Voyage of Dreams was written and drawn at the end of 2018 and is the second of my Ecological healing stories for children.
In this story, the Child visits Grandfather in the Christmas vacation and each night dreams of animals that come from the Great Antarctic Continent. Each morning, at breakfast, Grandfather explains to his grandchild what the animals are telling us.
Purchase: Voyage of Dreams is available for purchase as a digital book, via the PayPal link below the cover image. Voyage of Dreams costs £10. [Note: when I receive your PayPal I will send a copy of the book in pdf format to the email address supplied].
V O Y A G E O F D R E A M S
A R R I V A L
The Child had just arrived at Grandfather’s home, a very special place, situated in a forest with a stream near by. Wild horses lived on the hillsides close by and they would go to visit them for sure in the days to come. It was soon to be the Mid-Winter — a very special day as it was the shortest of the year. Grandfather would decorate a special log, and they would tell stories in front of the stove, drinking cinnamon tea, and making exciting plans for the days to come.
As it had been such a long journey from the city where Child lived, Grandfather suggested early to bed. They would be up the next morning well before the moon set, to enjoy their first breakfast of the vacation…
— “Grandfather, last night I saw a place in my dream that I do not know”, announced the child, as they sat down together for a hearty breakfast.
It was the first day of the vacation and, as always, visions and dreams seemed to set the tone for the Mid-Winter Holiday at Grandfather’s magical home in the forest.
“And what place was that, Child?” Grandfather enquired,smiling for he already knew the answer. Last night, he had dreamed exactly the same dream.
It was a place far away from their forest home at the Southern most tip of the globe, called Antarctica. It covered some fourteen million square kilometres, and contained plateaux of ice rising four thousand metres above the Ocean below. The ice contained millions of tiny air bubbles, giving scientists an ingenious way to understand the fabulous journey of the climate of our planetary home.
The following night, the Child dreamed another extraordinary dream, this time travelling deep into the grey-blue waters below the icy plateau. There swam a huge black and white fish, the Great Orca with its white markings distinct upon its great and beautifully streamlined body. During the night, the Moon had passed behind the clouds. The child had stirred in slumber. Grandfather had sensed a presence in the house.
He had popped his head around the door and saw the Child turning over repeatedly, as the Great Orca glided silent and serene, through the waters of the Child’s dream.
Grandfather knew that Orca meant no harm, but was on the contrary, bringing messages and wisdom from the Kingdoms of the Sea…
When the Child told Grandfather of the dream about Great Orca, Grandfather recalled the tale of Natsilane, who once, long ago, had carved a totem from the wood of the Yellow Cedar. Natsilane had left it upon a beach as a gift for Sea Otter who had rescued him after he had been set adrift on the Ocean by a group of young men who wished to do him harm.
The next morning, when Natsilane returned, the totem was gone! In the ocean now swam, far out to sea, the newly created Orca who would later offer wisdom to the child and indeed, return to chastise the youths for the errancy of their ways.
— “What amazing messages the animals bring to us,” said the Child. Already the vacation seemed full of surprises!
AND SO BEGINS THE VOYAGE OF DREAMS…
If you have enjoyed this, please consider purchasing a copy to read with your children. On our Pale Blue Dot Fiction page, you can discover more work by ecological writers and artists, Irene Isis, and myself, Pete Jeffs.