Zoomie Ever After

                                                                                                  Zoomie Ever After









         Once upon a time, there was a rare and wondrous creature called a Zoomie.  She was wild and free and fanciful, and for many years she wandered ThisWorld guided only by whimsy and whichever way the wind happened to be blowing. She had many exciting adventures and also saw super stupendous sights.



         In the FarFarNorth, she saw Santa’s secret snow castle and even rode a flying reindeer on a starry, moonlit night which tinted ThisWorld and all its creations in a silky silver light. She visited the FarFarSouth and scratched the fuzzy tummies of baby penguins, while their parents swam in the freezy, icy ocean. She watched whales with their babies, and eagles in their aeries, and bellowed with fat bullfrogs on warm, rainy nights.



         And Zoomie visited many, many Kingdoms in many, many lands, and she saw the ways of many, many peoples and thought them good. She listened to the laughter of children riding wobbling, bobbling bicycles, and blowing bouncy bubbles into the sunny summer sky; she heard their bedtime prayers and exciting stories told by their parents, and Zoomie thought that these things were all good too.



         “Such purpose people have!” she said to herself, and the sudden sound of her voice made her sad for a tiny second. Then off Zoomie went on another adventure, carefully ignoring the voice, her own voice, that had somehow sounded sad.



         In this same way, for a few years more, Zoomie leapt from Near to Far, from Here to There, seeking and searching for more marvelous things. And while these things were every bit as magnificent and miraculous as ever, something was not the same. She tried harder and harder and went farther and faster, in hopes that her wholehearted happiness would return. It did not.



         It was the voice, she knew, that haunted her. Ever since that single instance, she had strictly made herself stay silent, thinking that it was, perhaps, the sound itself that had summoned the sadness. In her heart, she knew better. ( Zoomies are no better at fooling themselves than they are at feeling sad. Zoomies, in particular, are no good at all at fooling their feelings; it is their very worst flaw.)  That out loud voice had turned into a tiny whisper in her soul and that whisper had invaded Zoomie in the same way that weeds take over an untended garden. It grew louder and louder until it echoed through her entire body like a shout echoes in the mountains at midnight. It could not, would not, be ignored. Zoomie was lonely.



         For awhile, she stayed still on the top of a green hillside just as Spring awoke in the land. She inhaled the healing scents of the blush pink crabapple trees and the deep green clover tops that the wild rabbits munched. She smiled at the spotted fawns stumbling on their spindly new legs. She laid in the grass and let the sun warm her all over. Slowly, Zoomie healed and regained the strength that her recent ramblings and rushings and racing arounds had zapped. And with her body refreshed and her mind again strong, she developed a simple plan. She must find someone to share the wonders of her Zoomie life.



         Now simple plans are not necessarily easy and such was the case with Zoomie’s. To find the first Zoomie is for sure a great feat, and it is rarer than rare for two Zoomies to meet. But she was determined and certain of what she must do, so she put her heart to it and searched out a few. Sadly, this did not go well at all.



         Just as tornadoes spawn when cold air meets hot, so it is for Zoomies. Their shimmering, dancing energies collide and tumultuous storms form; they push and pull and spin themselves into horrible knots. Their thoughts bounce against each others’ and create sparks that explode into giant, hot fireballs, and there IS too much of a good thing. They must go their separate ways. It became all too clear to Zoomie that her simple plan was not easy at all.



         There was a little sadness but much more relief. The intensity of her experiences had been frightening and overwhelming. She understood why Zoomies had always been solitary creatures. That lesson was driven home. So she returned to her old way of life and once again, took great pleasure from new adventures. When the little whisper, on rare occasions, started rustling inside, Zoomie had no problem whatsoever drowning it out. For a very long time, things stayed just so and she was happy and healthy and filled with love and appreciation for ThisWorld and its amazing creations and for all the other SecretRealms too.



                                                                                          -----------------------------------------------------







         Then, just when she least expected it, Zoomie met a Man. He seemed to be a good Man and he made her feel safe and happy. He did not seem to mind her Zoomie ways; in fact, he seemed to be proud of them and to like them very much. He had a soft and steady way that brought great comfort to her. In due time, he asked Zoomie to share his life.



         Zoomie was ecstatic !  She had given up all hope of ever finding anyone to share her life. It would not always be perfect with the Man, she realized. There would be changes both of them must make in order for their relationship to thrive. Yet, this did not seem so great a sacrifice to Zoomie, especially when the great rewards of companionship were considered. She agreed to partner with the Man. They started out happy as happy could be. At first it was all rainbows and never, ever rain.



         The Man built a beautiful house in a happy, safe neighborhood and took Zoomie to live there. But the other neighbors, having never seen a Zoomie, stared at her and made her feel uncomfortable, so Zoomie begged the Man to take her to a place far from prying eyes.



         The Man did not understand the Zoomie’s sadness, but he truly wanted her to be happy so he started to search in faraway places for a home where he and his wonderful Zoomie could live. Surely there must be a place on ThisWorld where they could live all their dreams.



         Finally, the Man found the perfect place for Zoomie. It was deep in the woods on the top of a hill and she could look out and see the emerald hills and luscious valleys for miles and miles in every direction of the compass. In the evenings, all kinds of different animals came out from their sleeping spots and they’d graze on the soft green grass in the backyard. It was peaceful.



         Zoomie loved it and she loved the beautiful big house where she lived with the Man. Things went better than best for a time. Zoomie did every thing she could to please the Man and she tried as hard as she could to learn the ways of the Man. Still, the Man’s ways were strange, and no matter how hard she tried, Zoomie could not ever seem to catch on. Soon, the Man grew to resent the very things he’d first loved about Zoomie.



         Poor Zoomie. The beautiful big house became a beautiful big cage. She felt trapped. Nothing she did ever pleased the Man and often he was angry. Zoomie’s heart ached. Slowly, her sparkling shimmer faded away. Zoomie grew very, very ill.



         The Man noticed and told her, “Zoomie, you are sick. I will take you to one of our healers and he will tell us what to do to make you better.”



         Poor Zoomie wanted nothing more, except perhaps, to please the Man. She went with the Man to see the Healer.



         The Healer had never seen a Zoomie (Very few people ever do!) so he gave her a pill that he used to help people. Four times a day, Zoomie took the pill. Soon, she DID begin to feel a little more like her Zoomie self.



         But soon every bit of Zoomie’s life revolved around taking the pills. Soon, Zoomie became sick whenever she didn’t take the pills. This made the Man very mad.



         “It is wrong to need those pills so much,” he said. “Those pills are not helping. They are making you worse.”

He decided to send Zoomie away.



         One day, he loaded Zoomie into his car and drove her far, far away to an unfamiliar place. Poor Zoomie was too sick to even care. She let the Man do whatever he wanted.



         After a few days, Zoomie began to feel more like her old self. The people there seemed to understand Zoomies. Before long, she discovered that there were a number of other Zoomies there. For the very first time in her whole life, Zoomie was not alone.



         Every single day that passed, she felt stronger and stronger. Her shimmer and sparkle returned and grew brighter than it had been for many years. Talking to the other Zoomies helped her to understand many important things about herself. It also made her feel sad because it was also clear that it would never be possible for her to be with the Man. At least, not in the way the Man wanted. It just wasn’t possible for any Zoomie to adapt to the degree that people always want. Still, she didn’t want to hurt the Man. In the end, there was really only one thing to do.



         Over the next month, Zoomie healed and regained all of her strength and a good bit more .Finally,the time came  for the Man to return to take her home. No matter how she tried, she could not find a way to prevent the Man from being hurt and this made her deeply sad. Her love for the man was pure and true.



         Finally, the day came and the Man arrived. He watched her as she said goodbye to the other Zoomies that had become her friends. He could see the sparkle and shimmering had returned and he was not certain if it was a good thing. He watched and waited patiently until Zoomie finally was ready to leave.



         They rode without speaking towards their home and this made Zoomie more than a little afraid. Instead of being happy to see her and happy that she was well, the Man seemed angry. This made her even more reluctant to speak. Right away, it seemed like they had already returned to the very ways of doing things that had made her sick in the first place!



         She had nothing to lose. She was a Zoomie and a Zoomie she would always be. She could not love the Man or anything else unless she loved herself first. She explained all this and much more to the Man, carefully making sure that her words were kind and loving.



         The Man knew her words were true and that they were filled with love and respect. His eyes and heart were opened and he was once more able to see and feel the wild and untamable beauty in his Zoomie. His heart, soul, and mind filled fuller than ever with love and understanding and a giant shadow lifted from the Man. When Zoomie saw this, a giant shadow lifted from her too.



         To say that they lived happily ever after would not quite be true. She was, after all, a Zoomie, and he was a Man. It was the love they shared, an enduring and strong love, that always pulled them through. And so they lived mostly happy--- and always with love, patience, and respect--- ever after, which is pretty much the best ANY two creatures can realistically expect.





                                                                                                        The End





Originally written for "Once Upon a Time" 6/2010

Word Count: 2000