Oh, the morning was a lovely one! The sun was smiling down upon green lawns! Mama dogs were lazily chomping their jaws and snoozing in the warmth. Little puppies and kittens were romping about the flowers.
It was upon this morning that Clair was to have a most amazing adventure…
But, before following her upon this journey, let’s talk about her family and find out more about Clair herself! Clair’s Mother, whom Daddy calls "Honey”, is a sweet and beautiful woman. She helps Clair dress herself and combs her hair. She seldom pulls. And of course, she does the many other things that all mothers do for their daughters.
Now, there’s Father, who always puts Clair to bed and tucks the covers about her so Clair will stay nice and warm during the night. Clair snuggles down in the covers, and Father kisses each of her pretty eyes and quietly shuts the door. Oh, he’s quite a handsome man. He is very busy though, and he leaves home shortly after breakfast and doesn’t come home until time for dinner each evening. Clair does miss her dear father during the day.
Little Clair loves her mother and father very much, and they think Clair is the most wonderful daughter in the world.
Clair is five years old, and she will start to school next year. Several of her little friends are already in school, but they are older than she is. She spends most of each day outdoors playing, sometimes with her playmates, sometimes with imaginary playmates, and sometimes all alone.
But this morning wasn’t like any other day. Nobody suspected that it was to be different, not Clair, her mother, or her father. Not even Clair’s two dogs, Tish and Timothy, who went with her everywhere. They were both beautiful collies and very good natured. Many of Clair’s little friends had pets also. And all their pets played together the same as the children. I think they even knew each other by name.
Now, let’s start at the beginning of this glorious day! Mother came into Clair’s bedroom, awakened her with a bright cheery kiss on the cheek. It was 7:30 a.m.
“Oh-h-h how pretty it is outside,” Clair exclaimed! Then saying, “Good Morning, Mother.” Snuggling back down in the covers just an instant, Clair smiled up at her mother saying, “I just remembered, last night I dreamed and dreamed. And do you know what I dreamed about? Well, all about little fairies and little animals. There were no real people anywhere around, but me. And, Oh, Mother, it was a marvelous dream. I can’t remember it very well, but just before you awakened me, I remember one little creature, who had horns all over his body and a little crow upon his head. He came up to me and said, “Mistress Clair, when you come see us tomorrow, we will have a surprise for you. You are such a nice little girl we shall be happy for you to visit us many times.”
“My, what a nice dream,” said Mother.
“Yes, it was nice, and everything was so strange. I wish it was true, wouldn’t it be funny to talk to a horned toad? I guess that’s what it was. Mother, what if I were small enough to talk with little creatures like that? What a strange place this would be. Well, it was just a dream.”
“Come, Clair, Daddy will be waiting. He has to go to work, and I have things to do. Let’s hop out of bed now."
Clair agreed and with great haste she was scurrying around. "Yes,"she said, “I have many things I want to do today!”
So little Clair with her mother’s help washed her face and hands, combed her hair, brushed her teeth, and dressed. She was all dressed when her mother said, “Just a moment, Clair, let’s tie a blue ribbon in your hair to match your blue pinafore.”
“Oh, let’s!” and Clair ran to her mother while she tied the pretty satin ribbon in her dark brown curls.