It was one of the darkest nights of the year. A cold and chilling air flow was moving through the winter forest by the lake, leaving everything frozen-dead behind. It was better to hide somewhere in a warm dark hole, as the outside darkness was horrifying. Even the wolf wouldn't leave his hole, as he didn't dare to face the dark force, which put a spell on the woods that night, though he was known for his cruel and daring character. He could kill ten sheep at once, even if he didn't feel hungry, just to show and establish his power over the animals, which lived in the woods. But he felt like a lamb himself that night, in comparison with the dark force of the Underworld. The Spirit of Great Fear and Chaos conquered the entire forest and paralyzed its life. Even the Moon and the stars disappeared from the night firmament. And only one new-born star decided to stay and send light to the world: "Maybe somebody will need my light out there." But she was very young and very inexperienced.
     Meanwhile, one little mouse was sitting in her tiny hole-home thinking: "There's not even one little grain at my place. And I am so hungry! I'll take a risk to go outside to look for some food. I am so tiny and insignificant that the great force might not even notice me. If you are already worthless like dust, even if somebody steps on you, it's not going to change the story. What's the point of conquering a little soul, unless you have millions of them in possession? And I am just one little soul. Let me try and see what will happen. If I die, it will be a momentary death in such frost. It's better than to die here, suffering from hunger, and to be eaten by worms." And she ran out of her hole. It was terribly cold outside and the darkness was very thick and scary. But miraculously she noticed a pine-cone in the snow: "Where does this light come from that helped me to find the food?" And she looked up into the sky.
     "Squeak-squeak! What a beautiful star!"
     "Who is so courageous to be outside in such freezing weather?" a rabbit showed his long ears out of his hole.
     "It's not me who is courageous. I just stepped out for a second to get food. But look at that little star, which sent me the light. She was there all the time, sending light to the world."
     "Wow!" exclaimed the rabbit, and started to beat a stump like a drum with his paws, so as not to freeze while looking at the star. The sound was so strong in the silent, frozen forest that all the animals heard it and decided that it was a signal to come out of their holes and shelters. Everyone ran in the direction of the sound, howling and barking, grunting and meowing, whistling and creating other sounds, natural to them. The noise was so strong that it reached the sky. And it made other stars and the Moon come out of their shelters and look down at the woods in curiosity.
     All the animals from the entire forest gathered around the lake. They were sitting so close to each other - neighbors and strangers, friends and ex-enemies - that they didn't feel cold anymore. And the fear of darkness disappeared, as the world became full of light. Moon and stars reflected their light in the lake, as beautiful white swans gracefully moved on its surface. The entire world was full of beauty and grace, warmth and admiration, harmony and peace.
     The dawn was coming soon.

     Even one little light can eliminate great darkness. One little courageous star cannot enlighten and change the entire world, but it has the power to start. And greater light comes out of darkness, not from light.

     What do you think?

     Many, many moons ago in a beautiful valley, surrounded by high, green hills, there lived a herd of the most majestic Earthly creatures - horses. And one of them was the most gorgeous, all white, Lightning by name.
     White horse Lightning was very graceful and strong, kind and gentle, fast and free-spirited. Everyone knew from the beginning, this was a special horse; it was gifted. But I guess, the more one is given, the higher life standards one has. "Racing is not powerful enough for me, as I want to fly free and high like a bird. How can I get wings?" asked the seeker everyone around.
     "Aren't you silly?" other horses told him. "You already have everything other horses can only dream of. You are the most gorgeous and strongest in our herd. Everyone loves you for your personality, even your enemies, who are simply jealous of you; otherwise, they would be your friends. You can choose any destiny you want. You don't need to be a working ranch horse. You may become a famous race horse and then you will be groomed and brushed and fed with special care. And, while racing, you will feel as-if-flying. You can be also sold into a wealthy household, and then some stunning lady will ride you once in a while, and the rest of the time is yours. You can spend it 'flying' in your dreams. This way you will kill two birds with one stone: you will have a comfortable life and freedom to dream about 'flying'. Don't you see how great your future can be?"
     "Sounds like slavery to me," answered Lightning, insisting: "I wish to have real wings! I want to live my dream! I want to be free!"
     "What freedom are you talking about? If you are born to be a horse, you have to stay a horse," the other horses were trying to discourage and calm him down. "Why break the rules? What's the point?"
     "The guy is losing his mind," they gossiped behind his back.
     "Only those who break the records and limits of physical existence are given a chance to enter higher spheres and see the Beauty and Glory of the Creator's Kingdom. They can be brought there on the wings of their strong Spirit. That's why Lightning is seeking his wings," an old, wise horse Jewel defended Lightning's choice (maybe he was given such name for his wisdom; his every word was precious and worthy of diamonds). "Only those who are ready to sacrifice comfort and the elusive stability of materialistic life are allowed to enter the Gates of the Kingdom. Let him try!"
     "What should I do to grow wings?" Lightning thought to himself. He decided not to share his dream with others anymore: "Why bother to explain the unexplainable?" He made the final decision: "Maybe I should start jumping over the hills? Each time I will jump over a higher hill and my wings may start to grow little by little." So, he started to practice.
     A few months passed since he started to practice, but there were no signs of wings. His muscles became so hard and strong that he could jump over any hill surrounding the valley. And while he was "flying" over a new, higher hill, he had a feeling of growing wings for a moment (maybe that's what happens when one conquers "heights" and achieves goals he has set). But it was just a momentary, elusive feeling. "Maybe it's time for me to look for higher places to conquer," the horse concluded. "There's nothing left for me here." And, one night, without saying a word to anyone (he simply didn't want to hear discouraging jokes and useless advice), he ran away to a distant place; somebody told him of a great canyon out there and he expected to find higher mountains in that area.
     Almost a week of non-stop running later, he reached the canyon. It was a very early morning and still dark, so he decided to sleep for a few hours, as the journey exhausted him. A funny thing happened though: he started to feel tired only when he arrived at the canyon.
     "I wonder what potential I have been given to achieve my dream. Sometimes I surprise myself; the higher I set my goal, the more strength and energy come my way, and the less time I need to recover. It looks like energy creates energy. But right now I need some good sleep," and he fell into deep sleep.
     When he opened his eyes, awakened by the bright morning sun, he was shocked and stunned by the greatness and majestic beauty of the canyon with its red rocks shaped by winds, blue clear waters of wild mountain rivers, strong eagles flying powerfully over his head, the endless horizon and the highest blue sky he ever saw in his life.
     "Wow! Maybe I have reached the Kingdom already, as I never saw so much Greatness before," a thought flashed through his mind. "I want to fly over the canyon like those eagles hovering over my head!" exclaimed Lightning and started to practice. At first he chose rocks which stood very close to one another; there was a normal, protective fear in his heart. Little by little he started to jump-cross over bigger and bigger space-distances between the rocks. One day he found two rocks standing apart from each other. It was a pretty big distance; he wasn't even sure if he could make it.
     "I have to try, because I still don't have even the slightest sign of wings on my back," Lightning made a risky decision. "The depth of the canyon is approximately three thousand feet. The distance between the rocks is the biggest I've ever tried. As soon as I start my jump it will be the point of no return. If I do not make it onto the other side, then only deadly rocks will be waiting for me on the gloomy bottom of the canyon. But it's my last chance to get wings. I feel that it will happen today and I will get my wings by a higher miracle, or it will become the end of my story," in a way, he said "good-bye" to earthly matters, now completely focused and prepared for the jump.
     His jump-flight felt like an endless eternity and looked like a slow-motion movie. He saw with his own eyes that he was very close to the other side, but in his heart he knew it was impossible to make it. The mind was so fast and active that it was working with the speed of light: "Maybe that's why they called me Lightning," he tried to joke.
     His entire life, day by day, moment by moment, went through his inner vision: "What a good life I had! Too bad it was so short! Creator, I am ready to give myself into Your hands. I tried, but probably horses cannot get a chance to fly. They are born for another reason. But I am grateful for the life I had and wouldn't change a thing; I would still practice to get my wings if I were given a chance to start from the beginning," and he looked fearlessly into the blue depth of the sky trying to fix-memorize the last moment of life as pure beauty.
     In that moment, something very unusual started to happen: instead of falling down heavily, the horse felt lighter and lighter, losing the feeling of any weight and gravity. He also felt wings growing behind and in a while he even could see them: white, gorgeous, strong wings powerfully carrying him higher and higher over canyon and rivers, valleys and cities, beyond the clouds. And then he heard the Voice, which definitely belonged to the Only One, as it was coming from somewhere within: "You've made it! And I Am giving you your desired wings for your courage and devotion to your dream, for your fearless spirit which grew so high that it can reach the highest dimension now, for your ability to jump beyond possible and your simple faith to entrust yourself into My hands no matter what. From now on your name will be Pegasus and you will be at the service of those who want to fly beyond superficiality on the wings of My Spirit. And I will make you immortal!"
Meanwhile a few shining white feathers flew down from Heavens onto the quiet valley, where a herd of horses were eating fresh green grass, creating unexplainable longing in the animals' sensitive hearts.

     Do you want to meet Pegasus one day, so he might give you a ride beyond the clouds? Then try to do the impossible and reach the stars in your dreams!

     Once upon a time, long time ago, different dragons lived on this planet. They were given great power: super-strength and wisdom, great energy and spirituality. But all this magic and supernatural power they received was only to protect people.
     As usual, evil comes into the picture when somebody tries to use the strength and talents of another for private purposes. Wicked magicians decided to use dragons' natural power to control the world: "These creatures look like typical monsters. They look like lizards: with tails of a snake, heads of a horse and whole sets of claws, teeth, scales and wings. They spit fire from their mouths. It will be easy to make people believe that they can also spit poison. They are much wiser than people and it makes them even more dangerous in human eyes. When we break this many-years-long friendship, we can control dragons, and use their natural power when we need it against humanity. Fear is the best tool for control."
     And a war started. Dragons were trying to protect themselves from the silly attacks of frightened people, killing them like flies, as they were naturally given too much strength. People became angrier, more aggressive and upset with dragons, trying to get them. Human hearts were full of revenge and their fear turned dragons into pure monsters in their human minds.
     "I think it's time to hide dragons in another dimension or they will destroy the world by protecting themselves," thought the Creator.
     Though, by that time some of the dragons had chosen the destiny to live and serve evil forces. Other dragons moved into the depths of mountains, living-hiding in huge, dark caves.
     One family of dragons like that lived in a huge, dark cave somewhere in the mountains, not too far from a beautiful village located in the valley. Everything was pretty peaceful - people lived their lives, while dragons enjoyed theirs - till the day a shepherd discovered their cave. He ran back to the village with his eyes full of fear, screaming: "The dragons are in the cave! They look like pure monsters and they are ready to attack us! Poisonous fire is coming out of their mouths! Let's get ready to fight them back!"
     "No! Better if we attack them first!" decided the inhabitants of the village. And the war started again!
     "We are not going to leave the cave; there's no place to escape anymore from these stupid and aggressive people, who are full of fears and rejection," decided the dragons, fighting back at the attackers, trying to protect their own family. For a few years, there was lots of drama, blood and revenge in the life-picture, till the day a beautiful little blue dragon with rainbow-color wings was born into the dragon family. His wings looked more like those of a butterfly. He was very kind and friendly with everyone in the family.
     "Mom, he is so weird. He will never make a good dragon," his brothers kept saying.
     "It's OK," answered the mother, with a voice full of love. "He is my baby son and I love him very much."
     One day his brothers sent him closer to the village to practice how to use the fire coming out of his mouth on trees and bushes. But he returned back with a huge bouquet of gorgeous wildflowers for his mother in his front paws. And his brothers realized: "He is hopeless. Let's leave him alone." Nobody in the family cared any longer what he was going to do about his life. Only his loving mother never gave up on him: "You are born to have a very special destiny. I feel this in my heart," she repeated all the time.
     A few years passed. The war between the dragon family and the village people kept going on. Sometimes they stopped fighting and rested in peace. But both sides never came to a final, peaceful agreement, though they could not explain any more why they kept fighting.
     The little blue dragon grew into a very handsome young dragon with a long blue tail, rainbow-color gorgeous wings and eyes that sparkled like night stars. Maybe because he often looked at stars asking the question: "Why am I so different from the others? What special mission was I born for?"
     As a rule, when you ask questions looking up at the stars, you get an answer pretty soon. And when real destiny shows up, it usually gives some special signs. One morning, wandering around the village, the blue dragon noticed a rider approaching the village on a gorgeous white horse. When he came closer, the dragon could see a knight in a stunning blue and silver outfit; his helmet was also blue with rainbow-color feathers decorating it. "This knight looks like me," thought the dragon, surprised by the coincidence. "I feel in my heart that the knight came here for a purpose and his visit will answer all my questions."
     The village people were very happy that the knight came to their place. They thought he came to protect them from the dragons. Like every nobleman, who thinks that his mission is to save the world and protect it from evil forces, the knight agreed to help the villagers, without thinking twice. "Let me get closer to the cave to check out the situation," he told the villagers.
     In a few hours he approached the cave, hiding behind the bushes and making sure none of the dragons could see him. And he was shocked to hear a very friendly voice behind him: "At last, you came!" When he turned, with the speed of lightning, taking his sword into his hands, he saw a beautiful blue dragon with rainbow-color wings joyfully smiling at him. "He looks like me," thought the knight. "He doesn't look evil, even the opposite; he looks like the friendliest creature I've ever seen."
     Later, the dragon came to his mother, the only one who always accepted him unconditionally: "Mother, I am going with the noble knight to the village to tell the people that we dragons were born for another purpose than to be monsters in human eyes. Our relationship can be based on friendship, not fear. I have to go and tell this to people, even if I have to sacrifice my life for it. I want to show people that forces of nature might become helpful if they will try to understand the main laws of the Universe."
     When the blue dragon and the knight in the blue outfit with wings and feathers of the same rainbow-like color arrived back to the village, the people were stunned by the unique beauty of this union. The dragon passionately began to deliver his message and he got the feeling that human hearts started to warm up and open in trust. But at this moment, one man, completely caught by fear, broke all the rules of hospitality and shot an arrow into the dragon's pure heart. "What have you done, idiots?!" screamed the noble knight, "he came as a friend."
     Falling onto the green grass, the dying blue dragon emitted the powerful fire of his free spirit with the last sigh, which rose into the sky and became one of the brightest stars of the Draco constellation. The villagers executed the murderer; the war between the villagers and the dragons came to an end and they went to live separate destinies. Though the dragons never left the cave, as they simply couldn't leave horrible memories behind. Nobody ever saw them again.
     But each night somebody from the village walked out into the open field to look at the Dragon's Star in the dark firmament, with its gorgeous, long tail. It became a sign sent by the Universe for people to believe in the positive power of natural forces. The dragon's mission was accomplished.

     Once upon a time in the Sea Kingdom, there lived a little golden seahorse. He had a great father who brought him into this world and a few brothers and sisters. All of them were nice and friendly, but their lifestyle was kind of slow and not very exciting. That's why our little seahorse wanted to meet somebody from another environment and to make lots of friends, as he was very friendly by nature, as all seahorses are. So, one day he swam (the fastest way he could) to the playground, beautifully decorated with pearly seashells and bright corals, to meet new friends.
     When he arrived at last at the playground, a little bit tired from his "fastest" swimming (approximately eight inches in one minute), there were already a few little fish and crabs cheerfully playing in the blue water. Fish were moving fast using their tails and multiple fins, and crabs were trying to catch them with their little but already strong claws. It was such a joyful atmosphere at the playground that our little seahorse said to himself: "It is so wonderful that I came here! For sure, I'll meet lots of good friends today!"
     He was ready to join the happy crowd, but at this moment one little fast-moving fish pushed him, "running away" from a crab: "Don't block my way!" fired the fish almost angrily at him, while he was falling down to the bottom, as he couldn't balance himself (all seahorses have only one little fin on their backs and two tiny fins on the back of their heads; not too much of a help, I should say).
     At the bottom, while he was trying to recover from such an unfriendly "welcome" (when you are really friendly by nature it's very difficult to deal with the rudeness of others), a little crab looked at him with his tiny, funny, unkind eyes: "Are you going to 'run away' from me or what?"
     "I cannot run. I can only swim through the water in an upright position. Also I can move forward, but it takes time as I have only one little fin on my back and two tiny ones behind my head," our little seahorse honestly admitted his natural weakness.
     "Then what are you doing here?! You cannot play our games! You are too slow! You are blocking us! Go back home!" all the "kids" at the playground started to shout at him. "He looks like a horse, but cannot run!" they laughed at his disappearing back.
     He couldn't remember how he made his way back home, crying his eyes out. His little body hurt from the fall and his little heart was filled with pain from the rejection by others. "I almost ruined my only back fin; that would disable me for the rest of my life. But, I think, in my heart I will never be able to recover. Why I was born so fragile and weak?! Why does the world hate us seahorses?! What is the purpose of my miserable existence?!" he was crying bitterly, hiding behind a coral bush, changing his color into orange-red, similar to the bush (seahorses do not have teeth, so the only way for them to protect themselves from hungry-hunting sea creatures is to blend in with the environment; but our little friend just wanted to disappear into non-existence like all unhappy "people" do).
     You can trick the entire world, but not your old Grandpa. "What has happened to you, kiddo?" asked the old seahorse gently, noticing his Grandson crying in the bush.
     "Grandpa, why am I so different from others? I am fragile, I am slow and I look weird. Being like this, I will never be able to make any new friends. Everyone hates me! Why I was born like this?! What's the purpose?!" now he was complaining to his all-understanding and loving Grandpa. It is so good to find comfort with somebody close and to feel loved, even if the entire world rejects your strangeness and weakness.
     "You have the wrong picture in your mind, and usually this is the core of all of life's problems. Everyone has their strength, their gift from the Creator. So, they have to use it to win. Let's say you are not strong in fast swimming, so you cannot play the game where you have to run away. But if you use your ability-gift to merge with the environment, you'll be the best in hiding. Why don't you go back tomorrow to the playground and try to play that game?"
     So, next morning the little sea-horse went to try his chance again to meet new friends at the playground. And when little fish and crabs started to hide behind rocks and coral-bushes, our sea-horse merged so well with the yellow coral-bush that nobody could find him, and he became a winner.
     They were searching and searching for him for half an hour or so and couldn't find him, while he was standing right in front of their noses. Only when he stepped away from the bush, changed his color and said: "Here I am!"; the kids saw him. So, everyone was very impressed and they all invited him to come again. "You are the best in hide-and-seek game, but you can play with us any game you want," they generously offered him to participate in their games.
     The little seahorse, whose heart became filled with the joy of acceptance by others, said happily in the evening: "Good night, Grandpa. Will you go with me to the playground tomorrow? I want you to meet my new friends."
     "Sure, precious," was his answer. "Sleep tight. Tomorrow will be another day."