The power of fantasy

“Can you imagine losing your fantasy?” That’s what I asked Aly lately, and she wildly shook her head.  “Not in a million years”, she said. Aly is the daughter of one of my friends. She is 4 years old and since I know her I learned a lot. She became one of my biggest inspirations in my life, and my writing. Fantasy is the base, or the core of writing and this little girl has an infinite amount of ideas and stories in her head. She uses her imagination to explore the world. There’s so much she doesn’t know but somehow she does, only without knowing.

Can a single drop be like a gate into another world?
pic by Andrea

I remember one day when Jim, a good friend of mine, and I were picking up Aly for eating some ice cream. Soon she started talking excitedly about the ice princess with her strawberry dress and her vanilla skin, and her chocolate hair. “It’s maybe too sad to eat her,” Aly said. “She is just so beautiful, but of course she is, she is a princess. Aren’t all princesses beautiful?” “Sure they are,” I replied. “But the sun doesn’t like her. I don’t like that. Why can’t it let the princess live longer?” “Well, ice melts when it’s too warm”, Jim tried to explain. “But it’s not fair for the ice princess. She has such a short life. So I will enjoy her beauty as long as I can.”

When she saw her princess, Aly’s eyes started sparkling. She was looking at the ice cream, like she never saw something like this before. “Life is short. Most people would gulp you down in a rush. Not me. I’m not in a hurry. I know that I will never see you again. You are special and beautiful.” Jim and I looked at each other, then at our ice creams on the table. At this moment I wish I could see the princess, but all I saw was ice cream. That made me a little upset and Aly noticed that. I didn’t want to tell her that somehow all grown-ups lose more and more of their imagination and see it all differently. So I told her about my other big wish.

“I want to have a dog, most of all a Maltese. They are just the cutest”, I gushed. It’s all true, but as long as I go to college I simply can’t have one. Aly looked at me with her blue eyes and smiled. “The longer you wait, the happier you will be when your wish comes true.” The next day I visited her Mom. We sat in the kitchen and talked. Then Aly came in, holding a shoe box in her hand. She gave it to me with a big smile on her face. “Here. That’s what you wished for.” I took the box; it felt empty, so I didn’t open it but asked Aly what that was. “In it is your Maltese, white, fluffy and so sweet.” 

picture by Fireangel33