One day as I was walking my elephant, we came to a giant pear tree loaded with golden pears. There were people running back and forth under the tree collecting the pears that had fallen and reaching up to pluck  the pears down from the branches.

As each pear would be picked from the tree another pear would pop into place where the first pear had been, so that the tree, shining as it was in the full sunlight near the road, was constantly full of beautiful golden pears.

People were collecting them in baskets and lugging them away to their homes, and more people kept arriving to harvest the abundance of pears.

My elephant, Alphonzo, reached up with his trunk to select a beautiful pear from high up in the branches.  He then “handed” it to me with his trunk and I took it into my hands and smelled it.  The pear was fragrant and ripe, full of juicy goodness, speckled, and warm from the sun.  I took a bite and let the golden sweetness fill my mouth and then gave it back to Alphonzo.

My whole body reacted to the delight of this amazing fruit: my skin felt like it was glowing, my hair shimmered, and all of the sadness of my spirit melted into the joy of the moment.  I could see the lines of my legs, relaxed but strong, and I could feel the goodness of hope and strength returning to my body and mind.

Alphonzo munched the pear contentedly, and looked at me with his wise eyes, tossing his head up and down.  We did not take more than one pear, because I already knew how this fruit had healed us.

And it was only morning, the beginning of a new day.