refusing to let
her see what he had. Eventually, his expression became serious and he told her
that he had found something tremendously special and wanted to share it with
her. He slowly opened his cupped hands and revealed to her a perfect acorn. He
explained that he believed that it was a magic acorn, that it held their dreams
inside it and that if they planted it with their dream in mind, it would grow
huge and strong, and mighty up to the sky. And as it grew, it would take their
dream with it, up to the heavens and branch out in endless possibilities,
providing the shelter of hope for all who passed under and when it had grown to
all its glory, it would produce new dreams, waiting to be gathered by those
needing them. Grace absolutely loved his description of his vision, and the
picture of hope he painted. Joel told her that he wanted them to plant the
acorn together and to declare their dreams in a sacred acorn planting ceremony.
He had asked his mother to buy him a book about growing oaks and had read all
he needed to know to do this properly, so he explained that he would keep the
acorn cold until spring, and they would plan their dream planting ceremony for
the first full moon evening of spring.
During
the next few winter months, when they couldn’t spend so much time playing on
the beach they would have mini campouts at each other’s homes, toasting
marshmallows in the fireplace and drinking hot cocoa. If it were Joel’s turn to
have it at his house, Grace would sit quietly and read while Joel would build
his model sailboats. When it was Grace’s turn to host, Joel would start out
watching her paint, or listen to her practice her violin, and then, when he got
bored, as boys do, he would go outside and scratch around for bugs or bits of
debris from the trees to use to customise his boats. Rarely a day went by when
they were not in each other’s company. The only time was Sundays. Both sets of
parents had got together and had been firm about this. They needed to honour
their family time and go to church with their own families. However, come
Monday morning, they couldn’t wait to get to school to catch up on the previous
day’s events.
They
did not speak much about their planned ceremony for the acorn, now and then
Joel would remind Grace to give her dreams some thought. They needed to be
definite about what they wanted when it came time to plant the acorn. They
would realise much later that they had not spoken much about their dreams,
because each was facing their own inner dilemma over their own.
The
first signs of spring began to appear. While walking on the beach together one
Saturday morning, slightly warmer than previous days, they saw the first whale
breaching the surface. Joel grabbed Grace’s hand and dragged her into a run
with him up to a rocky cliff that jutted out into the bay so they could get a
better view. As they reached the top, Grace pointed up to the sky as a huge
flock of pelicans glided slowly over the bay, returning from their winter
travels, following warmer weather. All around them they noticed how things had
begun to come alive, how they all seemed brighter. They sat silently together
just admiring nature and how she, seemingly overnight, had swept her magic
paintbrush across the earth, streaking it with colour, and painting the dull,
barren landscape with life.
Grace
pulled out her sketchpad and pencil from her backpack and began drawing the
image of the whale. This was her form of diarising special moments. She was extremely
talented with her drawing and painting. Joel reminded her that they now had to
wait for the full moon, which would happen in about a week, and then they would
plant their acorn. They walked home together, stopping to admire fields of
daisies that had sprung up suddenly. Bright yellow against a lush green canvas stretched
as far as they could see. They really appreciated that they could share these
moments together. Not many of the other children at school
her see what he had. Eventually, his expression became serious and he told her
that he had found something tremendously special and wanted to share it with
her. He slowly opened his cupped hands and revealed to her a perfect acorn. He
explained that he believed that it was a magic acorn, that it held their dreams
inside it and that if they planted it with their dream in mind, it would grow
huge and strong, and mighty up to the sky. And as it grew, it would take their
dream with it, up to the heavens and branch out in endless possibilities,
providing the shelter of hope for all who passed under and when it had grown to
all its glory, it would produce new dreams, waiting to be gathered by those
needing them. Grace absolutely loved his description of his vision, and the
picture of hope he painted. Joel told her that he wanted them to plant the
acorn together and to declare their dreams in a sacred acorn planting ceremony.
He had asked his mother to buy him a book about growing oaks and had read all
he needed to know to do this properly, so he explained that he would keep the
acorn cold until spring, and they would plan their dream planting ceremony for
the first full moon evening of spring.
During
the next few winter months, when they couldn’t spend so much time playing on
the beach they would have mini campouts at each other’s homes, toasting
marshmallows in the fireplace and drinking hot cocoa. If it were Joel’s turn to
have it at his house, Grace would sit quietly and read while Joel would build
his model sailboats. When it was Grace’s turn to host, Joel would start out
watching her paint, or listen to her practice her violin, and then, when he got
bored, as boys do, he would go outside and scratch around for bugs or bits of
debris from the trees to use to customise his boats. Rarely a day went by when
they were not in each other’s company. The only time was Sundays. Both sets of
parents had got together and had been firm about this. They needed to honour
their family time and go to church with their own families. However, come
Monday morning, they couldn’t wait to get to school to catch up on the previous
day’s events.
They
did not speak much about their planned ceremony for the acorn, now and then
Joel would remind Grace to give her dreams some thought. They needed to be
definite about what they wanted when it came time to plant the acorn. They
would realise much later that they had not spoken much about their dreams,
because each was facing their own inner dilemma over their own.
The
first signs of spring began to appear. While walking on the beach together one
Saturday morning, slightly warmer than previous days, they saw the first whale
breaching the surface. Joel grabbed Grace’s hand and dragged her into a run
with him up to a rocky cliff that jutted out into the bay so they could get a
better view. As they reached the top, Grace pointed up to the sky as a huge
flock of pelicans glided slowly over the bay, returning from their winter
travels, following warmer weather. All around them they noticed how things had
begun to come alive, how they all seemed brighter. They sat silently together
just admiring nature and how she, seemingly overnight, had swept her magic
paintbrush across the earth, streaking it with colour, and painting the dull,
barren landscape with life.
Grace
pulled out her sketchpad and pencil from her backpack and began drawing the
image of the whale. This was her form of diarising special moments. She was extremely
talented with her drawing and painting. Joel reminded her that they now had to
wait for the full moon, which would happen in about a week, and then they would
plant their acorn. They walked home together, stopping to admire fields of
daisies that had sprung up suddenly. Bright yellow against a lush green canvas stretched
as far as they could see. They really appreciated that they could share these
moments together. Not many of the other children at school
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