The Fountain Of Youth

Long ago, in the mists of time, a little girl wandered up into the mountains. There she met an old woman who could not reach the apple she desperately wanted to eat, so the girl climbed up in the tree and got it for her. It was as simple a thing for the girl to do as it was impossible for the old woman whose joints were becoming gnarled and whose right foot was all swollen and whose every step was an agony.

To repay the kindness, the old woman told the girl about a spring hidden in a grove surrounded by huge boulders. There she could make one wish and then she must immerse herself in the spring and it would come true. The girl hugged the old woman and thanked her but really didn't feel she had done anything that deserved a reward.

She was curious about that spring though and went to great pains to find it. Then, standing right on the edge she thought about what she would wish for if this were a real magical place. While she was trying to think, her mind wandered as it was wont to do and she began thinking about how much fun it would be to splash and play in that water and that led to other things. She could see herself sitting in the shade of the nearby oak, loving her dolls and writing out little stories to share with her friends, thinking about how happy they would be. She imagined them hugging her and all of the adventures they could have together. She thought about how much fun it was to wander around in her small world, up into the mountain and down through the forests and she got so involved with her thinking that she slipped and fell into the water.

Climbing out, she was a little sorry that she hadn't made a wish first, but then she really knew there was no such thing as magic. And from there, she went on to live her life. Loving the water, watching the tides go in and out, the waves undulating in the sunlight, or raging in the storms. She married and raised a family, as happy as any mother could ever hope to be and when they were all grown, she began writing stories that she shared, but always she was on the move. Exploring her world and the world around it until one day she found herself on a mountain staring up at an apple that was just out of her reach.

Her bones too weary to climb any more trees, but her heart still imagining that anything was possible when along came a little girl, almost out of nowhere, who climbed up and got that apple for her. It was as easy for that little girl as it was unthinkable for the old woman. She remembered the spring and the gift an old woman had wanted to give her, so she drew the girl close into the shade of an old oak tree and spun her a tale of magic waters and wishes come true and sent her on her way.