Cruz’s Big Secret
By
Beth Sadler
Copyright Beth Sadler 2014
This book is written in Australian English.
Cover Copyright Beth Sadler 2014
This book is dedicated to my grandson, Cruz Finney
Chapter 1
Cruz Finney was born on Friday the 13th. That could have been a very scary day to be born on but, as it turned out-----it was a brilliant day. Everyone said so. It just had to be because of the date; nothing else could explain why he was so perfect. It had to be some sort of reverse cosmic spell.
Cruz was the most perfect baby imaginable; an angel in human form.
He was the perfect weight, the perfect length, and the perfect shape. Added to that he was perfectly contented, he slept peacefully all of the time.
In fact, that was all he did.
Everyone agreed he was perfect. Not just his mother and father, his grandfathers and grandmothers, his uncles and aunts. Absolutely everyone agreed. No one had ever seen a more contented baby.
He slept with a smile on his face all the day and night long. He had to be woken-up to eat, and it took his grandmother Elizabeth, one month of staring before she got to see his eyes. And of course, once again, they were perfect.
The months past and everyone marvelled at how placid he continued to be. He grew and blossomed; quite perfectly. But, now his family were starting to worry a little, maybe he was just a little too perfect. Where was the hellion his father had been? Where was the terror that would chase the dog and dig up the garden and when were they all going to get to play with him? -----Cruz continued to sleep.
Chapter 2
Now, if you had been a fairy named Loyal and had to watch him sleep all night, as Loyal did----You might have noticed a cheeky smile gradually blossoming on young Cruz’s face. The smile grew and grew, lasting longer and longer every night. Cruz wasn’t so perfect after all---he was up-to something and no one had a clue-----except Loyal of course.
CRUZ HAD A BIG SECRET.
Deep down in his wonderfully special Dreamland sleep, Cruz was having the most magnificent adventures. He climbed Mount Everest, he rode a bucking bronco and he swam down deep into the blue, blue sea. Oh yes! Cruz wasn’t so quiet after all. He was busy plotting and scheming his way into all sorts of trouble in his secret world.
Cruz Finney was an adventurer. It was just that no one knew about it yet.
All new babies have their very own special guardian fairy and Loyal was Cruz’s. It was Loyal’s job to watch over the sleeping baby and keep him from harm until he was all grown-up.
Phew, thought Loyal, as he wrung his hands in gloom. Why do I always get the bold and daring ones? Why couldn’t I get a shy, timid human for a change?
However, no matter how much he complained, Loyal knew he would be bored with any other kind of human child. And, after all, he did like a bit of adventure himself.
One night when Cruz was four months old, Loyal joined him in his dreams to take up his watch as usual-----only nothing was as usual. The dream world had vanished and Cruz was on the edge of reality-----not completely real, but nearly there.
“Come back here young man,” shouted Loyal. “Get back here to Dreamland.”
Cruz looked over his shoulder with a wide, cheeky grin. “Nope,” he laughed, “I’m off to the balloon races.”
Oh, thought Loyal, not much danger there. Probably just blowing up a few balloons and letting them go to see which goes the furthest.
“Okay Cruz, grab my hand and we’ll fly there together, but, we are staying in Dreamland.”
Cruz took Loyal’s hand and with a strong pull, tugged him in the direction he wanted to go, taking him into Dreamland’s reality.
“Whoopee,” shouted Cruz, this is going to be great fun. I have been waiting ages to do this.” Loyal smiled patiently at him.
“You couldn’t have been waiting too long. You have only been on earth for a short time,” Loyal answered
“Yes, but it feels like years and years. I really, really want to see the other side of the world,” begged Cruz.
“What do you mean? We are only going to the balloon races.” And then Loyal got a great big shock, as he realised where Cruz had brought him.
“Help, we’re at the HOT-AIR Balloon Races” Loyal shuddered at the thought of keeping his young charge safe, while they raced through the air. This was much more serious than the deep-sea diving or the bronco riding, this involved travelling through the sky.
“No, young Cruz, you are not doing this,” commanded a very serious Loyal. “For once I’m putting my foot down.”
No sooner had Loyal finished speaking, than Cruz pulled away from him and scrambled swiftly into the basket of a huge balloon, its glorious purple and red skin swiftly filling with air. Loyal managed to dive-in just in time to catch Cruz, before it swiftly lifted up into the beautiful blue sky.
“Come back here you little hellion,” he shouted, as he caught hold of the tail of Cruz’s shirt.
“Whoopee,” shouted Cruz at the top of his perfect voice, “I’m off to see the world.” Laughing happily he settled into a corner of the basket and watched the world go by. He didn’t really want to win the race; he just wanted to fly to new places.
Loyal sighed in disgust as he settled into the opposite corner. He was a three hundred year old fairy and had just been beaten by a new human. What would his friends say?
All through that dreamland day, and far into the night, Cruz watched in delight as strange and wonderful worlds were revealed.
He watched as tigers stalked through the emerald green jungles below and elephants trumpeted to the sky at their passing. He saw the Pyramids in Egypt and the Gold Bazaar in Turkey. Oh, what magic these lands offered to the adventurous young boy.
He watched the world float by under his feet and promised himself that he would visit these lands once he had grown to be a big man like his father. He would stride through the jungles and ride the elephants, oh goodness, there were lots of things he could do here when he grew up. As they floated over the Nile River in Egypt, he leaned out of the basket and waved to the people sailing by in the feluccas.
“Hello, hello,” he shouted down exuberantly. Sadly no one on the tiny boats waved back. They just couldn’t see the excited young boy.
After a while it got too dark to see the world below, so Cruz settled down to sleep in his corner, he was quite content to wait for the sun to return to this part of reality. After all, back in his cot he was already sleeping peacefully, his parents unaware of where he really was.