Once Upon a Dream

Do you ever have one of those dreams where you wake up and instantly reach for a pen? It’s a rare occasion when that happens to me.

Recently, I was lucky enough to have such an occurrence. It was one of those weird dreams where I woke up, shook my head (and rubbed the cobwebs out of my eyes), and thought nothing of it. But later… later, as I sat at my desk at work (because that’s where I do my best brainstorming, oddly enough), I recalled the dream.

It went something like this…

Once upon a time, there was a princess who was betrothed to an evil king. Determined to keep the young beauty all to himself, he brought her to his castle where he hide her from the entire world. No other eyes were permitted to look upon her.

But the princess had one true love. A knight in shining armor, and the man of her dreams. She longed to see daylight since she was locked in the keep. She longed for a breath of fresh air. It took her many nights, but she finally managed to slip away from the clutches of the evil king. She made her way to the balcony where the cool crisp autumn air brushed her face and she could smell the first signs of winter on the breeze.

As she in the wee hours of the night, she saw him just beyond the meadow, riding his steed toward the castle.

She couldn’t believe her eyes! Her beloved had come for her, to rescue her from her prison. To take her away from her nightmarish hell. With her heart in her throat, she watched him ride near, pulling his black stallion to a halt.

No words passed between them. Instead, he reached into his saddle bag and brought out something wrapped in cloth. Clutching it to his chest, he climbed the thorny vine that ran along the castle wall up to her.

Once he reached her, he held out the shape to her. Gingerly, she took the object in her hands and carefully unwrapped the ball-shape as he climbed back down. Inside the cloth, was a globe…a map of their round world. She had never seen anything like it before and held it, marveling at it.

An envelope fluttered to the ground and she quickly snatched it up. She recognized his seal—his family crest. Tearing it open, she slipped the paper out and read his carefully written words.

I have given you the world…look inside and find hope…
And come to me and I’ll give you my heart.

Glancing up, she saw him riding away into the moonlight, the silvery light playing upon the folds of his cloak as he disappeared.

Tears flooded he eyes as she held the note in one had and the globe in another. But there was one more surprise yet to come…the globe, it seemed, had a seam running through the middle. She felt it with the tip of her finger. Prying it open…she found inside a map out of the castle to a hiding place in the forest, another letter, and a cloak.

The letter read:

Hide yourself in the folds of this cloth, for magic is woven into the fabric.
It will keep you hidden from all those who would see you.
Take the map and find your way to the forest, and there you’ll find true love waiting.

And then…

I woke up.

I’m starting to think I need to write this down. The dream was quite vivid. But this… totally blew me away when I started thinking about it today.

Looks like I have my work cut out for me. Doesn’t it?