes and started to watch the fan on the roof,
The ceiling of her bedroom,
Spin around and around and around.
And she recognized that she was back home.
She felt sweet.
A warm happiness running through her body.
She was proud of herself.
She felt very good about listening to her inner voice.
She needed to do it more often,
She thought.
The end.
