Grace

'Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a great house with all the windows shut. It didn’t really matter that the windows were all shut as she spent all her time in the basement. In those four walls she was surrounded by all sorts of stuff that she did not really want or need. Lots of dusty dirty bits and bobs that had somehow come down through the years and ended up stuck. 

It was almost impossible to move in that unhappy crowded place and she would often bump into scary things, step in something squelchy and whole days could disappear into the endless gloom. It was also pretty lonely as no one wants to visit a place like that for very long.

The girl did not know she lived in a great house with all the windows shut. She thought the dark and unfriendly basement was completely normal, definitely meant for her and all there was forever. Luckily for her however the universe decided she was in for a treat and gifted with a flash of inspiration she suddenly found herself yearning for something a lot nicer.

Awakening to the idea of something nicer, presents quite a few problems. I mean where do you start? In the beginning the task appeared fatally insurmountable and the girl fell into an abyss of despair. As she fell, an unexpected and truly stupendous thing happened, a kaleidoscope of butterflies, graceful and luminous appeared as if from nowhere to encircle her soul and all at once she knew for sure that EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT.

Knowing for sure that everything is going to be alright is a very big deal. Several of the windows burst open at that exact moment, flooding the house with light and much of the sad and silly stuff in the basement disappeared spontaneously in an exquisite puff of rose scented smoke. Against the dazzling backdrop of knowing everything is going to be alright, there is much exploring to be done and so for some time the girl wandered hither and thither in an ecstatic bewilderment. Who could ever have guessed that there was all this space. The great house seemed very great indeed, things were endlessly fascinating, ever changing and best of all much changed.

Some time later when she had almost grown weary of exploring the house she noticed a big window that had not yet been opened. ‘Yes’ she sighed to herself and throwing the window open leaned full length out onto the sill.

The view from that window was breathtaking, the colours from the landscape unfolding out ahead and all around were those of a particularly gorgeous rainbow and the winding path she was to follow was lined with all manner of wondrous things. Onwards and upwards she smiled to herself and with heart bursting stepped out into the blinding light of all there is and went on to discover more beauty and mystery than she could have ever have imagined possible'.