Finally, dawn breaks. She reluctantly and stiffly gets out of bed. She may have gotten another hour of sleep, just enough to start dreaming. She sighs if only she could sleep longer without pain. The dreams would tell her so much more.

Dressing today in her white skirts and white peasant blouse, with her flowing blonde hair, she looks like an angel in the sunbeams of the morning light.

She hears a knock at her door. Not bothering to put on shoes, she answers and is surprised to see the festival silversmith standing there smiling, with his deep dimples, with whiskey-colored eyes, holding a basket and a pot of coffee, just waiting to be invited inside. The demons may have had her company in the night, but it looks like her day promises to be much brighter.

“I saw you stirring and I thought you might like to share my breakfast with me”, he tells her. “I noticed your lights on very early this morning, troubles?”, as he places the coffee pot and basket on her small table. “Insomnia”, she says “and the summer is coming to a close, so the seasonal change affects me.” She places two coffee cups on the table and gestures for him to sit.

In the basket, she is relieved to see a variety of fruit. Grapes, oranges and strawberries.  No pastries. Another secret villain in her life-grains. Is this man psychic too? “I hope you don’t mind just fruit”, he says, “but I’m celiac and I need to be careful.” She smiles, “Welcome, to my world, this is perfect.” Finally, someone who understands. They enjoyed a breakfast together and she learned they had a lot in common, birthdays only days apart, similar meditation practices, and beliefs.  He was an interesting man and their conversation was easy and relaxing. It put her demons out of mind.

She has seen him at other festivals and for the whole summer she and he have exchanged pleasantries, but this is the first time he has approached her personally. It’s nice to have someone take an interest.  Especially a handsome man, but he is much younger than she and wonders why he is interested. She likes his gentle demeanor, his kind eyes, dark curly hair, and his appearance, in general, is extremely alluring. “If only he wasn’t so young”, she thinks, as she cleans up the breakfast plates, he joins in and cleans the table. This is another pleasant surprise.

It’s time to go to the fairgrounds and he waits while she gathers her satchel, she locks up and they leave together. This too is a very nice change, she gets butterflies, if only he weren’t so young.

*Celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy), sometimes called sprue or celiac, is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. Another Invisible Illness. Read More