Adina Marie Gibbs-Sergeant, Contributor

Sparrow skipped barefooted along the grassy path, stopping now and again to pick a bright dew-flecked flower. She saw a swarm of colourful butterflies and chased them until they flew away above a blooming trumpet tree top. She stopped and slowly slid to her side in the blue-green guinea grass interspersed with dandelions. As she lay there she heard the buzz of a lone honey bee and watched as it flit from one dandelion flower to the next, then on to a single shame lady where it pitched for a while in the swaying breeze.

Sparrow watched it quietly until it flew away heavy with pollen. She, now feeling revitalised stretched her arms to her sides and held them tightly while extending her legs as she rolled over and over in the sweet, tickling grass until she reached the little slope, her favourite rolling spot, then rolled down its side on to the flat patch of thick, spongy grass where she would rest again. She jumped to her feet and started skipping and hopping again with her white gauzy skirt twirling around her thighs in the gentle breeze.

She inhaled the sweet syrupy scent of the rose apple blossom as all her senses became attuned to magical fragrances that surrounded her. At last she heard the trickling song of the stream she sought. She then saw tiny rainbow winged dragonflies soaring, flickering and dancing in the air - this the cue that the crystal waters of the stream was just a few metres away, hidden by the lush foliage fed by its sweet water.

Less than a dozen more hops and skips and she would be standing in its familiar gently lapping swirls. The anticipation of its cool refreshment triggered the tiny filter hairs in her nostrils, sending the sweet heavenly sensation to her taste buds and to her brain. The expectancy was too great to withhold, so she performed her ritual - she leapt, closing her eyes against the expected spray to cool water.

But she knew that something was not right as she landed jarringly on her feet then toppled on to her buttocks on hard ground padded with damp leaves. Her eyes flew open; fearfully she looked around her, appalled at the strange and eerie surrounding. She was sitting beside a huge pile of gold coins and jewellery that half blinded her with their brilliance. When she looked away from the pile her eyes took a while to adjust, then she saw that she was in the midst of dark, dense woodland with towering trees all around.

Sparrow got up slowly, her heart pounding with trepidation as she crept towards the closest tree. The pile of gold stretched around this gigantic tree with some of it disappearing into a large hole at its root. Sparrow knelt in the pile because by now the ground around her was covered with dazzling gold. The allure of its brilliance mesmerised her as she slowly sank her hands in the cool, radiant heap. Still enthralled by the sheer magic of her find, she lifted her hands above her head while opening her fingers slowly, allowing the treasure to seep through them like golden sunshine, when she was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind. As she opened her mouth to scream a coarse hand clamped over her mouth, covering most of her face. She was roughly dragged to her feet and pushed up against the scraggly trunk of the tree. She looked up into a dark, square face with two glowing red eyes and wide, snarling mouth. Warm acidic liquid flowed down her legs as she lost control of her bladder.

"Wha yuh a duh ya suh?" the man snarled in her face. Sparrow was speechless with terror. "A yuh mi a chat to, wha yuh a duh ya suh?" Sparrow, dumb with fright, could only stare up into his horrible face. He got even angrier and reached into his waist, taking out a long, serrated-edged dagger. He forced her head backward and placed the tip of the dagger at her throat, and drawled out the words. "Mi seh wha yuh a duh ya suh?" Her life flashed past her eyes and suddenly she blurted out, "Du, nuh kill mi, a laas mi laas, mi neva tek none aan mi nah guh tell nobady, du sah let mi guh!"

His hand with the dagger snaked up into the air and descended, glinting in the glow of the treasure. As Sparrow screamed "Noooooo!" she fell off the sofa with a loud thud on to the cool ceramic tiles.

- Adina Marie Gibbs-Sergeant