Creatures We Dream of Knowing is a compilation of seven heartwarming stories that probe the wonders of creation through the eyes of creatures who ask those they encounter to open their eyes and hearts to their wisdom. When a young boy receives a plea in a dream from a frightened colt with purple diamond eyes, he embarks on an unforgettable adventure that leads him from the warmth of his bed to a dark horse pasture where he must learn to use his hands and his heart to rescue the abandoned foal. As the collection of short stories continues, a band of unique characters will meet a creature from the depths of the ocean previously unknown to humanity; travel into an oriental carpet with the creatures who live in it; discover a butterfly who wants to end a war; share a dragon's story; find out what happens when someone rubs a genie's bottle with the wrong hand; and perch in the branches of a tree unlike any other. Creatures We Dream of Knowing encourages others to simply imagine what would happen if such beautiful creatures truly existed in our universe.
Creatures We Dream of Knowing
Stories of Our Life TogetherBy Andrew MarriUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Andrew Marr
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-8070-9Contents
Introduction............................................................................1Korniel: The Colt with Purple Diamond Eyes..............................................3The Last Duck-Billed Fountainfish.......................................................27Grandmother's Oriental Carpet...........................................................47The Rainbow Butterfly...................................................................69Pendara's Story, as Told to Leonard.....................................................111The Flask of Rathumar: As Told by Denny Hamilton and Gerald Manning.....................134The White Tree..........................................................................169
Chapter One
Korniel: The Colt with Purple Diamond Eyes
I woke up shivering from a strange dream. The pale light coming from under my window shade told me it was too early to get out of bed. The readout on my digital clock said the same. Good. I wasn't ready to get up for school. I needed time to think about my dream. I wasn't sure if I'd dreamed I was a horse with purple diamond eyes or if I was riding the horse. I shivered and struggled to recall my dream. I was riding a horse. No. I was a horse. It was all very muddled. The horse was trapped by a soft, warm wall it was galloping against. While riding or galloping, I saw some unhappy people. One was a girl I knew from school, Kirsten Walters, stooped over with sorrow. What was her problem? Had she been so sad all along and I hadn't noticed? Maybe I was too caught up in my own troubles to notice anybody else's. I rode on and saw the school bully, Mickey Munson. Mean Mickey. Only he wasn't smirking now. He was darkened by fear and anger. What troubled him? I rode on and saw another face, a face with messy brown hair drooping over the forehead, the wilted face I see every morning in the mirror. That face was me, Kenny Laurens. Who wouldn't look like that with a father who yelled at him all the time? Somehow, I knew the horse was galloping so hard against the sloping wall because it wanted to reach the people with the sad faces, even me.
The horse reared its front hooves and struck the wall so hard it broke through. Cold darkness stabbed me like a frozen knife. Was I still the horse I was dreaming about? Something rough, moist, and warm, like a corrugated towel, moved along my body, giving me some relief from the cold. The warm corrugated towel got to my forehead, then stopped. I heard a snort of disgust, horror, and rejection. It was so sharp I thought somebody had snatched my blankets, but no, they were still wrapped around me. The vision of the horse faded and I stopped shivering.
Kenton! Help me. I am cold. Kenton?
"I'm not Kenton. I'm Kenny," I whispered.
Kenton Miller Laurens is the name on my birth certificate, but nobody calls me Kenton. Not even my parents. Everybody calls me Kenny.
You are Kenton. Please come! Now. I am freezing.
"Who are you?" I asked. "How do you know my name is Kenton?"
I am Korniel. I know all true names. Please come! Now. I am freezing.
"Where are you?" I asked.
I am here. Come quickly! You will find me.
There was no way I was going to stay in bed a second longer. I tore off my covers and dived for my jogging suit.
I closed the kitchen door quietly and leaned against the side of my house.
"Where are you, Korniel?" I whispered. "Are you at one of the horse farms close by?"
What is a farm? Korniel asked.
"Are there lots of other horses where you are?" I asked.
Yes. Please come. Now. I am freezing. I am scared.
Two purplish spots just like the eyes I saw in my dream appeared, then disappeared as soon as I'd seen them. I had my direction.
"I'm coming," I whispered.
And I was off in a cloud of dust.
The closest horse farm belonged to Mr. Garret. It didn't take me long to get there, but I was hoping this was the place because I was already tired from running. I slowed down and peered over the fence. A few horses were out grazing some distance away, but I didn't see any that looked like the horse in my dream.
"Where are you, Korniel?" I asked.
I am here. Come quickly. I am freezing.
I looked across the pasture for a sign. After a couple seconds, two purple eyes appeared again. That was all I needed. I carefully wriggled between the wires of the fence and ran toward the place where I'd seen the purple spots. The neighing of a distant horse froze me for a few seconds. Although I lived within a mile of this horse farm, I was as scared of horses as I was of lions or tigers.
Come!
Korniel's call for help overrode my fear of the other horses, and I dashed to the spot where the call was coming from. There, on the ground, was a small white colt all striped with blood and slimy afterbirth.
"Korniel!" I cried.
He turned his head in my direction.
"Whoa!" I cried.
Korniel's purple diamond eyes dazzled me and froze me to the spot.
Help me!
Korniel's plea pulled me back to his helpless state. I knelt down beside him and pushed some of the afterbirth off him. It was so cold, it explained why Korniel was shivering so much. All that afterbirth should have grossed me out, but I was too worried about Korniel to care about what was gross and what wasn't. I was shivering myself, and I was still short of breath, although I shouldn't have been this long after I stopped running. Then I noticed that Korniel wasn't breathing very well. I started to rub Korniel's flank as hard as I could to warm him up, but it didn't seem to be doing him any good.
"I'm sorry, Korniel," I said, "I'm not good at this."
Your love is guiding your hands, said Korniel. Do not let the stallion who yells at you rob you of knowing your worth.
Stallion? No horse every yelled at me. It was my father who did that all the time.
Over here.
To my surprise, I found I knew where Korniel wanted me to rub him, and for how long. That gave me a little more confidence in what I was doing.
"Why did your mother abandon you?" I asked.
Not her colt.
"That doesn't make sense," I said.
I kept on warming Korniel as best I could. His mane and his head were in the worst shape, because that's where the most afterbirth was, and that's where the going got really tough and slimy and sickening.
Do not touch, Korniel warned.
"Ow!
He'd warned me too late. Korniel's forehead gave me a horrible shock.
"It looks like you've got a bump on your forehead," I said. "I hope it's nothing serious."
It is what makes me Korniel.
I wanted to ask Korniel what that meant, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't give me an answer I could understand.
I am sorry that the touch hurt you.
"That's okay," I replied.
Korniel looked at me with those purple diamond eyes of his and the pain went away almost instantly.
You have done all you can do to warm me. I need more help.
"Where?"
But I already knew that I had to go either to the house or the stable to find Mr. Garret or to one...
