It was the only day she was allowed to become human.

To be honest, she always looked forward to that day because it meant endless fun. She became the center of the world for one whole day. All farmers, villagers, and all those that still believe in her came to the Festival, the so-called “The Other Festival” that non-dreamers didn’t know about. 

She would arrange everything from very early in the morning. The stalls with different food, games, and gifts. Then, she added a touch of magic to them. For example, there was a stall called “The hide and seek True Adventure”. Kids loved this one. Even adults! Each time you counted back, you’d open your eyes and be in a different location of the land: in the deepest part of the forest, in a cave, in the green hills of Lammon. Anywhere, really. Then, after a while, they would go back to the festival. These were illusions, after all. But very powerful ones.

Then, after preparing those magical and fun activities for Dreamers, she could finally relax and talk to humans. She would sit with them and just talk and talk, and laugh. She would ask as many questions as she could about their worlds, and their lives. How does it really feel to have a human life? It really looked fun. Yes, maybe humans can be very unreliable, but they are fun. And creative. And adaptable. Their hearts are stronger than they themselves think. And their music is delicious. And their food…smells so well. But she can’t eat their food. It is prohibited.

The night of the Fox on the Spring Equinox. There is a reason why she can be with humans for one night: it is the only time where the Bridge can be crossed between worlds.

She was always very skeptical about this, though. Isn’t it unfair that we can only cross once a year? There must be a way to build Bridges the whole year long.

So when the Sun was setting, she decided to take part in the Hide-and-Seek, her own game, and volunteered to be the one that would be counting, her eyes closed. They were having a lot of fun. Each time she would start counting, all people would find themselves in a new world. An exotic city with long and winding streets, bazaars, and markets. A city of channels and gondolas. A deep forest covered with beautiful lamps. A temple on top of a hill. A lake within a narrow valley surrounded by big mountains. The game was designed so that they would be in no danger by doing this. The worlds were just mirrors of real ones. They could never go too far: there were limits. But it made the whole game more exciting because you never knew where you’d end up. It was also designed so that, after 33 minutes, the game would be over and everybody would be back in the original world.

And it happened that, around the time it was about to be over when she finished counting she opened her golden eyes. And she found herself under a big, weeping willow beside a river. It was raining heavily. 

“The weeping willow” – she whispered.

In front of her, as if she had materialized her words, the rain started to build the form of a little creature and, slowly, that creature became a little girl wearing old and worn-out clothes and a big leaf over her head, acting as an umbrella. She had big, violet eyes. They were reddish, as if she had been crying for a long time. But now she smiled. 

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-Are you looking for a Bridge?

-Uh? Uhm, maybe.

-Yes, Yes! Finally! – she did a little dance raising up and down her umbrella leaf. A rain dance? She had seen this scene somewhere – Finally, a spirit came to ask us to build a bridge! I can’t believe it! I need to tell the others. Oh my…

-I already crossed the Bridge of Equinox. 

-Oh, but this is a totally different bridge. You can have your own bridge. We can build one for you, and you will never have to wait for the Equinox, ever again, to cross into the human world.

-Really? – her golden eyes widened, her heart pumping fast. But then, she remembered – But…If I don’t go back after Sunset to the Festival, I will disappear. And so many good people are waiting for my return. 

-Oh, this is no problem. We build your bridge and you can go back there, now. 

-Really? You can do this, right now?

The girl giggled.

-You’ll be able to stay in the human world as long as you want. You won’t have to go back to the Spirit World before sunrise.

She tried to conceal her excitement. As a fox spirit, she had a lot of pride. But she had been dreaming about this for so long.

-Who are you?

-I am a Bridge Builder.

-You don’t look like one.

-That’s because… we haven’t been building Bridges for too long. We now only build Bridges for children, from time to time. It’s becoming rarer. Very banal times we are living – she sighed – Less and fewer people are fond of bridges. They are more fond of television and video games. And stuff like that. Artificial bridges are everywhere. But real ones… – she sighed again. Her little dance was totally gone by now.

-Take me to the Bridge.

When they reached the bridge, Jana, the Fox Girl, found that a large number of tiny beings were sculpting it, raising it, with hammers, crossbeams, and timbers. They had erected the bridge over the river. On both sides of the bridge, on the north side and on the south side, they were building two statues. They were statues of the Fox Goddess, both in animal form and in human form.

From a human perspective, the construction of that bridge had been done in the blink of an eye. But we have to remember that we are in the spirit world. Here time is not linear. So when Jana saw how fast they were building the bridge, it wasn’t that that surprised her. It was the fact that they were doing it, per se. And the fact that they had included those statues.

-I always wanted my own bridge, but I never imagined what it looked like – she said – But now I know that’s how I wanted it. How did you know that’s the bridge I wanted?

-Well, you said it yourself – said the little girl, giggling – You knew how you wanted it, but you couldn’t imagine it, but we did. Remember? This is what we do.

-Of course.

Jana’s heart was pumping harder and harder. When the bridge was finished, all the builders prostrated themselves before her. She thanked them, blessed them with her Festival silks, and they all left, humming and whistling. All except the girl with the leaf.

-On the other side…is my human life.

-That’s right.

She looked at the girl. In no time, what had been a tiny girl barely two feet tall, was now five feet tall and instead of a leaf, she now carried a red umbrella.

-You’ve grown.

The girl looked at herself in the reflection of the river and a big smile appeared on her lips.

-Oh, of course. The bigger we build the bridges, the bigger we get.

-Can I come back?

She nodded.

-It’s your bridge, now.

Jana bowed her head slightly, caught her breath, and remembered every festival she’d ever participated in. She had participated in hundreds of them. It was lost in the mists of time. But she remembered them all, one by one. And she remembered each of the faces of those humans. Each year is different. Each year flowing, changing, beginning, ending.

She had longed for centuries to feel that flowing in her own flesh, for longer, in freedom.