Recipe For A Dream

Take one battered body, barely alive;
Add a loving soul who just couldn't turn his back on such pain;
Stir in a generous amount each of:
   gentle loving care, warm soup, reassurance and
   familiar stories read aloud in a deep, soothing voice.
Let steep gently for ten days in a warm, safe place
   lulled by the calming music of
   distant subway trains and melodic pipes.

When the mixture is cured, see her safely back home
And watch over her protectively as the months go by.

Then, to this base, add slowly and carefully:
   a growing love between the beauty and the beast;
   two roses lovingly cared for, a red and a white;
   a shining crystal from the earth's depths
      and an ivory rose remembrance in a small pouch;
   a caring boss, good friends, villains and adventures of all
      kinds;
   and a wonderful community that cares for
      the lonely, the forgotten, the sick and the rejected.

Stir until well blended and watch the love expand and grow
As the seasons turn round, One, Two, Three.
The mixture will grow strong and bright with time.
Even death will have no dominion and cannot destroy this union.
So strong it is.  So enduring.

After three seasons, the light of this great love, like a
   guttering candle,
Will dim from the ether, victim of the almighty Buck.
But then, a great miracle:
   Instead of dying, it continues, protected and nourished by
   Kindred Spirits everywhere who believe in The Dream and know
its true worth.

Finally, nothing can destroy this greatest of all mixtures, our
   Dream.
The Dream Is Alive because we keep it so in our hearts.
Nothing will ever change that so long as we believe and share the
   light.

                                   - Rebecca Cairns

Rebecca Cairns has been a fan of Beauty and the Beast since 1989 and has been online since January, 1994. She has enjoyed three conventions (so far), cherishes and still watches those prized tapes and is an active member of The Ottawa Tunnel Dwellers. Rebecca has written a couple of articles about BATB which can be found in The Of Love and Hope Newsletter and in The Candle, the (now defunct) newsletter of The Ottawa Tunnel Dwellers and is eager to find ways to keep Vincent in her heart and the dream alive.

End.