A long time ago, in the land of never…there lived a little boy who was lame. He was unable to walk or run like other children. He would watch them from his window and wait for his nanny to take him for a walk in his enchanted garden…she would take him and leave him there, where he would spend hours, enjoying the view. It was a lovely place, filled with wishes and dreams; he spent hours making up stories in his mind.

When it happened, he couldn’t believe it. He heard it before he saw it…a unicorn came for a drink from the pond in the garden. He did not move for fear he would frighten the unicorn away.

To his surprise, the unicorn came up to him and spoke. “Why are you sitting there? You know that you can walk like any other child, but you allow your mind to keep you imprisoned?”

Harry didn’t know what to say. He became perplexed.

“I didn’t choose to be like this, he replied, I never could get up and walk around like the other children of the court.”

“Hmmm, would you like to ride me? Just hang on tight and we’ll go for a trot around the garden. I will be careful, trust me.”

For once Harry wasn’t afraid. He had been afraid all his life; he couldn’t remember when he felt sure of anything, as he did now.

“Close your eyes, and believe, and you will be riding me, before long.”

Harry felt himself lifted onto the magical creature by invisible hands. 

He remembered reading about Unicorns. Only a pure heart could experience them. I must have one, he thought to himself. Or I would not see him now.

He rode until they entered an enchanted realm. It was just as mother had expressed it. She had an experience once, when she was young. She told him her secret a long time ago. She had to go away…he never knew where. She said that she would return someday, he believed her.

The unicorn took him back to his garden. Had him close his eyes to dismount…It was not something that one could share with anyone. So he kept it to himself. He had many more encounters.

One day, when he was sitting in his garden, the unicorn suggested that he get up and walk beside him. “Don’t be afraid Harry, I promise not to let you fall. I’ll give you the strength to be like the other children. Please try.”

So Harry stood up, and walked with the Unicorn. They did this for awhile. 

His nanny could not explain his flushed cheeks or the energy Harry had when she came to fetch him. She knew something was up, but couldn’t put her finger on it. Her mistress, his mother, had been like this too. She was a delicate creature. Warm hearted and kind.

She had to go to a warmer climate, where it never got too cold, or hot. She knew that her separation from her husband and child would not last forever. 

One day, without Harry’s knowledge, his nanny went back to the garden to find his wheel chair empty and Harry was nowhere to be found. She hid in the bushes and saw him; he was walking alongside of something. She could not see the unicorn, but she knew that something magical was happening.

He spoke in a clear voice, “Thank you for stopping by, will you tell mother that I will be well before she knows it. I shall join her then.” He had the most beautiful look on his face, He was smiling. He looked so much like his mother…she wondered if he knew she was in “never land?” He might tell her someday.