What you are about to read is a true tale. (Or should I say, tail…) I know, most of you will not believe it, but I can’t help that. I have seen these things with my own eyes. I know they are real. So, skeptic or not, sit back and open your eyes, open your mind, above all, enjoy the ride.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The Snowfox Files - Adventure One:
Many of you are familiar with Snowfox. He’s an adorable white Welsh pony, about 12.5 hands high and full of spit and vinegar, as my grandma used to say. He came from an old pony ride place, Kiddie Wonderland, where he was miserable. There, the ponies were kept tacked up all day and expected to walk around a boring little track with small children bouncing and jiggling on their backs. In other words, it was “Snowfox Hell”.
What you may not know is this: Snowfox was so incredibly bored with his work, that he began to find creative ways to occupy his mind while he was carting kids around. He daydreamed. He meditated. He practiced increasing his memory. He learned English, Spanish, French, and a little Mandarin. He tried advancing his math skills, but lost interest when he got to Calculus. So he focused on language. He listened to the families that came to ride him and his stable mates. He listened to the staff and their helpers. Although he learned quickly, he also concluded that humans are pretty boring. They never talked about anything of much interest to an intelligent equine, so Snowfox began to learn other languages.
He learned the language of the stable flies that swarmed around him constantly. He spoke regularly with the birds and picked up at least twelve avian dialects (He eventually stopped talking to birds altogether after a few bad experiences with pigeons, but I digress). As often happens with intellectual types, Snowfox had great communication skills, but very few friends. Bottom line, he was lonely. So he began to look for more “non-traditional” friends. And he soon found them — or perhaps they found him. And this is where it gets weird… Snowfox began to see and hear creatures that most of us think only exist in fairy tales. Fairies, gnomes, leprechauns, even a few unicorns (According to Snowfox, the unicorns were a little conceited.) But all in all, Snowfox was a much happier pony, now that he had a larger circle of friends.
Often, when he was all alone at night, trying to sleep while his stable-mates snored and mumbled in their sleep, Snowfox would hear the familair tinkle of fairy wings on the night air. One of his favorite fairy friends, Sabrina, would come to visit him, and entertain him with stories from the magical land she inhabited.
Snowfox’s nights soon became filled with wonder and awe, as he learned of all the magical beasts that existed in Sabrina’s world. He longed to meet some of Sabrina’s friends, and see the beautiful fields of rainbow-colored grass where she lived. And though he looked forward more and more to these magical evenings, he dreaded his day job more with each sunrise.
And then, Sabrina sent him an invitation. He was bent over his hay, nibbling away while chatting quietly with Harvey (a stable fly), when he got it. A pretty brown sparrow flew right past his stall and discreetly dropped a piece of straw under his nose. On the golden straw, a magical message glowed: “Meet me at midnight, under the full moon, by the chinese tallow tree at the back gate. Signed, Sabrina. P.S. Eat this after reading!”
Snowfox blinked his eyes and read the message again. Then he dutifully swallowed the evidence, and did his best to pay attention to his work the rest of the day. When night fell and the last groom left the stable, Snowfox unlatched his stall door and crept out to the back gate. He quivered with excitment as he waited for Sabrina, but as the moon grew rounder and brighter in the night sky, he began to doze. He would wake with a start at every unusual sound, hoping to see the glitter of fairy wings in the night. And finally, he heard them. The tinkling of a million tiny bells that seemed to come from everywhere around him, and from his head at the same time. “Sabrina?” he whispered to the darkness. “Is that you?” Only the bells answered for a time. And then, “Snowfox, come up here, you silly pony!”Snowfox looked up at the fat face of the moon, but saw nothing. “In the tree” came the tiny voice of his friend. “But how will I get up there?!” He looked longingly at the uppermost branches of his favorite shade tree. A chorus of bells answered him, and he swore they sounded like laughter.
“Like this, silly!”came the giggling reply. And that’s when Snowfox’s feet left the ground. All four of his feet. At once. “I’m…I’m… flying!” he whinnied. “This isn’t happening! I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming!”
Sabrina floated in middair, holding her belly and rolling around with laughter. With her right hand, she reached over and pinched him, hard. “Ow!” he yelled, “What was that for?!”
“Well, if you were dreaming, would it hurt if I pinched you?” The fairy looked at him with her best “I’m perfectly innocent” face. “Come on, slowpoke. If we’re going to my place, we’ve got to hurry. We only have until sunrise, and the traffic is always terrible during a full moon!”
With that, Snowfox began his first of many amazing journeys to the land of fairies and unicorns, gnomes and leprechauns, trolls and witches. And his circle of friends grew. And unfortunately, so did his list of enemies. For, as Snowfox soon learned, the magical lands of fairy tales are not without problems. There would be battles between witches and fairies, many of which would affect Snowfox’s world as well as the home of his dear friend Sabrina. And Snowfox would soon become a sort of secret agent, working to keep both worlds safe from the wickedness that could destroy them.
Come back soon, and join Snowfox on his first visit to Sabrina’s world. See how it all began…
