By Joy Pedersen
Once there was a man who loved to wander through the forest. He spent days exploring rock caves and hidden valleys. One day, he came across an enchanted river. The water in the river was always pure. It made a magical sound as it flowed across the rocks. The river provided an abundance of fish and brought in creatures from across the mountain ranges. The man decided he needed to live by the river.
The man built a house next to the river. Every morning he bathed in the pure water. Every night he sat at the river’s edge and admired its beauty. And while he slept, the sound of the river brought him the most amazing dreams. Then, the river began to dry up. At first it was too low to bathe in. Eventually the fish could no longer swim there. The creatures stopped coming across the mountains. And eventually, the river was gone.
For years, the man continued to live in his house by the dry river bed. Every morning he walked down to the edge of where the river used to be, hoping the river would return. At night while he slept, he dreamt of waking up to the sound of the water flowing. He wanted the river more than anything. He was afraid if he moved on, he would forget the river and the magic he felt when he was near it.
At the same time, upstream there was a woman. The woman loved to wander through the forest and had also found the magical river. She fell in love with its mystical powers and decided to build a dam. Her dam created a huge pool and stopped the water from flowing down stream. Every morning she bathed in the magnificent lake she had created. The creatures found the lake and started coming across the mountains again. For years, the woman lived alone by the lake.
Some say the woman found the man one day while she was exploring in the forest. Others say the man eventually grew tired of living alone by the dry river bed. In any case, the man and woman eventually crossed paths. The woman brought the man to the lake, and once again he felt the magic of the enchanted water. He was awakened. He realized that the magic had never disappeared, it was always out there even though the river was no longer. He was no longer afraid to leave his home. He knew he would never forget the magic of the river and he would always find his way back to it.
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