Il Sogno

"I was upset, Mum. You upset me."
She couldn't seem to make the connection. I argued with her on the verge of tears for no more than another five minutes, then I went off to bed, tired, upset and confused.

I fell asleep with a dark cloud churning in my brain, and a headache in my left eye.

In the night, I woke to darkness and silence. After a few moments, I realised that the darkness was dull light from the east, and the silence was wind on the grass outside. Something compelled me to get out of bed. I peeked out the window, and the breeze melted onto my hot face. I couldn't resist the urge to go outside and bathe in the sheer freshness of that breeze.

The sleeping world outside was incredible. So utterly still, and yet alive with movement: the puppetry of the Wind. I stood on the damp grass and closed my eyes, taking that wind deep into my body and then expelling it back into the world.

A sound made me open my eyes, but not suddenly. I wasn't scared, just curious to see what was there.

In front of me, where no giant turtle had been before, there was now a giant turtle. This didn't strike me as odd. It was perfectly natural that this beautiful creature would have chosen to rest a moment in my garden. It gazed at me with its round eyes. Eyes crinkled at the edges with age, with the weight of wisdom. I wished I could dive into those eyes and learn all the secrets of the world.

I noticed that there was someone sitting on the back of the turtle. I looked up, and immediately recognised my love. He was smiling at me.

"Climb on."

I did, with the aid of his outstretched hand. We sat there together for a moment, and then he spoke to the turtle. As naturally as a bird, the turtle rose into the sky. We drifted far above the world, detached from all the sleeping people in their sleeping houses.

The wind was more vicious up so high, but I still loved it as much as when it was gentle. The turtle didn't fly, it swam without water. We floated for what seemed like a short time, but the world below us changed completely. From the way it looked, we could easily have been on another planet.

The turtle landed, and we slid of its shell.

"Thank you."

It nodded at us with its all-knowing eyes, and slowly shuffled away.

Hand in hand, we turned to face this new world we had found. I couldn't possibly describe it to you…


because then I woke up.