by Diana Cooper
This book is dedicated to my grandchildren Isabel, Finn, Kailani, Maya and Taliya and children everywhere who love kittens.
Discussion points and exercises for children are on page 79.
Diana Cooper is well known for her books on angels, fairies, unicorns and the spiritual world, all written from her own personal experiences. For more information about these subjects see her website www.dianacooper.com – there is also a children’s corner.
If you wish to talk to someone about the subjects in this book, the Diana Cooper School website lists teachers throughout the world: www.dianacooperschool.com
Text © Diana Cooper 2011
Edited by Nicky Leach
Illustrations © Kate Shannon 2011
Interior design by Thierry Bogliolo
ISBN 978-1-84409-557-5
All rights reserved.
Printed in the European Union
Published by
Findhorn Press
117–121 High Street
Forres IV36 1PA
Scotland, UK
www.findhornpress.com
Tara and the Unicorn
One day Daddy drew a special picture for Tara, who was seven years old. She gasped with pleasure. “Daddy, it’s a unicorn. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
She jumped up and threw her arms round him to give him a hug. “I’d love to see a real unicorn!”
Daddy laughed. “Sorry you can’t do that, Tara. They are make-believe, like angels and fairies.”
Tara looked at her little grey kitten, Ash-ting, and smiled. They had a great secret, and not a single person knew—they could talk to each other through their thoughts. When Tara sent Ash-ting thoughts, he could pick them up and send a reply into her mind. Now he whispered, “We know unicorns are real, don’t we?”
“Yes,” Tara sent back. ‘We’ve seen angels, fairies and other elementals, and they’ve told us about unicorns!”
But she did not say this out loud. Instead, she looked at Daddy with her big brown eyes and responded, “Oh!” as if she was surprised. But she really knew that most grownups could not tune into the angel wavelength and did not see them.
A unicorn appears
Tara stuck the picture of the unicorn onto her bedroom wall, and she and Ash-ting gazed at it with delight. Then she told Mummy they were going to the oak tree. “Alright, but stay where I can see you,” Mummy responded.
“Okay,” Tara called back.
She and Ash-ting walked to the end of the garden, through the gate and into the meadow beyond. They sat under the huge oak tree where they often met the fairies and other nature spirits.
“I hope the fairies will come today,” she said impatiently to Ash-ting, and he told her he was sure they would. “Talk about them, Tara. That’s the way to bring them to you.”
Tara’s eyes sparkled. “I love the fairies,” she said excitedly. “I love their bright lights and different colours. And I love the elves and imps and pixies. I wish they were here right now.” She laughed. “Do you think that will bring them?”
Almost immediately she saw the little face of Elveera, one of the elves, peeping out from behind the trunk of the great tree. Her eyes lit up. “Elveeeeeraaa,” she called in delight, pronouncing the name as she had been taught, like the wind in the trees. “Hello.”
The elf stepped out and greeted her with grin, followed by several other elementals, who gathered round them. “Aren’t you at school?”
“No, it’s Saturday.”
“Ah,” responded the elf as if he knew all about school, even though he didn’t.
“We’d love to see a unicorn,” declared Tara.
There was a hush.
“A unicorn,” whispered a very tiny fairy called Silver at last. “I saw one once in the distance. It was so light I had to close my eyes.”
The others nodded.
A bright red poppy fairy added, “We help them sometimes with their work. They are very special.”
Her friend Marigold suggested, “Perhaps Tara could call one. He might come.”
“Okay,” responded Tara.
She leant against the trunk of the ancient tree and half closed her eyes. She could see the grass shimmering in the sunlight, red poppies splashed colour in the middle of the field and she could even hear the little stream swish past.
“Unicorn, please, please will you come,” she murmured.
All at once she saw a mist forming in the beech trees at the other end of the meadow. It became a bright white light that seemed to come nearer. Then out of it stepped a magnificent white horse with a golden horn spiralling from its forehead. A unicorn!
Tara’s eyes widened, and she brought her hand up to shade them from the bright light as she gazed at the unicorn. Ash-ting put his paws over his eyes and peeped through them. The fairies, elves, imps and pixies were all protecting their eyes from the light and staring, too.
The unicorn hardly touched the grass as he crossed the meadow towards them. He was huge, but Tara was not scared for he radiated love and peace.
At last he stood in front of them. He looked kindly at Tara and said, “Hello, Tara. You called me?”
“You know my name,” she gasped.
“We know the name of every child in the world,” he replied. “We love children and help them whenever we can.”
“Really?!” Tara said with amazement.
He looked down at the child, and a shower of shimmering stars flew out of his horn and fell all over her and she felt bright and tingly all over. Then he did the same to each fairy, elf, imp and brownie, and Tara could see them glowing.
Little Silver jumped up and down with excitement. “A unicorn touched me! A unicorn touched me!” she shouted in excitement, her eyes shining.
A ride on the unicorn
Tara stood up and reached a hand out towards the unicorn. He bowed his head down to her, and she looked into his eyes and felt a wonderful feeling of love. Then she touched him and stroked his nose. Marigold the fairy gasped at her daring, but the unicorn was pleased.
“Thank you, Tara,” he said in a gentle voice. “Would you like me to take you for a ride?”
She looked at the unicorn, which was the size of an enormous white horse, yet she felt completely safe.
“Yes, please,” she said. “And can my friends come, too?”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a nervous little imp running to hide behind the tree, while the fairies looked eager and hopeful.
The unicorn nodded his agreement.
Tara picked up Ash-ting. She wasn’t going anywhere without him. She didn’t know how she would get onto the unicorn, but her guardian angel suddenly stepped forward and quickly lifted her onto his back. Ash-ting sat in front of her, his legs out stiffly in front of him for balance.
“Come on up,” Tara called to the elementals, and quickly fairies, imps, elves and brownies scrambled or flew onto the unicorn’s back. Two tiny brownies fluttered onto his head and nestled between his ears. They were all chattering excitedly.
“Where are you taking us?” asked Tara, thinking they might walk to the beech trees at the other end of the meadow, which was out of her mother’s sight.
“To show you the world as I see it,” the unicorn replied.
With that, he rose into the air with them all sitting on his back. Tara was not in the least bit scared. She knew the unicorn would look after her, so she enjoyed the feeling of the wind in her hair and laughed as they flew. Ash-ting gave a meow as he felt his tail waving in the breeze and his fur ruffling up.
Down below they could see their house.
“Look, Ash-ting! There’
s Mum bringing in the washing,” shouted Tara. “It’s a good thing she can’t see us!”
There below was her school and the local shops, and beyond them the church and Daddy’s community garden. It was all spread out like a model beneath them.
Then the unicorn stopped over a house. “Look down there,” he said. “I try to help children, and there’s a very unhappy child there.”
Tara and the elementals all peered down.
Suddenly, Tara exclaimed, “I know him. That’s Kevin Abling from kindergarten. He’s in Jack’s class. Jack’s my little brother,” she said to the unicorn. “He does look miserable. What’s wrong?” she asked.
“His mummy is ill in hospital, and he is frightened that she won’t get better.”
“Will she?” asked Tara.
The unicorn nodded. “Yes, but it will take time. In the meantime, his dad is very worried, and Kevin feels afraid and lost.”
The fairies, other elementals and Ash-ting were looking down at the little boy, and they all looked sad, too.
“Can’t you help him?” asked Tara.
“Watch this,” replied the unicorn.
He sent a big bubble of pure white light down to the child, but it bounced off him.
“You see, he doesn’t believe in me or the angels, and he’s so unhappy, his aura is grey and tight round him. I can’t get through to light him up.”
“Oh, dear,” they all sighed.
Tara hugged her little grey kitten. “I wish there was something we could do to help, Ashting.”
He gave a mournful little meow in response and licked her hand comfortingly.
Mrs. Bright’s plan
“Now,” said the unicorn. “Let me show you something else. I also help people who want to do something for others. We’re looking for people with a bright light over their head.”
They all scanned the village.
Tara shouted, “Look!” and pointed to a light over someone below them.
All the elementals shouted, “Yes, there!” and pointed towards the school playground.
“It’s my teacher, Mrs. Bright,” exclaimed Tara. “Why is she at school on Saturday? She’s just sitting there on that bench doing nothing.” They could see a lovely golden light shining round her class teacher.
The unicorn replied, “She’s thinking. She loves the school and the children, and she wants to help them. She is wondering how she can persuade the school governors to build a swimming pool and how to raise funds for it. She thinks that will help all the children.”
“That would be great!” shouted Tara in delight.
“But they keep rejecting her plans and saying it is impossible because the school can’t afford it,” explained the unicorn.
“Can you help her?” asked Tara.
“Yes, I can help Mrs. Bright make her dream come true. Look!” replied the unicorn.
From his horn he sent a huge white ball of pure white light spinning down towards the teacher. It surrounded her and for a moment she lit up like a light bulb. Then they saw her nod to herself and get up and cross the playground with a determined air.
“You see,” said the unicorn. “She accepted my help, and I have given her the strength and courage to continue fighting for her plan.”
Tara and the elementals cheered with delight.
The unicorn said it was time to take them back to the oak tree. They all groaned and shouted, “No! Not yet!” But he snorted and flicked his mane. “Here we go!”
So they glided down to the big tree and landed gently. There they all jumped, flew or slid off.
“Thank you! Thank you!” they all cried, as the unicorn vanished in a burst of light.
“Wow!” exclaimed little Silver. “Wasn’t that amazing!”
Helping Kevin
Later that evening, Tara and her little grey kitten sat on Tara’s bed. “What can we do to help Kevin?” asked Tara. “He’s one of the smallest children in Jack’s class, and he must feel so sad.”
“He’s very scared, so his aura is all grey and broken,” added Ash-ting sympathetically. “If only he believed in unicorns they could help him.”
“We can’t make him believe,” agreed Tara gloomily.
And then they both looked up and saw the picture of a unicorn that Daddy had drawn for her. They looked at each other. “It might work,” said the kitten. “We should try.”
Tara sighed. “You are right. If he saw the picture he might start to believe.” She sighed again. Ash-ting put his paw on her arm. “I know you don’t want to give it away, but if it helps him…”
“We must try,” agreed Tara bravely. She stood up and took her beautiful special picture down from the wall and rolled it up carefully.
“And let’s ask more healing angels to help his mum,” said Ash-ting. So they did.
Kevin is bullied
Next morning when Mummy took Tara, her sister Mel, and her little brother Jack to school, Tara ran over to Jack’s pre-school with him.
When they arrived, Kevin’s granny was bringing him into the playground. He looked small for his age and so lost and miserable. He was holding tight to his granny’s hand, but she made him let go when she turned to talk to someone.
Then Tara saw something that horrified her. A nasty boy called Rocky from her class deliberately ran past Kevin, bumping into the little boy and knocking him over. “Sorry,” he called laughing.
Kevin went white as a sheet. He had grazed his knees when he fell over, but he didn’t cry; he just looked hopeless.
Suddenly, Tara’s inner tiger was aroused and she was enraged. She went running after the bully, who was bigger than she was. She wanted to attack him, but in her head she could hear Ash-ting calling to her, “Calm, Tara!” Even though Ash-ting was at home, he was psychic and could see her from a distance.
So she paused and took a big breath to calm herself. Then she cornered the bigger boy. “Don’t you dare touch Kevin again,” she shouted.
He saw the fire in her eyes. Normally he would have shrugged or jeered, but the big boy was not going to tangle with a tiger.
“It was an accident,” he blustered.
“No, you knocked him over deliberately,” Tara yelled. “Never do it again.”
The boy shook his head and walked off red-faced. Tara heard Ash-ting call, “Well done, Tara. He won’t touch Kevin again if he thinks he’ll have you to deal with.”
Several mothers and children had seen what had happened and cheered, for the boy had a reputation for being nasty to little ones. Tara smiled and unclenched her hands. Now she would give Kevin the unicorn picture.
Tara ran into the school, pretending she was bringing something for Jack. She looked for Kevin and then she saw him on his own. “I’ve brought you something,” she said.
He looked up at her with big, sad, brown eyes as she gave him the picture. “It’s a unicorn. It’s for you. He wants to help you. Your mum’s going to be alright.” Then she turned and rushed outside.
At the mid-morning break, Kevin was standing by the little fence that divided the big children’s playground from the little ones. She could see he was clutching the rolled-up picture in his hands and hoping to see her. Tara skipped over to him.
“Hello, Kevin,’ she called.
He looked at her with his big eyes and whispered, “Is Mummy really going to be alright?”
Tara nodded.
His face went bright pink and a tear ran down his cheek. Tara said, “Ask the unicorn to help you.”
“Are there really unicorns?” Kevin asked.
“Yes! And angels. They want to help you,” replied Tara.
A light came into Kevin’s eyes and his aura became brighter as he smiled shyly.
“Thank you,” he said, as she ran off.
The first step
When Tara got home from school, she asked her mum if she could go and play under the oak tree. “Just for half an hour,” Mum said. “It’s getting dark and cold so early these days.”
“
Thanks, Mum,” called Tara and ran out of the back door, scooping up Ash-Ting as she went.
Leaning against the oak tree, Tara talked to her kitten about little Kevin and Rocky, the bully. She was so angry with Rocky that she got red in the face and found she was shouting. Two elves and a fairy ran behind the tree in alarm and hid. They did not like her angry energy.
“Tara there is a reason for someone being a bully. Bullies are hurting inside, too,” murmured Ash-ting gently.
But Tara wouldn’t listen. “Rocky’s horrible. I hate him!”
Ash-ting sighed.
Tara then said, “I wish the unicorn would come again.”
“You can’t expect him to come when you are cross. Anger makes your aura dark,” the kitten reminded her.
That made Tara stop and think, so she went quiet for a moment.
Ash-ting took advantage of the pause. “I’ve had an idea that will cheer you up,” he told her.
Tara perked up at once. “Go on. Tell me,” she said, sitting up straight in anticipation. She liked Ash-ting’s plans.
He purred and put a paw on the little girl’s arm. “It’s about the swimming pool. We need to start raising funds, but the pool must be for the whole village not just the school, so the whole community must all take part in the fund raising.”
“Yes,” agreed Tara. “But what can we do? Daddy says we need thousands of pounds.” Her voice rose as she said, “It’s a lot of money!”
“I know,” responded Ash-ting. “And we must start with the first step. We need to create a craze that will bring everyone together.”
When he told her of his plan, she laughed and clapped her hands, “Wow, Ash-ting! That could be fun!”
When she laughed the fairies and elves and pixies and imps felt safe enough to emerge from the tree to greet them. Immediately, they saw a pure white light in the distance.
“The unicorn’s coming,” they all cried in delight.