Aaron and Anne were fighting. It wasn't just that they were siblings, but also that their mom had been gone a long time while their little brother was receivng medical attention. They both felt like their mommy had abandoned them, but Crystal Rainbow wanted to set the record straight. I hope you like it. Whether you do or not, let me know. I really need the feedback.

Anne savagely attacked as she screamed, "Leave me alone!" These days, it wasn't unusual for her to attack first and talk later. As far as she was concerned, anytime her brother Aaron showed the slightest bit of concern for her he must have something evil up his sleeve. In her mind, Aaron was never nice to her.

"Hey, you stupid little baby. Stop that! What'd I do?" Aaron yelled. Then, he lit into Anne with a fury matched only by her attack. Fending off another of Anne's seven-year-old punches, Aaron landed a hard right to Anne's stomach, but that wasn't enough to stop. Shakespeare never commented on the fury of a seven-year-old girl only because even the fury of a woman scorned paled next to it.

Just as the battle escalated, Jim, their father, came outside with a plate full of steaks, intending on cooking dinner. When he saw the raging battle, Jim set the steaks on the grill and rushed toward the brawl. He separated the two just as Aaron was about to land another savage blow to Anne's stomach. Instead, Jim took the blow.

"Oof! What the...What are you two doing? Break it up right now!" Jim yelled. "What's going on here? Can't I leave you two alone for a minute without World War III breaking out? Isn't it enough that your brother is terminally ill? Do you guys want to kill each other too? Go to your rooms - Now!"

"But he started it," Anne began. When she saw the spatula in her daddy's hands, some pretty nasty things went through her mind. That would hurt bad if I got spanked with it, she thought, then decided she better follow orders.

Aaron also began to argue with his father, but then he saw the look on Anne's face. Following her eyes, he saw the spatula and decided now would not be a gud time to argue his innocence. Daddy was in one of those unreasonable moods and there was no way to have a decent conversation with him right now.

They growled and stormed off to their rooms.

"And don't..." Jim began to shout just before he heard the door to Aaron's room slam with a bang, "...slam the door," his voice trailed off.

About ten minutes later, Jim started toward the children's bedrooms, but was stopped when the telephone rang. He veered off toward the library and answered the phone.

As Jim spoke to the children's mother, the space between the their rooms, which was normally reserved for the bathroom, began to change. The walls slowly faded into a large green meadow, with a few shade trees and numerous pink, purple, yellow and red wildflowers appeared in place of the bathroom. In the center, under the shade of a large oak tree, was the most beautiful and curious animal Anne had ever seen. It was a white horse with a rainbow colored mane and tail.

Anne and Aaron would later argue over who saw this scene first, but the truth was that both saw the picture at the same time and both were equally certain they had gone crazy. Their fears were confirmed when the horse lifted its head, looked first at Aaron, then at Anne and spoke.

" Why are you two standing so far away? It would be much easier for me to talk to you if you were standing about here," the horse said to them as she stamped her right foot on the ground where she wanted the two to stand. She might as well have been talking to a couple of brick walls because neither child moved an inch.

She asked again, "Please come over to me so I don't have to keep moving my head from one side to another. It gives me such a stiff neck and I don't have any aspirin with me today." Still, the children did not move.

"Get over here NOW," the horse boomed, "before I turn you into toads!!!" That worked. The children started walking toward the horse - very slowly.

Ten minutes later, the children stood before the horse.

"That's better. Now where was I?" The horse began. "Oh, yes! My name is Crystal Rainbow and I am here to help you two with your problem. That is, if you would be so kind as to tell me what your problem is? I assume you do have a problem since you called me."

"No we didn't," replied Anne.

"Oh yes you did. Every time a child cries like you two did, God lets me know there is someone who needs my help. Today, it seems you two need my attention.

Now, what seems to be the matter?"

"I was just minding my own business when Anne..." Aaron began, but was quickly cut off.

"I don't mean why were you two fighting. That's plain to see - you're brother and sister. True, it was a particularly vicious fight, and I imagine you father isn't feeling too well right now, but I have seen worse fights.

There was that time when that silly boy Arthur to argued with Merlin and....well, that's another story.

"No, I mean why are you two so sad? Surely you can't be that upset about being sent to your rooms. There are much worse things."

"Who gives a care what you think," said Aaron. "You're just a stupid horse anyhow!"

"I'd be careful what I say if I were you, young human," Crystal Rainbow began. "I may be a horse, but I am far from stupid. After all, I'm not the one who is talking to a horse.

"There are things in this world, and the next, that you don't understand. If you think you do, you are much more ignorant than I thought.

You should treat me with the respect I deserve."

"Now, you're sounding like Mama..." Aaron began. He had a rather sad look on his face, kind of like the look you see when a child finally understands his parents meant it when they said no to that bubble gum in the checkout stand. Slowly, however, his face turned into a red ball of rage and he yelled, "...AND YOU'RE NOT HER. SO LEAVE US ALONE!!!"

He grabbed Anne and started to stomp back to his room when, suddenly, a hand grabbed him. He tried to shrug it off, but he couldn't get out of its grasp. "HEY, YOU STUPID..." Aaron said as he turned around and lost his voice. Instead of a horse, there stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, except, of course, for Momma.

"What happened to Crystal Rainbow?" Anne asked.

" I'm still here," said the woman. "You may not have noticed, but I do have a few special powers. Changing shape just happens to be one of them.

How do you like my human form?

I guess it doesn't really matter. It's what God gave me and I'm happy with it.

Now, I think we have come to the heart of the matter. Tell me - where is your mother?"

"Well, Chris...and then Mommy and Daddy took him...then Daddy came home, but Chris and Mommy," Anne started out in a flurry of words that left Crystal Rainbow literally dizzy.

" Hold on, young one. I can’t hear as fast as you are talking. Aaron, do you care to try and tell me what's going on?"

"Sure," Aaron began. "Everything was just fine. Momma and Daddy, Anne and me lived in this house and everything was really pretty ok, except I had a sister."

"Hey, take that back," Anne said, beginning to turn red.

"Now children. There's no need for gettin’ into another fight. You're already in your rooms, which leaves me with only magical punishments to hand out.

Aaron, can we please just stick with the story and be nice? This time of year, toadstools aren't that comfortable. You wouldn't want to find that out for yourself, would you," asked Crystal Rainbow with a twinkle in her eye.

Aaron didn't really believe she would turn him into a toad, but there wasn't any sense in taking chances. "No Maam," he answered and then continued, "Then Chris was born.

"I knew from the moment I saw him he was going to be trouble. He was only two days old when he took Momma away to Little Rock. He got sick and spent a month up there. The only time we got to see Mommy was when we went up to Little Rock with Daddy.

Even when she got back, she spent all of her time at the hospital with Chris. She would go up there and just talk to him and hold him. It's like she forgot we were around.

Then, when things were finally gettin’ better, Chris got sick and had to go to Fort Worth to get a bone marrow transplant. It was only supposed to take a few months, but it's been a year!

I love him, but sometimes I wish he hadn’t been born!"

"Aaron, how could you say something like that about brother?" Anne chided him.

But Crystal Rainbow was having none of that. "And are you telling me that you never felt the same way Anne?" Crystal asked.

"Well, yeah...I mean no…Oh, you know what I mean. Still, it isn’t a nice thing to say." Anne admitted.

"No, it's not nice, but I am sure it's true and it's ok to tell grownups how you feel. That's the only way they can help.

"So, let me get this straight. You two are very sad that your Mommy isn't here and that's really why you were crying so much. Is that right?" She asked.

"Uh huh," said Aaron.

Anne followed with a very quiet, "Yes Maam, but we miss Chris too."

"I'm sure you both miss him very much. I bet he misses you too.

"If your real problem is that your Mommy isn't here, what do we do about that?" Crystal asked. After a few minutes, her thoughtful expression turned first to a grin and slowly turned into a great big smile as she said, "I have it. We'll go find her and bring her home! And Chris too, for that matter!"

As one the children shouted, "Yeah!"

Then, with a more thoughtful look on her face, Anne asked, "But how are we going to get to Fort Worth. We don't drive. Do you have a car?"

Laughing, Crystal Rainbow turned back into a horse. "No, but I have a back strong enough to hold two children and wings that can take me wherever I wish to go. Climb on and let's get your mommy!"

Still in shock that anyone, much less a horse, could change shapes, they slowly climbed on Crystal's back.

"Hold on tight," Crystal Rainbow said as she began to flap her wings. In no time they were airborne. Crystal Rainbow flew higher and higher.

The children couldn't believe what was happening. They were on the back of a horse flying through the twilight sky. They felt the wind blow through their hair and the cool air gently caressing their faces as they went ever higher into the night.

They didn't notice that Crystal Rainbow showed no signs of stopping her ascent. In fact, they were so mesmerized with the adventure that they didn't notice when they passed the moon. Suddenly, as if waking from a dream, Aaron blinked his eyes and realized they were no longer on earth. "Ummm, Crystal Rainbow," Aaron tentatively began, "where are we."

"Oh, I have to make a little trip to Pluto and pick up a friend. I hope you don't mind," Crystal said. "It won't take very long."

Realizing there wasn't much he could really do, and he did feel safe; Aaron just shrugged his shoulders and decided to enjoy the scenery.

For her part, Anne just kept her mouth shut, along with her eyes.

One-by-one they passed the five other planets of the solar system until finally they came to Pluto. As Crystal started her descent, Aaron thought to himself, what a yucky looking place.

He changed his tune; however, when they broke through the cloud cover, for right below them was the largest, most brightly lit city Aaron had seen. He had seen a lot of cities from the air too, when his family went on vacations.

"Wow!" Aaron said. "I bet the astronauts don't know about this place."

"No," said Crystal as she glided in for a landing, "I don't suppose they do."

When she hit the ground, Aaron noticed the people, or beings, for the first time. They were all less than four feet tall and slightly blue. They were completely hairless with faces that reminded Aaron of a German Shepard. They talked funny too!

The beings all around her didn't seem to notice Crystal or the children, as she began walking toward a large structure that Aaron guessed was a house. "How come nobody's saying' anything to us?" Aaron asked.

"Because we aren't here, my dear child," Crystal replied. "As far as they are concerned, there isn't a horse walking down their streets with two children on her back. I am invisible to everyone, except those I chose to let see me."

"Wow!" Aaron said. "It's gonna be nice having' a friend like you."

about that time, Crystal came to the door of the "house" she was walking to - then she walked through it.

Unfortunately, the door wasn't opened and while Crystal did have the ability to walk through solid objects, the children didn't. As a result, they fell right on their you know what’s with a loud thud, followed by an even louder cry of pain.

A minute later, Crystal Rainbow emerged with one of the beings. "Let's go," she said. "Time is wasting and we need to get to your mother."

Just as soon as the two children were on board, Crystal took off with blinding speed. Aaron, Anne and the being held on so tight, there was no way they would fall off.

When they left Pluto's atmosphere and all three were comfortable they wouldn't fall off, the little being turned to the children. "I'm Worthwiggle. Who are you?" He asked.

Anne jumped in first. "How do you know English? Did you have to take it in school too? Are you a real alien, or am I just dreaming?"

"So many questions for one so young," Worthwiggle said. "To answer the first question, I know English because everyone under Crystal's influence can talk to each other.

" Second, I did not have to take English in school. I studied the standard language of my people - Plutonian.

"Third, you are not dreaming, but I am not an alien either. To my race, and me, you are the aliens. Perhaps we should just say I am me and you are you.

"But it's time we get down to business. Crystal tells me you are looking for your mother and I am here to help.

"You see, I am the navigator on this trip. Whenever Crystal Rainbow wants to take a trip she always comes to me. Strong and powerful she may be, but she is terrible at following maps.

"My family has served Crystal for many centuries."

"Fine," Aaron said, "but all ya really have to do is follow the interstate."

"Hold on, we're coming in for a landing," said Crystal. Even as she said that, her hoofs landed in the parking lot of a very big hospital. "Is this it Worthwiggle?" she asked.

"Yes Crystal, it is," he replied.

"This isn't where Mommy is," Aaron protested. "This is where Chris came two days after he was born. "

"That's right," Crystal said, "but are you so certain your mother isn't here? Come with me. I have something to show you."

The four walked through the long halls of the hospital until they came to a set of double doors with the sign "Neonatal Intensive Care Unit" above them. Undetected, Crystal and the children continued inside the unit and down the blue, carpeted hall until they reached the bed of a very young baby.

"But Dr. Armstrong," a nurse was saying "there has to be an infection somewhere. The baby's heart rate is way too high and he's spiking a temp.

"Remember several years ago when that mom insisted her child be looked at and you found a he needed immediate surgery? Could the same thing be happening here?"

"You may be right Mary, I do remember her. Who could forget? She was rather outspoken. I wish we had more moms like her.

"Let's get radiology do an ultrasound," Armstrong replied.

An hour later, the ultrasound confirmed what the nurse knew - the child needed immediate surgery to correct his dead and infected bowels. "I guess we owe your memory, or that mom, a debt of gratitude," Armstrong said. "We'd better schedule surgery for this little guy tonight before this infection gets out of hand."

Crystal Rainbow turned to the children and asked, "Do you know who the nurse remembered?"

When they both answered no, Crystal continued, "She remembered your mother's insistence that Chris may have an infection in his stomach and that the doctors needed to examine him. In that case, though, they didn't listen to your mother and it could have cost Chris his life.

" Sometimes, even all the knowledge in the world has to take second place to the feelings of a baby's mother."

Crystal and Worthwiggle headed out the door with Aaron running behind them shouting "But what does that have to do with bringing Mommy home?" Anne followed closely behind him.

When they were all outside, Crystal said nothing' except, "It's time to go. We have much to do and time is wasting."

She flew off into the night sky with two very confused children on her back. What seemed like an eternity later, they once again landed in the parking lot of a hospital.

"Alright!" exclaimed Anne.

"Cool," said Aaron. "We're finally in Fort Worth, but why are we at the hospital? When I talked to Momma earlier, she and Chris were at the apartment."

As she walked toward the door, Crystal said nothing', but flicked her tail in a fashion that seemed to say, "Follow me and be quiet." They quietly and quickly made their way through the hospital. Aaron and Anne knew this route well, except they normally went to the bone marrow transplant unit and not the heart unit.

When they arrived, Crystal led the group down the hall to a little boy's room. His mother was on the telephone. Aaron and Anne could hear the mother ecstatically saying, "The doctor said she's doing great. The heart has been working perfectly for the last two days. I can't believe it. I never thought this day would come. Our little baby is going to be alright."

After this, Crystal gave a nudge to the little girl, who giggled. Then she led the group out.

"What gives? I know this doesn't have anything to do with finding Mommy," said Anne.

"Don't be so sure," said Worthwiggle. "That woman was using a gift from your mother to make that phone call."

The children fell silent as they made their way to the parking lot. Even though they were frustrated at not being with their mommy yet, Aaron and Anne were also gettin’ very excited. When Crystal took off in the direction of the apartment, the children couldn't wait to see their mommy.

A few minutes later, the four were directly over the apartment. The excitement was gettin’ to be too much, but it didn't last very long. Crystal Rainbow kept going instead of stopping to pick up the children's mother and brother.

"Stop!" the children shouted. "Mommy's down there. We have to go get her. You promised," Anne pleaded.

"Please. We need our Momma," Aaron chimed in.

Worthwiggle closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, the children were fast asleep. "Do you think they are old enough to understand?" Worthwiggle asked Crystal.

"Perhaps they are my friend," Crystal said to Worthwiggle. "Then again, who knows what children understand these days. If they don't understand now, they will someday."

The children awoke in their rooms. The meadow was gone. The bathroom was back where it should be. Everything was like it was when they were sent to their rooms.

Everything was the same, but not the children. Aaron jumped out of bed and headed for Anne's room, while Anne started for Aaron's room. They met in the hallway between their rooms.

Excitedly, Anne started to tell Aaron about her really weird dream. She told him all about the trip to Pluto and the hospitals. It was fun and exciting to fly on a horse's back and talk to an alien. Even though she didn't find her mother, Anne did have a neat adventure. It was fun, exciting, scary, and sad...and a real bummer when Aaron said he had the same dream.

Anne accused Aaron of copying her and they nearly broke out into a fight when out of nowhere, a tree appeared in between them - a shimmering, golden tree that held a note:

Aaron and Anne,

You didn't dream last night. I did indeed take you on a journey to find your mother.

I know you think we failed, but we didn't. Think about what you saw children.

You saw a baby's life saved because a nurse remembered something your mother did two years ago. A woman was free to talk to her husband without worrying about the cost, because your mother provided her a calling card. Your mother's gift allowed her to share her joy with her husband and that's a very special thing.

Look all around you. What do you see? Do you see all of the candles your mommy put out because she liked the way they smelled? What about all those pictures of you and your brothers Anne? Who had all those pictures made?

Aaron, look at all the your video tapes, CDs and the little nick knacks in your room. Where did they come from?

These are just a few examples. Think of all of the things you have that you mother gave you. Most especially, think of who you are. You are two very special children because of the lessons your mother has taught you.

You both say that your mommy is missing. I guess you're right if you are talking about her body being here.

But, I think your mommy is with you right now, just like she was with those people we saw last night. Your mother was with them because she had affected their lives in a gud way. The same is true with you. Wherever you go and whatever you do, your mother is always with you.

Your mother is in your heart through all the love she has given you. She is in your head because of all she has taught you. Your home is filled with little bits and pieces of your mother.

Next time you feel sad, don't let the sadness win. Look at the things around the house that remind you of your mother and know that she loves you. Let your heart be happy at the thought you will get to see her again and she will come home.

Know that both your mother and father understand what your brother's sickness has cost you and your hurt makes them very sad. I know how hard it is to believe, but even though what has happened is terrible, Jesus can, and will, use it to bless and strengthen you someday.

Believe that your mother and brother will return home someday and you will have your family together again.

Believe your mother and father love you both very much - now and forever.

Believe all of this, because it is true .

Love,

Crystal Rainbow

When Aaron finished reading the note, the little golden tree split in two and moved away. One found a place in Aaron's room and the other found a home in Anne's room.

The children dressed, ate breakfast and headed out the door to play on the combination fort, slide and swing set for the next few hours. Both were happier and more at peace than they had been for years. Knowing that they each held a little of Mommy in their hearts and minds made them feel close to her, even though she was far away. That would do until she and Chris came back home.

Jim never saw the golden trees, or Crystal, or Worthwiggle. He was, after all, an adult and adults don't believe such things. He didn't see the children leave the house, and he didn't see them return.

When Jim finally made it to the children's room that night, they were fast asleep. Enjoying the peace and quiet in the house, he decided it was better to leave them to their dreams. He would cook the steaks tomorrow.



The children didn't fight at all that day - a general truce being called in their family feud to give them time to think about what had happened. Unfortunately, as time wore on, so did the memory of that night and the battles began again, but, from that day on, Aaron and Anne always went to bed watching those little golden trees that only they could see and knew that Mommy, Crystal Rainbow and God were always with them.