Penpals (and The Magic Golden Acorns)

Once upon a time, there was an eight-year-old boy who lived in a house near the wild, grey Pacific Ocean.  One day he was given a tiny package wrapped in bright red paper.

Inside the little package was a magic golden acorn.  Before he went to bed at night, the eight-year-old boy held the golden acorn in his hand and then gently placed it on the windowsill beside his bed.

That night he dreamed of another boy who lived far away, all the way on the other side of the country near the warm, blue Atlantic Ocean.  In his dream, he drew words and pictures for this other boy, telling the story of a miscreant bowman and armies of knights clad in silver & gold.  The next day, he gathered pencil & paper and wrote down his story for this boy who lived so far away.

While, on the other side of the country, a nine-year-old boy received a tiny package wrapped in bright red paper. Inside this little package was also a magic golden acorn.  Before he went to bed at night, the nine-year-old boy held the magic golden acorn in his hand and then gently placed it beside his bed.  That night he dreamed of a boy who lived far away, all the way on the other side of the country near the wild, grey Pacific Ocean.  In his dream, he drew words and pictures for this other boy to tell the story of a horse, a princess, and an elf. And doughnuts.  The next day, he gathered pencil & paper and wrote down his story for this boy who lived so far away.

And the next week, each boy received an envelope in the mail with the story and pictures that his new friend had created for him.  From this day forth, any time each boy wanted to dream of his new friend (and perhaps create a new story for him) all he had to do was hold his magic golden acorn and dream, dream, dream...

Note: This little story was written for my very own little Mr. Bloom and also our friend the Elf who lives over at Wild Faerie Caps...