The First Draft

Once upon a time, there was a big blue house on the side of a mountain where Daniel and Ruby lived with their mom and dad.

Today was a very special day, for it was the childrens’ birthday. They were born on the exact same day two years apart.

This afternoon, a heavy rain fell, and the children were lounging by the fire and talking about what to do.

“We could play chess,” Ruby suggested.

“We played chess yesterday...” Daniel replied.

They both looked out the tall rectangular windows of their living room. The rain continued to fall steadily. The fire flickered (casting an orange glow on the stone walls and rows of wooden bookshelves.)

“What about the storeroom?” Ruby asked. “We could explore it.”

“In the basement?” Daniel replied, perking up. “It’s locked. And mom and dad won’t let us.”

“You mean haven’t let us,” she corrected. “We’re a whole year older-”

“Two, if you count us both.”

“-and they might say yes this time.”

Marilyn looked down at her two children with a bemused smile on her face. For their birthdays this year, she and her husband had decided to give the children a very special present: they would each get to choose one magical item from the royal storehouse in the basement.

“Very well,” she told them and smiled again as the children’s faces lit up. She produced a small silver key from somewhere inside the folds of her gown and handed it to Daniel.

“You may explore the storeroom, and each choose one item from within as a birthday present.” The kids looked at each other, excited and surprised. They hadn’t expected to meet with such wild success. “Have fun! And choose wisely.”

Moments later, the kids stood in the dim basement library, peering down a long hallway flanked by wooden bookshelves. At the end of the hall there was a small round wooden door, painted green.

“What will you pick?” asked Ruby.

“I don’t know,” Daniel answered.

This was the only part of the basement the kids hadn’t been to before, and they were excited.

Daniel peered into the frosted glass window while Ruby placed the key in the keyhole. Together, they opened the door…

The storeroom was dimly lit, and it took a moment for the kids’ eyes to adjust. They saw rows of shelves, piled high with an assortment of items. They wandered slowly through the storeroom, side by side, their mouths hanging open in hushed silence as they surveyed the wondrous array of treasures and strange equipment.

Daniel spoke first.

“This is…” he trailed off.

“Incredible? Amazing?” Ruby suggested.

“Yes…” he murmured, toying with a long metal looking glass inlaid with intricate porcelain designs.

“But what should we choose?” wondered Ruby, practical as always. She gently spun a large globe, and gasped as its surface began to glow with a faint green and blue light. The colors faded as the globe came to a stop.

“I have no idea,” whispered Daniel. He was feeling nervous and excited at the thought of taking any of these precious objects. “Maybe...maybe we should just let mom and dad choose.”

“Rubbish!” Ruby replied with a smile. “They told us to choose for ourselves, and that’s what we ought to do.”

As the two children looked at each other, they suddenly saw a flash of silver and green zip in between them. They gave a start, and turned to see a beautiful moth with shimmering translucent wings fluttering away toward the back of the room.

“Where did that come from?” Ruby exclaimed.

The moth flapped across the room, and the children ran to follow it. They turned a corner just in time to see the wondrous insect land on top of something leaning against the corner wall. They slowed down and crept towards the moth as it carefully cleaned its forelegs. It was perched atop two ornately decorated Persian rugs. Just as they were close enough to reach out and touch it, the moth flew straight up into the air.

Daniel and Ruby felt the breeze from the insect’s wings as it flapped over their heads, but when they spun around to look for it, it was gone!

The children looked back at the place the moth had landed. In the dim light of the storeroom, they saw two large carpets, rolled up against the stone wall. They were woven with beautiful patterns and delicately frilled edges. The kids looked more closely, and could make out shapes and forms.

“Are those eyes?” Ruby wondered aloud.

“And that looks like a paw,” said Daniel.

“Let’s have a look at them!” Ruby suggested excitedly.

Daniel and Ruby unrolled their carpets on the polished stone floor. Ruby’s carpet was woven with soft threads of deep green, red, and gold, with intricate criss-crossing lines surrounding a detailed floral pattern that spread out across the soft surface like a field of beautiful wildflowers on a summer day. In the center of the carpet sat a huge golden lion with a flowing mane that mingled with the patterns of the wildflowers that surrounded it. The lion’s paws were folded regally, and his face wore a calm and serene expression.

“Look at this one!”

It was woven and decorated in a similar style, but was purple, blue, and turquoise. Daniel’s used a water motif, with waves cresting and breaking, spraying surf and mist into the air in complex patterns of silver and blue. In the center of the image, a beautiful blue-grey dolphin leapt from the water, its back arched and its skin glistening with water droplets. Like the lion, its eyes gleamed and its mouth seemed to turn upward into a subtle smile.

They took their carpets to the living room, where they spread them out in front of the fire. After an afternoon playing games and admiring their new carpets, the kids noticed that the rain had stopped. They hurried outside and spread their new carpets out on the balcony to lay down and enjoy the sunshine. As the warm sun shone down on the two children, they both fell asleep.

Each of the two children began dreaming, and they dreamed the same dream. In their dream, they were on top of a huge mountain, sitting on the carpets they had chosen from the storeroom. They looked down, they could see clouds below them, and birds soaring through the air. At that moment the carpets began to float. Daniel and Ruby looked at each other with wide eyes as the carpets swooped out beyond the mountainside. They plunged into the clouds, and suddenly everything around them was white. A moment later, just as suddenly, they emerged from the clouds. Far beneath them lay a land of rolling green pasture, and they could see tall mountains in the distance, which somehow, in the way of dreams, they knew to be their own mountains. As they looked around in wonder, the carpets floated down and landed gently in a pasture next to a giant oak tree. The kids lay back and basked in the sunshine, gradually closing their eyes and dozing off… and waking up in a field of tall grass. Daniel and Ruby rubbed their eyes and looked around in disbelief.

As they looked around, they could hear the sound of running water. Daniel stood up and shaded his eyes as he looked back toward the sun, which was setting behind a long, tall mountain range.

“Those look like our mountains,” Ruby said.

“Yes, they do,” Daniel replied. “But how did we get here? I mean, we fell asleep on the balcony. Didn’t we?”

“Daniel, we had the same dream! Do you think that the carpets are magic?”

“They must be flying carpets!” said Daniel excitedly.

“How do you think they work?” asked Ruby. They each sat down on their carpets with their legs crossed, and discussed how to work the carpets. They tried various little spells and charms that they knew, and even some words in the ancient runic languages, but the carpets never budged. After a while, they took a break, and lay down looking up at the sky, watching the puffy white clouds drift by. High above them, a hawk soared in wide circles.

“Hey, Daniel, I really want to go home.” Ruby’s carpet began to lift off the ground.

“Me, too, I just want to go home and eat dinner,” said Daniel and his carpet also began to rise, up and away. The carpets flew the children home, safe and sound.

Later, they would learn more about the carpets and where they’d come from - but for now they were caught up in the simple joy of flying. The carpets became their constant companions on the many adventures the kids had throughout their realm -but that’s a story for another time!