{"id":119,"date":"2013-08-03T15:28:38","date_gmt":"2013-08-03T15:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/371bef9f-5ce8-449a-8cdd-95f31a3c85b3"},"modified":"2013-08-03T15:28:38","modified_gmt":"2013-08-03T15:28:38","slug":"storm-and-starcoat-the-story-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=119","title":{"rendered":"Storm and Starcoat: The Story Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storm
\nand Starcoat<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The
\nStory Begins<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

By<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

Joseph
\nAnthony<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

Storm, the
\ndragon, unfurled her wings and the sun loosened and rose in the sky.  Starcoat slipped from between her front legs
\nand yawned and stretched.  Storm lifted
\nherself and shook giving a low purred growl. 
\n<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cMorning,\u201d
\nshe said.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cMorning,\u201d
\nsaid Starcoat wiping his eyes.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cShall we continue
\nthe lessons?\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,
\nplease,\u201d he said standing up.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cStretch
\nfirst,\u201d she said.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cStretch
\nfirst,\u201d he said with a groan.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on
\nStarcoat, you know the value of stretching.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cI know, I
\nknow,\u201d he said reaching his arms towards the sky and standing on his tip-toes,
\n\u201cI just like the action.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cNo action,\u201d
\nshe smiled, \u201cuntil after we\u2019ve stretched.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The two
\nbegan stretching like new born babies as beams of light filtered through the
\ntrees.  Some would say they were an
\nunlikely pair\u2014a lavender colored dragon and a young man.  Truth is they were made for each other.  Both had saved the other\u2019s life on more than
\none occasion. Both had reason to suffer and yet both had transformed their
\nsuffering into healing for themselves and the world.  Both were full of adventure and wonder, and
\nsurely they knew that the road to their heart\u2019s desire was made warmer and
\nkinder by each other\u2019s company.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cAlright,
\nDear Starcoat, take my hand.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

He stepped
\ntowards her and took her hand. <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cAh,
\naction,\u201d he said.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cMusic,\u201d Storm
\nsaid, looking up at the trees.  From the
\nsurrounding treetops a thousand birds awoke at once in a chorus of sunlight and
\nmorning air, they twittered and peeped like an orchestra settling in to play,
\nrustling sheet music printed on leaves and shaking out their wings.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWaltz of
\nthe Flowers,\u201d she instructed, and after a brief pause to test their voices, the
\nbirds began and together with the forest sounds they wove a charming arrangement
\nof Tchaikovsky\u2019s timeless waltz.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember,
\nstart with the left foot.  And when you
\ngrip my hand, do it as if I am an angel. Not too tight.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou are an
\nangel,\u201d he laughed.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know
\nwhat I mean,\u201d Storm said, \u201cno death-grips while holding hands.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d
\nStarcoat said, \u201cyou\u2019re still an angel.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cShoulders
\nback,\u201d she said smiling, and relax, remember to breathe.  Chin parallel to the floor.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And with
\nthat she swept him across the forest floor in a waltz that awoke the world
\naround them.  Rabbits emerged from
\ncrowded warrens, deer stepped from the edges of the woods.  Even the bears snorted and padded into the
\nopen space.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Rising and
\nfalling they traveled the floor sending leaves pirouetting around them.  Starcoat\u2019s tattered coat of silver stars
\nswelled in the current of their flowing movements like a black river flowing at
\nnight.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cLengthen
\nyour steps,\u201d said Storm, \u201cconcentrate.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Starcoat had
\ntrouble concentrating whenever they started lessons.  He would get lost in her eyes and forget to
\nrelax his knees so compelled he was to just stop and stare.  But he wanted to learn to dance.  And he wanted Storm to teach him.  And he knew how much she loved to teach and
\nto dance.  So he forced himself to focus
\non his body, and in this forcing he often lost the flow.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cStarcoat,\u201d
\nshe said, drawing to a pause, \u201cYou\u2019re doing it again.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d he
\nsaid, \u201cI can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s alright,\u201d
\nshe said, lifting his face and looking deep into his eyes.  \u201cI feel the same way.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou do?\u201d he
\nsaid dropping his arms as his smile dawned like the morning sun.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

It was the
\nfirst time she had ever admitted it.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d she
\nsaid, and Starcoat could see her lavender skin grow deep royal purple.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

With tears
\nin his eyes he pulled her close.  He had
\nalways known, but to hear her say it–his heart opened like a once clogged
\nriver.  The animals drew closer as the
\ntwo embraced.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cAlrighty
\nthen,\u201d Starcoat said after a long time, \u201clet\u2019s dance.\u201d <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWait,\u201d she
\nsaid, and she looked at him with a deep gratitude. \u201cThank you.  Thank you for sharing the stars with me.  The light you shine helps me honor my own
\nfire.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re
\nwelcome,\u201d he said, fairly trembling with joy, \u201cWe\u2019re a team. Thank you for
\nteaching me to dance, now my light can truly shine.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And then he
\nplaced his right hand on her back, just inside her left shoulder blade, thumb
\nup, fingers spread.  She smiled.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re
\nleading?\u201d she asked.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cI am,\u201d he
\nsaid, with his right arm rounded and elbow high, \u201cOrchestra: music please.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And the
\norchestra sighed with reverence and joy and once again began the Waltz of the
\nFlowers, and each bear gathered there reached out a paw to the deer next to him
\nand each deer stood and reached out a hoof. 
\nAnd each bear touched the inside of their partner\u2019s left forearm and
\nplaced their paws gently inside their shoulder blades. And every creature took
\na partner, the rabbits, the foxes, and the otters (who were always dancing in
\nthe water anyway, but took a moment to slip out and dance on the riverbank),
\nand the trees locked branches and swayed, and the mountains bowed and joined hands,
\nand the moon, still awake, received the sun\u2019s invitation, and the Milky Way
\njoined Andromeda\u2019s embrace and all the universe danced with Storm and Starcoat,
\nas their journey together officially began.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 Donate to the Wonder Child Blog Today<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\"\"
\n<\/form>\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storm and Starcoat The Story Begins By Joseph Anthony Storm, the dragon, unfurled her wings and the sun loosened and rose in the sky.  Starcoat slipped from between her front legs and yawned and stretched.  Storm lifted herself and shook giving a low purred growl.  \u201cMorning,\u201d she said. \u201cMorning,\u201d said Starcoat wiping his eyes. \u201cShall […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}