Synopsis
In the style of C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, Rowling, and Hans Christian Anderson, Haskell’s use of provocative imagery arouses the imaginative nature of the child to enter the fantasy world of Lily.Set in a mythical sequence of events, Lily’s journey begins with innocently telling the village people about how ‘the stream whispers to me, and she tells me that everything in this valley is good because of her magical powers.’ Shocked by Lily’s words, she learns that speaking of the forest and the stream are forbidden, because of a dreaded monster.One day, Lily discovers a hand mirror and becomes enamored by her beauty.She batted her eyelashes, combed her hair backwards, forwards and to the sides, smacked and smooched her lips, smiled a hundred different smiles, and even tried to cry a tiny tear.Then fate enters, and the shattering of Lily’s bedroom windowpane scars her beauty and she falls into despair.One day, as Lily plays by the whispering stream, a pinkish golden flower passes close to her.She waded in, plucked it from the stream and brought it close to her nose.As she sniffed the delicate perfume, the magic of the forest entered into the girl.‘How could some gruesome monster live in that forest among flowers as beautiful and fragrant as this one?’‘Maybe in those woods there is a miracle just waiting for me, a miracle that could restore my beauty.’Stepping into the forest she is instantly captivated by its beauty and forgets her reason for coming.With a high-pitched whistling sound of a happy tune, enters Mr. Themus, a short, bearded little man who comes to Lily’s aid.As twilight approaches, they see the origin of the stream where flickering colors play within the shallows.Alone, Lily enters a serene lagoon and is summoned by Sumin, a large dark figure who knows of Lily’s purpose in coming.Sumin offers Lily two choices, each held within her closed fists. What Lily chose was an object shaped like a tear drop, made from a clear diamond with hundreds of facets that sparkled rainbows across both their faces.‘It’s so beautiful. What is it, Sumin?’‘Inside this tiny teardrop vessel is a liquid distillate of magic, and is able to mend physical wounds, as well as those held in memory.’With the lightest touch, Sumin placed the tinniest speck of the elixir upon each of Lily’s scars.‘Owe… it’s starting to hurt,’ cried the girl.‘Hold still, Lily.’Sumin leaned closer to the girl, and with the tip of her finger, touched one of the scars.‘See?’The girl saw blood on Sumin’s finger.‘I’m bleeding!’‘Look closer, Lily.’The girl, still wincing from the pain, squinted, and there in the midst of Sumin’s reddened fingertip, was a tiny bright sliver.‘What is that?’ Lily asked.‘It is what helped you to find your way. This is a tiny sliver of glass from the window that shattered in your bedroom.’‘Once these slivers are removed, your skin will heal, and your beauty will return.’Lily had found her magic, or maybe the magic had found her.She returned to join Mr. Themus who must then depart.‘Oh, Mr. Themus, must you?’The little man stood there with his head tilted to the side, looking toward the ground.‘Do you hear it?’ he said.‘Hear what?’‘The dreams of the children. They whisk by us as if they are leaves blowing in the wind. They call me to their side.’Lily returns to the valley and to her parents.‘Let me see you,’ her father said, and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her straight towards him.‘You look different in some way. You’ve changed. I can see it in your eyes.’‘Why, you are not the same Lily I knew just a few days ago.’‘And your face. The scars… they look much less red and swollen.’The girl looked directly into the eyes of her father. She looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time.‘You look different as well, father.’The magic was at work, for the girl realized it is the way we see, the way we look at life, that makes the difference.
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