The Trouble with Polly Brown Read Online Free PDF Page A

suddenly felt the warm, soft sand beneath her feet as she raced as hard as she could after her dear young friend Aazi. She could hear him burst into fits of laughter as he then playfully pulled her to the ground, taking the wind out of her sails as she fell backward onto the silky smooth sand, which very quickly had her struggling to regain her breath. Aazi then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
    But it was not over, for as Polly let out a small gasp, she suddenly felt the sweet, warm breath of her beloved brother Thomas brush across her face as though he were playfully kissing her on the cheek. “Thomas, is that really you?” she joyfully whispered.
    â€œWho else could it be?” he mischievously replied as he then excitedly produced another painting that he had been hiding behind his back. “You haven’t been to this place yet,” he animatedly informed her as he waved the freshly painted picture in front of her face. “It is so utterly breathtaking that I was left with no choice but to paint it for you, my dear sister,” he beamed. Then another huge smile lit up his face further as, still pointing at his picture, he showed her a cool and sparkling brook meandering its way through a lush and fertile valley.
    As Polly stared at his painting feeling awestruck by its beauty, she considered that the scene looked so strangely real that it might well jump right out from the canvas.
    â€œBut I must go now, for not a moment passes that does not have me feeling the urge to get out my brush and palette to start another painting. Oh, Polly, can you believe it? I have seen so much incredible beauty here in Piadora that I feel utterly compelled to continue painting forever and ever if necessary. And what’s more, I have the distinct feeling that even if I were to be granted a further million years to paint all I have so far seen, it would be nothing but a mere drop in the ocean. Therefore it would in no way be long enough,” he said with a lighthearted laugh as he planted another warm kiss on her cheek before giving her a spontaneous but much needed hug.
    â€œMy dear sister, please know that I love you so very, very much, and every time my paint brush touches the canvas, I paint for you,” he said as he tenderly took hold of her hand to give it one final and very tight brotherly squeeze before vanishing into thin air.
    As Polly continued to lie motionless in her bed while being utterly mesmerized by the moment, she became aware of a couple of cold, wet tears trickling unchecked down her face, but as she did not wish to move a muscle, she declined to brush them away, preferring to allow them to continue merrily strolling down her cheeks before disappearing beneath her chin to then disperse.
    No sooner had Thomas disappeared than she found herself overwhelmed by the deliciously hazy aroma of jasmine and sweet honeysuckle, which had her immediately believing she was back in one of Piadora’s many indescribably delightful gardens. Moments later she found herself sitting under the shade of a magnificently majestic Hoolie Koolie tree, momentarily lost in the sweetest, inescapable communion with her close friend Hodgekiss. More puzzling still was that every unspoken communication between them found Polly experiencing the keenest, deepest sense of unimaginable joy that pervaded every cell and corpuscle within her body and so had every hair follicle on the surface of her skin standing to attention.
    Polly lay in the bed completely motionless, for she feared if she moved a muscle or had even the slightest nervous twitch, all these new and intensely profound feelings would instantly leave, never to return. She therefore prayed with all her heart and might that this utterly intoxicating, heavenly experience would continue to abide as long as possible, if not forever.
    Eventually she took another deep gasp as she made her way up some wide steps and opened the huge but now very familiar door