The Crystal Dove (standard:fairy tales, 1084 words)
Author: kathyg	Added: Dec 07 2004	Views/Reads: 4493/2618	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
"Only the true of heart shall know the magic of the crystal dove..."

There was once a glassmaker who crafted beauty in a crystal menagerie.
He created lions, giraffes, eagles, fairies and angels. People visited 
his shop from miles around to admire the crystal animals. The most 
spectacular,  was the crystal dove. It was quite unlike any of the 
others in the collection. Prisms, bright and beautiful, mixed together 
against the sunlight in a burst of colors. This is the story of how the 
crystal dove came to be and the one little girl who cherished it the 
most. 

The glassmaker had a daughter named Marina. Marina was a  sweet child
with bright eyes and a wide smile. She kept her smile until her seventh 
birthday, but suddenly she became very ill. Marina stopped smiling. The 
glassmaker loved Marina's smile and he took her to many doctors to find 
a cure. He decided to  craft a crystal dove for Marina. The menagerie 
of crystal animals were also sparkling, but the crystal dove had 
magical powers.  Powers  kept secret by the glassmaker and his family. 
A close neighbor watched as strange things began to happen .    The 
shop was doing very well because of  the crystal dove. Many rumors and 
tales  that were whispered came true. The crystal dove was becoming a 
precious secret to keep. 

"What is the secret? Let us know!", the angry crowd demanded. 

"The crystal dove is Marina's ! Get out!” 

He  pushed the villagers as he could out of his shop and locked the door
for the night. 

He did not know that  Gregory, was hiding in the closet  waiting  to
steal the crystal dove. 

"If I had the crystal dove", thought Gregory,"I could  become a rich
man." 

Gregory  slipped out  when he was sure everyone had left  . He  went up
the stairs to Marina's bedroom and peered through a crack in the door. 
The crystal dove was set lovingly on a plate of glass by a window seat. 


" It is even more beautiful than I could have imagined!", Gregory
thought. 

He went over to the window seat and took the crystal dove off the glass
plate.  The crystal dove became bright white . He dropped the crystal 
dove and found it by Marina's bed . As he reached for it , it burned 
his fingers. Gregory put the crystal dove into a cloth sack and left. 

He wandered  to the Shimmering Lake  to think. If he could harness all
of the crystal dove's magical powers, he would  become very rich.  He 
believed this plan could work. 

Gregory fell asleep.  In his dream, the crystal dove was alive and free.
It was flying  over the village skyline until it reached the 
glassmaker's shop. Gregory could hear someone crying and he could feel 
the same sadness inside of himself.  A thick mist gathered and he could 
not see who was crying. When the mist lifted, he saw that it had been 
Marina crying for the crystal dove. As the dream continued, the crystal 
dove hovered over Marina and began to radiate a brilliant white light. 
Marina seemed to have been cured from her mysterious illness. Gregory 
could picture himself watching the whole scene from a window.  He felt 
guilty for stealing the crystal dove. The crystal dove glowed like an 
ember inside the cloth sack and like a whisper in the wind said,"Only 
the true of heart shall know the magic of the dove." 

"Father! My crystal dove! It's gone!", Marina cried. 

"I was sure that I had locked all of the doors last night.", said the
glassmaker. 

" Someone must have stolen the crystal dove . Always strive to be true
of heart and you shall always find happiness.", said the glassmaker. 

It was morning. Gregory  put his plan into action. He walked through the
Village Square toward the merchant's shop. The merchant looked at 
Gregory as he entered the shop. Gregory  announced that he was here to 


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