So,
Just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax.
And as you begin to comfortably drift asleep,
I'm just going to tell this bedtime story in the background.
And I don't know whether you'll drift asleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it will be to the spaces between my words.
And as you comfortably drift asleep,
I'm just going to tell this story about a woman who is resting at home one day and she notices out of the window while it's raining,
As she's listening to the gentle pitter-patter of the raindrops on the window,
That the sky has an unusual hue to it.
There are areas of sunlight and areas of cloud and while gazing out of the window,
Admiring the curious atmosphere,
Admiring the textures of the clouds and the contrast between the dark sky and the sunlight,
She notices the most incredible,
Vivid rainbow forming in the sky.
And she watches for a while and realises the rainbow doesn't seem to be fading.
Minutes turn into hours and that rainbow still seems to just be hanging there in the sky.
And so she gets wrapped up and dressed up,
Ready to go out in the rain.
She heads out into the rain,
Raising the hood on her raincoat,
The sound of that rain reverberating around her ears as it strikes the coat and the hood of the coat,
The sensation of each raindrop hitting the coat and some of the spray from the rain catching her face and the weather is the most comfortable temperature.
As she's wrapped up,
It's not too warm and not too cool and nobody else seems to be out,
Perhaps all tucking away out of the rain.
And she walks in the direction of the rainbow and she's going in search of the legendary pot of gold that she hopes to find where the rainbow touches the ground.
And she doesn't know whether the pot of gold is at the left side of the rainbow or the right side of the rainbow,
But she feels that the right side is probably correct because it's right and that's where she decides to check.
And so she heads in the direction of the right side of the rainbow,
Keeping an eye on that giant vivid arch of colour stretching overhead,
Curious at how that rainbow is lasting so long as she walks.
And as the rain continues and the sun shines through the rain,
Casting that ethereal rainbow in the sky,
She continues journeying towards where the right side of the rainbow touches the ground.
And she heads through a town,
Heads out into countryside and she can see that rainbow still way off in the distance.
She continues following that rainbow,
Curious how it's staying where it is,
Heading deep deeper and deeper into countryside,
Noticing how the countryside seems to strangely be shifting and changing as she walks,
As if reality is shifting and changing.
And yet the one constant is that rainbow.
She occasionally hears the sounds of birds,
Singing in bushes and trees,
But is surprised at the stillness of the environment with just the sound of the rain,
Only occasionally being punctuated by other sounds.
She reaches the grounds of an ancient monastery that seems so still and the stonework of this ancient monastery casts the most incredible contrast to the nature,
The greens of the grasses and the trees around.
She cuts through that monastery,
Curious what it was like in the past long before it became ruins.
She heads out the other side of the monastery,
Continuing to head towards that rainbow,
Which is now hung in the sky for many hours.
It's almost as if time is caught in a loop,
Not proceeding forward,
But still playing,
Like just a loop of rain in a moment.
And she continues on through the countryside,
The feeling of walking through fields where the ground is slightly spongy,
The smell of the air in the countryside,
Cleaned by the rain,
A certain freshness to that air,
As the landscape continues to subtly change as she walks,
In a way that's barely noticeable and just retrospectively she realises how different the landscape is becoming.
She finds herself walking into long grass,
Taller than she is,
With wide shards of grass,
Almost rattling in the breeze,
As she walks through that grass,
Keeping an eye on the sky,
On that rainbow as she walks,
And she notices the rainbow getting wider and wider,
And knows that she's nearing the base of the rainbow,
And she hopes that she'll find the gold that she seeks,
And eventually she reaches the foot of the rainbow,
She can see it arching high overhead,
Its colours so vivid against the darkness of the rain clouds,
But at the foot of the rainbow,
Instead of finding gold,
She notices that there's what looks almost like a blue portal,
With a slight whirring sound,
As if this rainbow is beaming out of that portal,
She wonders whether there is the same at the other side of the rainbow,
And this portal takes on the shape of an orb,
And she pokes a stick into the portal,
Takes that stick out and decides to walk through the portal,
And as she walks through the portal,
So she comes out in a continuation of that long grass,
But the environment is incredibly warm,
A very different environment to the one she just came from,
It seems much drier,
And as she looks behind her,
She can see the portal,
But not the rainbow,
And as she looks behind her,
She notices the entire environment is very different,
And she continues walking through this long grass,
Curious where she is,
And as she walks through this long grass,
So she starts to hear the faint distant sound of flowing water,
And she heads towards that sound of flowing water,
And as she nears the sound,
So it becomes louder and louder,
And she can begin to smell the scent of the fresh water flowing,
And as she gets closer and closer to the water,
So the grass thins out,
And she finds herself on the bank of a wide river,
And she carefully follows that wide river,
Curious where it will take her,
And along the river bank,
She sees a very unusual sight,
Something large,
Seems to be in a deck chair,
With a parasol above their head,
And she gets closer and closer,
And realises that it's a manatee,
Seemingly resting on its back,
Enjoying the weather,
Shielding itself from the sun with the parasol,
And as she approaches,
She slows down,
And engages in conversation with this manatee,
And while talking with the manatee,
She can hear the water trickling alongside,
The sound of the rustling grass,
The sight of the occasional butterfly flitting in and out of that grass,
And as she talks with that manatee,
She asks where here is,
And the manatee tells her that she's in a land of elephant grass,
And she asks what the elephant grass is,
And the manatee says that elephant grass is all that tall grass that surrounds us,
That's as far as the eye can see,
And it's called elephant grass because if it ever rains heavily,
For 40 days and 40 nights,
The grass flowers,
And then following the flowering,
An elephant is born at the base of the bits of grass,
And the land becomes overrun by elephants,
And the grass seems to disappear,
And the landscape for a time is barren,
And then the elephants disperse in search of food,
Travelling off in different directions to different lands,
Eating the remains of the grass before they go,
And this manatee explains that sometimes it's been known to go wrong,
That a strange kind of rain happens,
And something very different occurs,
That there was one year where it was raining incredibly heavy,
But it was also very windy,
And the wind and the rain mixed,
The fronds of grass intertwined with each other,
The river that weaves its way through this elephant grass overflowed,
And this river contains elements from the distant mountains,
Which mixed with the soil,
And as the rain subsided,
And the river settled down,
Out from the ground,
Erupted tens of millions of chickens running around,
Noisily pecking at all the seeds,
Pecking at the remnants of the grass,
Chickens as far as the eye could see,
And the woman engages further with this manatee,
Not once thinking that actually it's a strange experience to find a manatee lying back on a deck chair with a parasol overhead,
Who can also talk,
Something about the experience just felt natural,
And she sets off from that manatee,
Having asked for directions on where she should perhaps go next,
The manatee had said about the mountains,
And so she thought perhaps she'll head towards those mountains,
And was curious what these elements were,
Which wash down the river from the mountains,
And so she follows the river up towards those mountains,
And while walking towards those mountains,
She notices a white pelican standing in the water,
So patiently waiting,
Staring into the water,
She calls out to that white pelican,
And asks them the direction if she's going the right way to the mountains,
And the pelican tells her that she is,
That she can head this direction past the lost city,
Where eventually she'll find a garden,
And in that garden she'll find the path into the mountains,
And she leaves that pelican,
Continues following this river,
Until she thinks she can see the faintest hint of the peaks of the mountains on the horizon,
And she continues to walk,
And the elephant grass gives way,
First to shrubs,
And then to small trees,
And then to woodland,
And she heads into that woodland,
And while walking through the woodland,
She decides to stop,
To take a break,
To rest for a little while,
And as she rests,
So a little fairy seems to fly from the water's edge,
Curiously investigating her,
Asking her about who she is,
Where she's from,
Where she's going,
And she explains,
And the fairy says that the journey is going to get very difficult,
As you begin to ascend the mountain,
But hidden within the mountains,
Are multi-dimensional beings,
Called the hugs,
And the hugs can't be seen,
Only felt,
And they're incredibly friendly,
Their aim is to help,
To bring hope,
To bring comfort,
And you'll encounter them,
But you may not even realize you've encountered them unless you need them,
And the fairy said there are little hugs,
That are very small,
Would probably only come up to your knee,
And then there are big hugs,
That are about twice your size,
And the fairy explained that you can't see the hugs,
These multi-dimensional beings,
But if you could,
You'd notice that they're almost like just balls of fur and fluff,
But the friendliest of eyes and faces,
And the warmest of cuddles,
And they communicate through touch,
And so they come up,
And they give you a hug,
To help motivate,
To help you feel safe and secure,
To help you feel supported,
To help you better continue your journey,
And whenever you need a hug,
They will be there,
Sometimes you might need a little hug,
Other times you might need a big hug,
But they'll be there when you need them,
And then the fairy flits off,
And seems to rest down on a lily pad in the middle of the river,
Before jumping in the air,
Landing in the middle of that lily pad,
And seeming to disappear,
And the woman rests for a little while,
Before continuing on her journey,
And she encounters the lost city,
So she knows she's heading in the right direction,
And the lost city appears to just be rocks and ruins,
And she climbs some areas she's sure used to be walls,
And weaves through other areas she thinks may have been doors,
And follows other areas that look like they were probably paths,
Maybe even roads,
She feels that she can almost hear the sounds of what this metropolis used to be like,
The chinking of blacksmiths working with metal,
The clopping of horses,
The murmur of people,
Selling to each other in markets,
Enjoying each other's company,
The vibrant nature of this place when it once existed,
And having a curiosity about how it all came to an end with time,
Maybe the people from here just gradually moved on and went their own separate ways,
As she now continues on her separate way through this lost city,
Back into the woodland,
Hearing the rustling of leaves overhead as the wind blows a breeze,
Pushing past branches,
Feeling the bark of the trunks of trees as she weaves around them,
Watching the shards of light breaking through the canopy and dancing ahead,
In the dust of the woodland,
Glittering,
Sparkling,
Almost twinkling like fairy dust,
And gradually working towards clearing the other side of the woodland,
Where she finds an unusual sight,
A traditional well-kept garden,
Seemingly at the base of the mountains,
And she walks up to the gate to the garden,
Peers over the gate to see who may or may not be in this garden,
Trying to work out who this garden belongs to,
It's well maintained,
So someone must be here at some point,
And then carefully unbolting the gate,
Walking through the gate,
With a creak and a click,
Closing the gate behind her,
Smelling the most beautiful scent of the flowers,
Feeling the warmth of the sun on her face,
And then seeing the most friendly looking cat,
Lying in the sun in the garden,
And as she gently,
Slowly,
Carefully approaches that cat,
So the cat flops onto its side,
Gives a little meow,
And she reaches out and scratches its belly gently,
Rubs its fur,
Rubs just under the cat's leg,
And the cat rolls onto its back,
And she spends some time with that cat,
Curious who owns this garden,
And notices while she's engaging with the cat,
That the sun is setting behind the mountains,
And it wouldn't be sensible to climb the mountains in the dark,
And so she wonders if it would be okay to set up a camp in this garden,
And so she makes a makeshift camp in the garden,
From bits she's acquired on her journey,
And the cat comes and sits down near her,
And as the garden begins to darken,
As that sun continues to set,
She notices fireflies flying around in the garden,
Most beautiful dots of light,
Flitting from place to place,
Sometimes hovering in a location,
And then she notices in the darkness,
Somebody approaching holding a light,
And as they carry that light,
Its flame gently flickering so calmly and beautifully,
She's curious who this is,
And they're a short elven creature,
With smooth skin,
Gently pointed ears,
The softest hair,
And the kindest eyes,
And they engage with the woman,
About how she's found this garden,
She's met their cat,
She's obviously demonstrated she's kind and friendly,
And so in the morning they'll show her the route up the mountain,
Because it isn't what she would expect,
And says for now settle down and sleep,
And then they turn and walk away,
And the woman settles down,
She watches the night's sky,
The stars in the sky,
The colours of the sky,
And drifts peacefully asleep,
And the next morning,
She wakes to the cat,
Padding on her arm,
Feeling so calm and comfortable,
She walks across the garden,
Curious about the previous evening's encounter,
And that elven person appears again,
Guides her to the sundial in the middle of the garden,
Twists the top of the sundial,
And with a click,
They then tilt the sundial,
Revealing some steps,
And they say to send those steps,
And it'll take you to the path to ascend this mountain,
And so they descend the steps,
They light a torch as they go,
You can hear the occasional drip of water down here,
And they walk along a tunnel,
Under this garden,
And then find some steps before them,
They begin to ascend these steps,
And the steps get wider and wider,
And the roof above the steps gets higher and higher,
Until the roof is so high,
The light from the torch no longer reaches it,
And they ascend,
And they ascend,
And they ascend,
Encountering glowing moss,
Streams of glowing fibres around the walls,
Helping to light this space,
They reach a point where they begin to struggle,
With the constant ascent,
And then feel a sense of being hugged,
And filled with strength and motivation,
Kindness and support,
And encouragement to keep going,
They continue a while longer before stopping to take a break,
And then continuing again some more,
And after they feel like they've been ascending for hours,
They start to think to themselves they can't go on,
They can't keep pushing themselves like this,
They don't know how much further they have to go,
And then they feel a big hug,
And they continue on after eating,
And having that rest,
Until eventually finding themselves at an oak door,
With ornate carvings,
And they open that door,
And realise they're in a room,
Looking out from the top of the mountains,
Carved into the mountains with windows,
And in this room,
They see multiple elements,
Different powders,
Seeming to be worn directly from the rocks,
And carefully feeding in to the trickle of water from up here,
And watching as that water trickles across a thin path on the floor of this room,
Before beginning to trickle down the side of the mountain,
Those elements merging,
Mixing,
Being like the lifeblood of the entire landscape below,
And from here they can hear the blustery wind outside,
They can see way off into the distance,
Way off back to where they started,
They see the faintest hue of blue,
Of that portal way off in the distance,
So vivid and vibrant,
From here it just looks like a pinprick of light,
And yet it's still visible,
And they look around this space,
Finding this room seems empty,
But it seems purposeful,
It has windows,
It's designed as a room,
Elements seem to be just wearing off the walls,
And carefully flowing and mixing with the water,
And then they see,
From the corner of a room,
A small owl hopping along the ground,
And then walking towards them,
Greeting them,
Introducing themselves,
Explaining that they're the wise one of this land,
Everything works here like clockwork,
Everything has a purpose,
The mountain grows,
The elements wear down,
Those worn elements pass into the water,
The water flows down the mountain and feeds the valley below,
And life forms all round,
And as that water evaporates in the distance,
The wind blows the water towards the mountains again,
Where it rains down on the growing mountains,
Evaporates more of the elements,
And the cycle continues,
And as the wise one,
They're responsible for making sure that this continues day after day,
With no break in the cycle,
There's some variation in the cycle,
Sometimes some elements mix more than others,
Sometimes it rains more than other times and for longer than other times,
And this creates a certain level of uncertainty and change,
And they ask the woman what led her to be here,
And she explains she came in search of gold,
But found this place instead,
Finding a portal where the gold would normally be,
And they say to the woman,
You struck gold,
Very few people have ever made it here,
It's very rare for anyone to find the base of a rainbow,
And that the bases of rainbows are portals between lands,
Each base leading to different lands,
And the portal is different depending on the rainbow and the quality of the rainbow,
Leading to different lands,
Different dimensions,
And they explain to the woman that she needs to head back and find her way back,
So that they can share some knowledge with her,
Make this trip meaningful,
But she needs to head back before the rainbow dissolves,
And the portal fades,
And they hand her an enormous kite,
And what resembles a kind of surfboard mixed with a wing,
And they tell her to get back,
The quickest way is to kite surf,
The wind,
The updrafts of warm air,
Following the descending cold air,
Recognizing patterns in the sky to navigate your way back,
They tell her to hold on to the kite,
Holding on to two separate strings that will allow her to direct the kite left right,
Help her to raise up lower down,
And to be on that windsurfing board,
And with a sense of uncertainty,
She heads out of this room onto a ledge here at the top of this mountain,
She then feels a big hug giving her a hug,
And feels comfortable,
And the owl says you can trust us,
You can trust yourself,
This is no storm in a teacup,
You can ride this back to where you came,
And she pulls on the cords,
Lurching the kite forward which launches in the air,
Jumps onto the board locking one foot on the front,
And sets off,
Waved off by the owl,
And begins surfing the wind back to where she came,
Surfing above the mountain,
Above the garden,
Above the woodland,
Weaving and following that river back in the direction she came from,
Sky surfing all the way back,
Noticing way down there that manatee still choosing to rest on a deck chair under a parasol,
And lowering herself down and weaving,
Landing among the elephant grass,
Skidding along near to the portal that she's aiming for,
And she passes through that portal,
Finding herself back where she started,
In a more familiar land,
The tall elephant grass here,
Fading,
As the portal fades,
Where it had bled out through the portal,
Into the land around,
Seeing behind her the rainbow fading,
The portals closing,
The clouds clearing,
The rain stopping,
As she found her way back home,
And as the sun increased in temperature,
Now there were no clouds or rain,
She took off the raincoat and carried it with her,
As she walked back towards her home,
And as she arrived home,
And went to get the key out of her pocket to open the door,
She finds a tiny little carved statue,
Of an owl,
Inscribed on the base,
Saying something to remember your journey by,
She opens the door and goes in to her house,
She makes herself a drink and settles down for a while,
Reflecting on the journey she's had,
And as night falls,
She heads to bed,
Still in her mind,
Running over the experience,
Curious how the portals form,
Why others haven't discovered them before,
Why she's never heard of them before,
Wondering whether she'll ever get to leave this land and maybe visit other lands in the future,
Knowing if there's another rainbow,
She's definitely going to go searching for the end of the rainbow,
And she settles down and begins to drift,
And float so peacefully,
So comfortably asleep,
Into slumberland.
