The Lake

You push your way through the bushes and arrive by the side of a serene lake. Slow and steady, the water flows along its course. Dancing lights play on the surface of the water, caused by the sunlight. The water is deliciously warm and you are tempted to take a dip or at least paddle in the shallower part of the water. Leaning forward, you gaze into the blue depths, and find a pair of blue eyes looking back up at you from underwater. You blink. Now there are TWO pairs of blue eyes. You fall over backwards as a pair of the eyes quickly ascend and the owner of the eyes appear above the surface of the water.

"BOO!" a cheeky voice calls out.

Scrambling back to a more or less dignified sitting position, you find yourself face to face with an elf boy, his bottom half still in the water.

The elf boy grins at you mischeviously, "Hi, I'm Gandalf."

The water ripples gently as an elf girl surfaces. She smiles at you, "Hello. I am Evenstar."

Just by looking at the two elves you can tell that they are twins. Gandalf seems to be the mischief-maker while Evenstar is more quiet. They both talk at the same time, using the same words at the same time, their voices like a bubbling stream, Evenstar's soft and gentle tones harmonizing with Gandalf's bright chatter, "Welcome to the lake. We're glad you came to visit us. Our kin is mostly scattered through the forest, so you will have to go back to see them all."

The two then dive back underwater, swimming like fishes. They perform several underwater aerobics for your benefit, twirling and dancing in the water. Then with a last wink from Gandalf and a smile from Evenstar, they dive deeper, vanishing into the deepest part of the lake.

Floating gently on the surface of the water are two birth certificates, miraculously staying in place instead of being washed downstream.

Go back to the begining of the forest