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The first couple of times that I read "The Valley of the Shadows" I detected a meaning, but didn't quite get it. So, I decided to read it in the early morning hours... the quiet time, my alone time. I finally was able to grasp the meaning. What a most beautiful piece! As soon as I get more printer ink, I want to copy it, and also save it to disk. That way I will be sure never to lose it. What an amazing piece! And soooooo true. I had no idea that anyone else believed as I did. But to be able to put it in such beautiful words. OH, MY! You are blessed with a gift. And we are all blessed to be able to share in your gift. Love, Lavida 10-19-03

Can show you an example of my college English 101 writing that makes me wonder how a professor can possibly wade through all of that tripe. And my stuff was one of the "A" papers. Lavida's stuff is light years ahead of this. Would be a shame to let this kind of natural talent go to waste. Bill Johns

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOWS
BY VIRGINIA ISABELLE

They were all splendidly complete, and they glittered and twinkled with many facets, colors, sounds, themes and joys. They were their own works of art, choosing their own shapes and directions. They could make twinkles and music and hues there in their own dimension, but the deepest beauty came from those who had made the pilgrimage into the Valley of The Shadows and had returned.

Her vibration to the Others in the Valley sounded and appeared visually as a "name" they said as "Shreeah". It was there that she found herself confined in something they called Time, disconnected from Then and Becoming and only expressing in Now. Soon she forgot that she had chosen the pilgrimage and the shape of herself. The Others wrapped themselves in shadows, for they did not remember that they could be complete while still Becoming there in the Valley. The shadows writhed and groaned and struggled to fit the shapes of the Others, but they were only shadows, and they fell limp and thin and malformed onto the shapes of those they covered; taking on a vaguely familiar similarity. But they were always grotesquely inadequate images of what lived within.

The road at the beginning found Shreeah surrounded by shadow shapes who draped themselves over her. They attempted to take on the shape of her Other within her in hopes of possessing what they no longer knew that they already had. They threw themselves around her feet to stop her from moving, and they beat on her to reshape her when they failed to reproduce her form, sounds and hues. Shreeah stayed with them for awhile, but then her Other within took her along. The shrouded Others she left behind her shrieked and danced a rhythm of torment, a dance of those who hadn't moved on.

Up and out of the Valley of Shadows the road passed through the Land of the Tunnels. Shadowy shapes struggled to fit into tunnels in the ground, in the sides of hills, in rocks themselves. Tunnels everywhere with shadow shapes wriggling into or fighting to get out of them, or forcing other shapes into them or even attempting to pull other shapes out. There was nothing to nurture the shapes there, but some compulsion drove them between the barren tunnel walls.

She walked on, and throughout the pilgrimage she resisted any covering of herself, any taking on a shadow to hide from those who would devour or destroy the reality of her form. The shadows created their own agony for what they concealed, an agony that lay within and screamed in whispers, wanting out. Shreeah's lonely exposure invited thieves and robbers, but it shouted to the rainbow sky above a clean, pure note.

She climbed up and out, and back in her own dimension she shimmered with the most beautiful light and vibration in the sky, for she had walked through the Valley of the Shadows and had kept her own shape. Whenever the shrouded Others in the Valley below dared to look up, they could see her light there in the rainbow sky.

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.
You have any idea just how good this is? Bill Johns

Olivia the Bunny
by Lavida Arnold

Olivia was the tiniest, sweetest, and also the shyest little bunny ever to hop around in the great woods. She was so little that when she was an adult other bunnies still thought that she was just a juvenile. Since all the other bunnies had always been so careful with Olivia so as not to hurt her and always felt that they needed to guide and direct her, Olivia just always thought that she needed to do exactly as all the other adult bunnies said. She would never dream of contradicting them or of telling any of them that she had an opinion of her own.

One day Olivia moved away from the Great Woods. Of course all the other bunnies were just horrified. How was Olivia to know what to do without their care and guidance? And for a while, they were right. It was always "What is wrong with Olivia?" and "Why did Olivia move so far away?" and so on. But the one that was uttered the most was "What are we going to do about Olivia?"

At the same time Olivia was having some real growing pains of her own. She had to learn all on her own how to take care of herself. And sometimes she almost got caught by wild animals and eaten. There were times she thought to herself that it would be easier to just go knock on the wolves' door and offer herself as dinner. But she didn't. She kept going on, learning more, and soon she could take care of herself. She even became confident in herself and the decisions that she made.

One day Olivia decided to go back and visit the Great Woods. When she did, it was like she had never been gone. Not only was the big old oak tree still just as big and regal as ever, but the adult bunnies still wanted to treat her the same way. Only this time Olivia was offended. They tried to make her feel guilty for moving away and said that if she had stayed put they could have protected her from all of life's little nasties.

But those little nasties are what made Olivia stronger and more confident. Sure it would have been nice to not have to go through them. But since she had always been so sheltered, it was the only way she was ever going to be able to grow up.

Finally, one of the big old bunnies took Olivia aside and started trying to get her to stay in the Great Woods and conform to what they thought she should be doing. But this time, instead of being ashamed for "not behaving", Olivia just got angry. "I am a grown bunny," she said. "I know that I have made some horrible decisions in my life. But they had to be made in order for me to grow up. If I had stayed in the Great Woods, all of you would have kept making all of my decisions for me, and I would never have learned how to take care of myself. I am sure that I will still make mistakes from time to time, but they are MY mistakes. And I will learn MY lessons from them. That is something that none of you can do for me."

With this, the big old bunny snubbed her nose and hopped away, never to speak to Olivia again. She was sad because she had always valued the guidance and advice from the big old bunny, but she also valued her independence and had learned to have confidence in her own decisions, and she had vowed she would never again let someone else live her life for her. The big old bunny may not agree with her, but after all, she was the one who was going to have to live with her mistakes, not the big old bunny.

After that, all the other bunnies realized that it was not a good idea to try to guilt Olivia into anything. They, in fact, became so impressed with her decision making skills that they began coming to HER for advice. And they all lived happily ever after, except for the big old bunny because she got her feelings hurt and didn't want to recognize that by trying to push another bunny into behaving the way she wanted, she had only pushed her away.

And the moral of the story is; TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.