'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

(Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll)

"Grandma was right," Pete said in awe, "Unicorns exist."

In front of them a group of five had appeared. With grace and fluidity they walked toward the well. Each took a turn to drink the special water. The moonlight added to the eerie atmosphere.

Pete and Lola did not dare talk, or move. Cookie sat in silence beside them, waiting for them to get back their composure.

Kitty had returned after a short bout of sulking. She also waited in silence for the children next move.

"What do we have here?" One of the Unicorns looked at the four seated on the side.

"Is it you, Cookie? Did you bring us some visit?" A second one approached, recognising the dog.

"Yeah!" Neighed excitedly a third one, "new friends to play with!"

The last two remained near the well and observed the exchange.

"What's your name, pretty one?"

"Are you children? It is a long time I didn't see any..."

"Do you come from the house behind the woods?"

The questions rained from the three unicorns who encircled the children. They seemed quiet friendly and open, and curious, so curious. Pete and Lola were startled for a time.

When the shock passed, they started answering the questions. Yes, they were children. They had turned ten years old recently and had to spend their summer holidays with their grandparents.

Grandma had told them about unicorns, but they did not want to believe it. There are things simply not possible. Or so they thought until they met with Cookie. Then, all impossibilities had turn possibilities. So, why wouldn't unicorn exist?

While Pete and Lola continued to answer the many questions and took many pictures, the two unicorns who had stayed in the back came nearer. They were not as curious as the three others, however, and seemed more paused and calm.

Lola wondered if they maybe were older, perhaps the parents. The behaved a bit like Mom and Dad when they were travelling and visiting places. Pete and Lola were always all over the place, running around with curiosity and thousands of question at the tip of their tongue. Their parents, on the contrary, were observing and staying on the sideline.

The girl could observe the same dynamic with this group of beautiful unicorns.

"Are you a family?" Lola asked, wanting to confirm her idea about those five.

"What does family mean?" One of the curious and energetic ones asked the girl.

"You know, like a mother, a father and children..."

"Oh! This kind of family?" A second one interrupted. "we don't have family like that here. We are who we are and that's all. We all live together, so it's a bit like a big family, I guess."

"How old are you?" Pete looked at the third one. She had a pretty little purple coat and a green mane.

"Don't unicorn have wings?" He asked, perplex. "I thought you'd have wings," he added a disappointed.

Hearing the questions, the five unicorns started to laugh, some louder than the others.

Even Kitty snorted. This boy does not know anything, she thought. Then she remembered he was just a kid of ten years of age. It was up to her to educate him.

"Silly you!" The purple gently mocked Pete, "why would we need wings for?" she continued, still laughing.

"I don't know," the boy a bit more timid now added his explanation,worried that they would laugh at him one more time. "In the song,you know, they say Unicorns have wings..."

"Oh.If it is in the song then, perhaps some unicorns have." The purple turned to her friends and winked at them, "perhaps if we just want some, perhaps wings will just burst out on our back? After all, what did you say already? Impossible is possible?"

The three curious and energetic unicorns burst out laughing some more and just left a blushing boy.

"What happen to the wocky" One of the serious asked Cookie.

"A wookie? There are wookies in the woods?" Lola's perked up at the idea of the airy beast.

"Not a wookie," Kitty corrected, "a wocky. A Jabberwocky. They are talking about Monty."

"What is a jabberwocky?" Lola asked, "I never heard about this animal."

"No one really knows what they are. They just are. Usually, they are frightening, but our resident wocky is just a scaredy-cat. We saw him running away from, here. We thought something really wrong had happened. Perhaps the rabbit had been at it again?"

Cookie explained the situation. Pete, hearing it tried to hide in the well shadow. He was not proud of himself and did not want to scare Monty.

"Oh, I understand," the quiet unicorn nodded, "it is no matter for shame, little one," she added kindly. "The wocky, or Monty as you call him, will have forgotten once his size will reduce drastically. We usually tried not to let him near the well, but tonight the blue energy was quite intense. It called to him, probably..."

"Do you mean that Monty will forgive me?" Hope raised in Pete's eyes. "How long will it take for him to get back to normal?

"Probably a day or two... Do not worry."

"Oh, Okay!" Pete was finally relieved. Happily, he left the group formed by Cookie, Lola, Kitty and the two quiet unicorns and went to play with the other three.

"What is it about the blue energy?" Lola's inquisitive mind was running a mile a minute. The Unicorns were full of information she never would have been able to get from Cookie or Kitty.

"You know, the blue light. You probably have seen it tonight."

"Oh, this light. Do you know where it comes from? What creates it?"

"You are a curious one, little girl, I like it. But be careful not to ask questions you would not want to have an answer to," the Unicorn added with a benevolent smile.

The more she was thinking of it, the more these two magical beast felt like her parents. Gentle and kind, mocking and subtly playful.

"The blue light," the unicorn explained, "is just the light emanating from the rocks on the path. You will find many of these rocks in the woods. Sometimes, they will look like they are normal rocks, other times, like under the full moon, the shine with a blue hallow, lighting the forest.

"Is it the blue light that gives the strange power to the water in the well?" Lola continued with her questions. She wanted to understand if the water was always potentially dangerous, having side effect varying with the moon cycle, or if it was the blue light that influenced the animals.

"It could be one way, or another. What does it matter, really? Just know that the water under the full moon will have some effect if drunk, and that the blue light will call to those with a pure and honest heart."

Lola reflected on the information she had been given. The last words rang in her mind, reminding her of another question she had since she heard Cookie talk for the first time.

"Is it why we can hear Cookie and Kitty, and Monty and you? The blue light?" She tried to make sense with her idea. "Do you think we are ones with pure and honest heart?"

"You are child, still not tainted by the trouble of adulthood. You remain pure for now until the signs of age will bring you to the other side. But it does not mean you will lose the connexion. Some will remain pure and honest, even when growing in age. Sadly, we do not know many of those..."

Perhaps she had been right, Lola thought, when she had suggested that Pete and she could hear Cookie and Kitty talk only when there were no adults around. Perhaps it was not the woods that made things possible, but... them... the children. It was an interesting thought, but the girl still had some issue grasping at all the repercussions.

Changing the subject, and because the two quiet unicorns were easy to talk to, Lola asked them about other child who had visited the woods.

"I remember one little girl. As inquisitive as you are. She had been around your age also. A darling one. I don't know what she became," One of the two unicorns remembered.

The second one agreed. She also recalled another time they had some visit. "I think, perhaps, the little girl came back when she was adult. I don't remember seeing her, but there had been this lost baby in the woods, near the house. We helped the infant to find her way back, and when we neared the gate at the end of the trees, an adult woman came in to get the baby back. She was crying and laughing at the same time... Perhaps she is the same as the previous girl."

Lola nodded her head, thinking at what her Grandma and Mom had told her, a week or two ago. This could explain mom's drawing when she was really young, she thought.

On the other side of the clearing, Pete was playing with Purple and the two other. They tried to play tag, but the boy was really slow. So he ended up climbing on Purple's back. 

Pete was a bit frightened, at first, but the unicorn was gentle with him, and did not try to throw him down. Not willingly, at least. There had been one occurrence when she had to jump over a log and Pete lost his balance, but he had been able to catch a good fist of mane to help him. Purple did not like the pain, but she understood the boy had been in danger of falling.

"Pete?" Cookie was calling. "I think it is time we come back now."

"Do we really need to?" The boy wanted to play more with his new friends.

"It will soon be morning, and if we are not back under the tent, the old man will panic."

"The dog is right," Kitty agreed. The cat had been quiet after the unicorns came into the clearing to drink at the well. She had stayed beside Lola when the girl had asked her questions, though she had not interrupted them. Perhaps she was impressed by the unicorns, Lola thought. Or perhaps the cat just did not care about what was happening, she added to herself.

The five unicorns ,understanding the need to separate with the children, regrouped near the well. The farewell took long, with Pete hugging each of his new friends with enthusiasm.

When all goodbyes had been said, the two humans, the cat and the dogs left the clearing. Before they disappeared among the trees, Purple called the Pete.

"Hey! Boy! Do you think it's possible?" She turned and drank some water into the well. When she raised her head, looking at Pete with intensity, she was engulfed in a blue halo.

Pete was speechless. 

When the halo cleared, Purple was in full view.

A pair of wings had appeared on her back.