From peak to haven

The first year was like one long spring, the flowers seemed to blossom all year round, the sun always seemed to be shining, the night sky forever clear and starry, it felt like autumn would never come... But it did, and autumn turned into winter and after a few autumns and winters, the girl waited in vain for spring to arrive again. It was as if everything had fallen into a winter slumber, the strawberry sky now cloudy and gray. The past had stolen their future. Too many things left unsaid, too many hurts unresolved, too many opportunities for joy unnoticed... And so many of the clouds covering their strawberry sky were not even their own, just remnants handed down to them from past generations, but in those cold cold nights it was impossible to see any of this clearly. They both tried so hard to paint the sky pink again, to tease the stars out and make the sun shine once more, but the clouds of guilt and disappointment and sadness were much too heavy to be blown away by the wind. The inevitable came one day; they both had to look down from the peak and start walking into the valley in opposite directions. The winds on the way down were bitter cold, the nights very dark and seemed to last forever and the memories of being on top of the world haunting every step of the journey, for a while... The girl found a haven in the middle of the woods, a tiny but warm and safe den, with trees and birds as guardians looking over her on those endless nights. And as the days passed those nights became shorter, the days longer and slowly, little by little she was able to look up at the sky and catch a glimpse of the sensation that the strawberry sky had given her many many winters ago. She would venture out day after day with her two four legged companions and explore her surroundings further and further until one day, a lovely hill overlooking the valley presented itself and begged her to climb up and sit under a tree that lived there. From that hill she was able to see all the wonders that her new found haven had brought into her life, her new neighbours, the robins and blackbirds, the magpies and crows, many two legged and four legged creatures who had all of a sudden entered her life and all added a drop of sunshine to her days. Sometimes on very special days she would spot a dear or two gliding across the heathlands and on very rare occasions a buzzard would present itself to her, gracefully soaring above the tall trees, or sometimes just gazing at her from a broken tree stump. In moments under the tree on the hill, the wind would whisper things to the girl, it would encourage her to rediscover her love of dancing, to revisit her passion for music and singing, to start writing down her adventures, to keep searching for joy and the Love that she had always been seeking in every place that brought happiness into her heart. Her dreams would also carry sacred messages telling her to reunite her body mind and spirit through the practice of yoga and to keep following the signs that were given to her. One day she met a wise old lady, who said to her that she should pay attention and that Love was going to enter her life while walking with her dogs one day. The prospect sounded exciting and filled her with hope, but after many seemingly lonely walks, with only the trees and the birds to converse with, the memory of what the lady had said started to fade... By this time the eagle in her was appearing more and more, guiding her on every step of her journey, reassuring her that she was on the right path, showing her ways to strengthen the wings that had suffered many blows in the storms from the recent past... One unknowing mid winters day, after many seemingly wrong turns on her wanderings, she ventured out yet again with her little friends to search for joy and something to admire in her surroundings, something to lighten up the January sky. On the road she stumbled across a bird of some kind. The eagle in her was definitely sending some kind of signal, but she found it difficult to decipher what the message was. All she could sense was that he was a bird of some sort and that somehow they might be flying towards the same destination for a while...