Eight-year-old Bridget has been coming to the June Unicorn Festival since she was five and discovered the valley. She loves the polished, flower-wreathed horns. Bows on tails, painted hooves, races, hoop tosses, feasts, sometimes rides, all enchant her. She pushes away glimmers that this won’t last. Holds onto the magic.

Marilyn McFarlane is a travel writer and the author of Sacred Stories: Wisdom From World Religions. She writes poetry and fiction, likes the challenge of the 50-word form, and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.