Donlee knew she was a star-child. She came
to being in a dream of Amy D's many years ago. Amy dreamed of Donlee without
knowing her name, but she saw the star-child, the young girl in the sky. The
dark sky formed a backdrop for Donlee's dance, the dance of the star-children.
Her skirt was made of stars and when she danced, the stars flew off into the
sky, as she twirled and twirled around. The darkness became illuminated with
the dress-stars. Donlee twirled and danced in Amy's dream.
Amy saw Donlee only once, but Amy
understood that Donlee was showing her a door, a door in the darkness. “See
and enter” the voice offered Amy. And, the door, down the long, dark corridor,
opened up into a blazing light, where nothing could be seem but light.
Donlee danced away. Amy grew up, got
married, had children, but Donlee was not forgotten.
The star-child waited until Amy was old, old
enough to become a grandmother, which she never did. Donlee waited.
Then, one night, in a cold and wet February,
in a small house across the sea, Donlee came to dance in Amy's dreams again.
This was a different dance. The first dance
was a dance of change and mystery, the opening of a new life of husband, family, house, home.
Donlee was waiting for Amy to sleep again.
Amy was now alone. Her husband and children were gone, so Donlee took pity on
Amy and came into her dream.
On this night, Amy could not sleep. She was
in pain, the pain of lost dreams, lost hopes, lost friendship, lost loves.
Amy got up and looked at the sky. She could
Orion, the Strider, walking across the western sky, with his dogs. She could
see, barely, the large and small dogs.
She could see Venus and Jupiter, but she did
not see Donlee. Donlee waited. She waited and waited. Then, towards morning,
when Saturn and Mars were in the sky,
Donlee entered Amy's dream. At first, Donlee had to sweep aside another dream
of roses, yellow and white, of a large white arch across a garden and a small
parkland. Then, through a long strange valley, Donlee saw her entrance into the
dream. It was a low, small door, like that in an ancient house. The door looked
as if one had to bow down very low to get in. But, Donlee, being a star-child,
and small for her star-child age, did not have to bend low. She walked through
the door into Amy's dream.
There, Amy saw a garden of green grass and
very tall trees. On the edge of the forest was a well made of stone. Amy walked
over to the stone well and looked into the water. Suddenly, the water shot up
like a fountain into the bright sky, but the sky grew dark, dark as midnight,
and there, coming through the door, was Donlee.
Amy watched, perplexed. Suddenly, the sky
was bright as day, but Donlee was there, on the grass, dancing like a real
girl, pink and blond and light as air. Her dress was white like mother-of
pearl, but it was Donlee, dancing, spreading light over the grass and trees.
Amy did not at first recognize the
star-child, as she looked like a little girl, any little girl. But, when
Donlee laughed, Amy remembered her dream of thirty years before and knew it
was the star-child. Donlee laughed and danced and danced, until she faded
away.
Amy stood by the well, wondering why a
star-child would be on the earth and not the the heavens, like before. She
wondered why Donlee looked like any other child of the earth, instead of the
star-child that she was.
Suddenly, a white horse appeared over the
hill, near the trees, then another horse and another, three horses. Amy, in her
dream, waited. Clouds rolled through the blue sky, and the horse stopped to eat
grass. More horses came and then three men on horseback. One was on a black
horse, and he wore silver and black armour. His face was covered. The second
rider was in gold, with less armour, and a bow and arrow, on a golden horse.
The third rider was all in white, and his horse was white. He wore no armour.
Amy waited, as a small boy in red and gold
came over to her with a scroll. “Read and choose, Lady”, he said loudly. The
horses and the men waited.
Amy looked at the scroll, and saw these
words appearing as she read.
“You, Lady, may choose one rider. We give
you a choice, the choice of the star-child. Look and choose.” Amy walked closer
to the riders. The first in black looked kindly at her. He was an older man, in
his prime, strong and gentle. She saw him reach out his gloved hand to her, but
she moved on. The second was like a king, majestic, full of power and
authority. His head was crowned with a golden circlet and small, very small red
flowers. He laid down his bow and arrow, and held out his gloved hand, and Amy
moved on. The third man without armour, wore a loose robe of pure white. He had
nothing in his hands. He held out his hand and Amy took it. The strong hand
pulled her up and Amy awoke.
Amy understood. The first kind knight was
Death. She could escape pain and sorrow, disappointment and loneliness, but it
was not her choice.
The second knight was worldly success and
wealth, comfort and solace. She passed him by. The third knight was purity of
heart and mind, single-mindedness, simplicity. Amy chose him.
In the morning, Amy woke up and a small
brown bird landed on her window-sill. She looked, amazed, as the bird had the
starry eyes of Donlee.