'Hidden Treasures'

THERE once was a girl named Faith. All throughout the land everyone knew her name, yet no one could see her. So every day she walked about her father's kingdom in sadness.

"Why do they not see me?" Faith asked her father's advisor.

"You are cursed, dear," said Amos. "To break it, you must find a flower."

"That's easy," said Faith. "My father has many gardens."

The advisor went on to explain to her that this was a very rare flower that grew only for a short time in the autumn. "The road is a narrow and lonely one," Amos continued.

The girl was determined to break the curse at any cost. Amos told her that the flower was very small with four points and white in color. He also gave Faith detailed instructions on how to find the plant.

"Bring it to me," he said, "and I can cure you."

The next day Faith set off on her journey. She walked the South Road to the large maple tree with purple leaves -- as she was told. A narrow dirt path choked with tall grass and underbrush wound along a mountainside and down into a valley. Faith followed this desolate path up the sheer ledge winding between sharp stones. The entire valley was alive with the multicolored leaves of the season. She took the trail over a bridge, under a crystalline waterfall and down into a valley covered with a carpet of flowers of every shade and size.

"How will I ever find the flower in this?" Faith asked in despair. She waded through the large meadow of flowers searching every fragrant inch along the way. There were small delicate blue flowers, large yellow tulips and pungent poppies. After searching the meadow, the girl grew tired and lay down and slept on the valley's soft grass.

"This is hopeless," she said in her dream.

"Your belief and trust are a rock in the bed of a stream," a voice said within her dream.

"That's it!" Faith said awaking from her slumber.

She followed the stream from the waterfall through the valley until it rushed past a massive stone in its turbulent center. Growing on the top of the stone was a tiny cluster of white dots amid some thin vines. Faith climbed along the outstretched branch of a willow tree and landed on the stone's crown. She knelt down and plucked one of the minute white flowers from the vine. Immediately, her senses were engulfed in a beautiful fragrance. Then to her amazement, a young boy with the kindest and most intelligent eyes she had ever seen appeared.