Thea Napping
Papoose Doorbelle
"What time is it?" Thea asked in dismay. "It's time for your afternoon nap," her mother responded without allowing the clock to dictate the day. "But I'm not tired," Thea said anyway.. "You don't have to be tired to take a nap," mommy explained, "taking a nap is a healthy part of the day." "What kind of dreams will I have?" Thea asked as her mother, tucking little Thea away. "That's up to you," mommy encouraged her child. "Oh hello, little," said a horse from across the wild. "Hi, horsie. I'm named Thea not little," Thea replied. "There's an apple orchard in the next room," the horse informed the younger adventurer, "I think you should follow me there." "No there isn't," Thea said, "my sister's room is next door. Why would I go there?" "Not anymore it's not," said the horse, "now it's an apple orchard, and there are other horses there grazing in the wild. Would you like to come and see? If you allow yourself to dream, you free your mind by saving memories in your heart, so then you can fully experience life again when you're awake." "Okay," agreed Thea, "my memories will be saved, so new memories can be added?" She asked as she climbed unto the horse's back, who quickly trotted into the huge apple orchard awaiting the pair with many other horses running around and grazing among the different apple trees. "Exactly right," confirmed her new friend. "What's your name horsie?" Thea asked the horse. "Nobody's ever asked me my name before. I don't think I have a name," the horse suggested. "But surely you must have a name," Thea insisted. "Maybe you can give me a name," the horse offered. "Well what would you like to be called?" Thea asked. "I don't know," the horse replied, "how about Harry?" "That's not a very good horse name," Thea informed him, "maybe you should let me pick." "Okay," the horse agreed, "what will my name be?" "I'm going to name you Timber, because your hide is the color of a tree's bark in autumn," Thea said. "I like that name; Timber," the horse agreed, "I'm happy now I have a name." "Will you remember your name?" Thea wondered. "Only if you remember too," Timber explained. "So Timber, what about these other horses? Do we have to name them too?" Thea asked. "I don't know," Timber admitted, "I haven't met any of these other horses yet, so I don't know if they have names or not." "Should we ask them?" Thea asked. "Horses don't like to be disturbed while they're eating," Timber explained, "perhaps we should wait until they are finished grazing." "I don't want to wait, Timber," Thea said. "Why is that?" Timber asked. "Because this is my dream," Thea demanded, "how can I tell if I'm disturbing them or not?" "That's easy," said Timber, "When you approach a horse, a kick of the front leg means yes, and a kick of the back leg means no. So now you can ask them and see what they say." "But my mom wants me to take a nap now, and I'm not sure we're allowed to have horses in the house anyway," Thea said. "You are napping," Timber informed her. "This is only dream?" she questioned her new friend, "Aren’t you real?" "I'm as real as the sky far and above and the ocean deep below. You may never touch them, but you know they are there. Me however, you can play with during every nap," Timber advised. "I like being in control of my imagination. Can I do this every time," she asked Timber. "Yes, it's easy. As you lay down in your bed, repeat I am dreaming inside your head," Timber offered her eyes slowly returned her back from the orchard.