On the Road to Alice Creek (IN MEMORIAM)

On the road to Alice Creek one day, a dazzling unicorn appeared out of nowhere and planted itself along my path.

 "Would you like to see magic"? Its eyes spoke to me as I stood mesmerized.  "Yes," I answered mutely. The creature laid  low and invited me to sit on its back.  And off we flew into the swirling clouds.

From above, I saw below giraffes  with shimmering rainbow spots. There was a grove of blinking and winking Aspens; some rolling their eyes. We flew over an endless field of sage wafting fragrance so strong you can touch it. A mountain range was bellowing laughter. And at its foot was a mirror-lake that was fast cracking and emitting the shrill tinkling of breaking crystal. 

As the unicorn moved on, I heard the sound of fiddles and tambourines coming from a misty forest. In a clearing men and women dressed from another age were dancing with frenzy to a brisk tarantella.

Confused and overwhelmed, I begged the unicorn to bring me down. Finally, it landed gently on a meadow still gleaming with the day's remaining dewdrops . I got off the creature's back in a daze.

I turned my face in time to see the unicorn slowly fading until it vanished. Shaking in fear,  I started looking around  me and detected movement in a nearby grove of pines. I  tottered,  drawn to the trees. There, I saw a bucking stallion with pricked ears facing backwards, swishing tails, and wrinkled nose -- obviously spirited and wild. Thistles dotting its shiny black coat told me it had gone through some thorny bushes.

Fascinated, I slowly moved to touch it and carefully laid my quaking hand on its neck.

As it felt my flesh against its body, the stallion stood still.

He slowly turned his head, fixed his eyes on me and there, on the road to Alice Creek one enchanted afternoon, he whispered...

Yes dear.

On the road to Alice Creek

"So runs my dream, but what am I?

An infant crying in the night

An infant crying for the light

And with no language but a cry."

-- From " In Memoriam" by Alfred Lord Tennyson

 - Ariel Murphy