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I turned and saw the children coming. The were walking towards me from over the horizen, millions of them. The sky was dark with immense flocks of birds flying above them. Mixed in their numbers were all the animals of the earth, foot and claw, hoof and paw, they marched together and from them all came the same clear note, a single trumpet call that shattered the evil before them like imperfect glass.
As I watched this awesome scene, a single golden bird detached itself from the flocks and fluttered lightly onto a limb of the old tree above me. As the ocean of children washed away the blood and horror, I felt a great calm and sat on the ground, now alive with new growth and looked up into the tree. Fresh sprigs were popping out of the old limbs, infant leaves springing up to meet the sunlight falling from the clearing sky. I looked at the golden bird, its feathers glowing in the new fallen light. It sparkled and gleamed as if it were a sliver of the sun itself.
As I stared in rapt wonder, the bird leaned off the limb where it rested and flew directly at my face. I recoiled and threw out my hands to protect myself but was too late. The tiny bird hit me full in my right eye, splashing on my consciousness with an explosion of light. I fell back on the ground. As my vision cleared, I looked in wonder at the world. Each leaf and stone, each cloud and breeze seemed an expression of a brilliant and magical whole. I crawled onto my knees and stroked the tops of the grass, marveling at the miracles below me. Fresh, new living things sprouted everywhere, Stretching upward towards the lifegiving sun.
I picked up a tiny insect and laughed in astonishment and surprise at the unbelievable phenomenon of his locomotion. He sprang off my finger and back into the wonderland at my feet. Several animals milled around me on the meadow. I knew them in some impossible way. I shared some bond that left us all safe, comfortable and unwary. Looking over the radiant landscape, I felt the presence of billions and billions of minds bonded in love and common purpose. In this state of boundless and inexplicable joy, I sprang to my feet and cried aloud, my heart bursting with passion and delight.