Tiny woke early that morning, her mind had been restless and expectant and even Mother the Moon’s silvery light could not sooth her. She slipped out through the back door and tiptoed to the Misty Ripple Meadow. Gazing around her in awe, she wondered if she had stumbled into a dream; the violet-hued meadowlands were enshrouded in a luminous shimmering mist. She reached out to touch it but it evaded her grasp, coiling around her wrists and playfully caressing each finger.
“This mist brings change,” she murmured to herself, remembered her recent encounter with Little Bee. She sat on a rock and allowed the milky haze to envelope her completely.
“Wake up, Tiny! Wake up!” Whispered the voice in her ear, “Soon we leave for Mexico.” Tiny opened her eyes to see Rocio de la Rosa hovering a hair’s breath from her face. Her heart sank.
“So soon?” she croaked.
“I’ve come to say goodbye. It is time. Farewell dear friend!” purred Rocio, kissing her gently on the nose and fluttering into the dawning light. Tiny ached inside, change was coming and she could do nothing to stop it.
Tiny lowered her eyes, fearful of the impending gloom. But when she raised her face to receive the weak morning sun, she saw that the veil had been lifted, and in its place stood a golden palace bedecked with jewels. Its walls were twisted columns of sumac studded with rubies, framed with succulent amber pears. The roof was a canopy of emerald leaves, and on the floor lay a richly woven tapestry of goldenrod and aster, edged with a delicate Queen Anne’s lace. It’s beauty took her breath away, there was nothing to fear. Autumn had arrived.