A Fantasy

Gabriella Thempineng Zou *

I wish to go at midnight and walk by a river under the moonlight.
By the river I saw at night one day as me and my family made our way back home into the city from the countryside.
The enchanting dark night calling out to show me the black river flowing under the moonlight.
Shaded by the glass of my car,
I looked on and on with childish curiosity mixed with teenage rebellious angst and a woman's desire and longing
The stones greyish as if they were hidden eggs,
of mysterious creatures hiding behind the mountains enveloped in thick forests.
Of elves and witches and handsome vampires
Of protective werewolves, covered in fur that would reveal a bearded manly man in the noon.
Of falcons and phoenixes, of spirits bound in heavenly beauty.
Of pari and apsaras and mermaids and talking rabbits with a home of their own, dining in their table.
Of orchard with fruits and herbs that could heal every kind of ailment and grant three wishes each.
Of dwarves catering to a beautiful maiden, our very own local Snowhite
With Rapunzel and her witch mother residing nearby.
Of Harry's secret hideout and Narnia's extended kingdom.
Of Hobbits relative's houses and villages.
Of Dragonheart resting in one of the caves.
Of the King who put his daughter suffering from leprosy on a mountaintop.
Of pythons mythical.
Of the minstrels and dancing ladies.
Of Inkheart's Kingdom and Dustfinger
The fireflies seen from the distance, the fire that he just spitted out of his mouth.
Of fairies you could talk to for help.
Of Peterpan's Neverland positive enough that they could be one of those mountains in Manipur.
Taking boys from our villages, towns and homes too.
Of the other mythical spirits and fairladies that is not to be mentioned.
And of me lost in all of it, as if lost in a book of mythical imagination and make-believe world.
My hands pressed against the glass as if that made me nearer to my imaginations, and to push it out, if successful in doing so would enable my imaginations to come true and alive.
As I unwillingly let go of the sight of the enchanting view that captivated me as our vehicle took another turn. I would sigh and remember it in my mind as if storing the picture of the view in my brain, and as I would keep dreaming about all those creatures I would doze off to sleep,
only to be woken when I reached home, but that never was the end of my dream, it went on and on, you see.

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