Wonderland. Everyone wondered where I came up with the name of a place I once created. They instantly thought of Alice, in Wonderland. But in reality, in my head it was pronounced as “Wonder Land” because I always wondered, where I would, well, land, I guess.

As a small child, I had the most magical foster family. I had three siblings, an amazing mom and dad who were both high school teachers and a fairy grandmother. And I mean fairy! She was magical.

It was so funny how cute and tiny she was! She had to be about 5’1, and all of 100 lbs. She had short, gray hair and was a God-fearing woman. Every morning she would get up, and take me on a journey walk. We would walk all the way to church. On the way, she would point out every single flower she seen telling me about the flower, the different colors it came in and how to care for it.

When we would arrive at church, I was extremely restless. I had no patience to sit through an entire mass therefore she would take me to the back prayer room where it was lit with magical tall candles. I would see everyone put a dollar in the box and light a candle and at the time, I couldn’t understand why. Just light the damn thing, would you? It had obviously been lit before, why does everyone have to put another dollar in, just to relight a used candle. That was a question that drove me mad, believe it or not, at the age of four.

At church, I would look up at the large stain glassed windows, dreaming of where all of those people were. I had no idea those images were created from years ago, I just knew it was a different land from the one I seen on a daily basis, and I wanted to go there. It looked magical.

My mind had always been extremely creative. I could see magical lands without a TV Screen, picture book or any other reference item.

I was a child, taken from her mother and father, and placed in the foster system. But I had no idea that is where I was. To me, I was just a child, in a house filled with love, kindness, teachings, and freedom.

Every weekend, my foster mother would set up a lemonade stand, outside in our front yard, for us to sell lemonade, candy and other items. My three siblings and I would be outside, and all of the neighborhood kids would come down and get items from us! It was so cool, it was a way apparently for her to teach us to be salespeople. Looking back, I was always the bad one in the group, as I would eat the profits (laughing).

One day, it snowed, heavily. They took cardboard boxes, and we created snow buildings out of them. My older siblings took and stacked up box after box, building an entire building out of them. I stood there, as the snow came down around me, falling on the tip of my nose, looked up at the magical sky and thought to myself, “How in the world, does this stuff just drop like this, from no where. Nothing was above us except endless darkness, where is this stuff coming from.” It was like magic.

We played in that fort for weeks! It was so fun. All of the neighborhood kids came to play with my siblings and everyone built snowmen to act as little soldiers guarding the fort! It was truly magical.

I reflect back on that moment today, as it was one of the fundamental moments that built my creativity into what it is now. I am thankful for that family. They were Godsent. Sent to protect a child, no one wanted, and no one could care for.

To all the other children of the world, like me. I want to take you on a journey of magic! My new illustrated book line, although made with cartoons from AI, is all 100% my creation of words, worlds and descriptive scenes. Unfortunately, I am not an artist, nor a graphic designer. But thankfully with this new invention, I am able to express my creativity for all of you!

Thank you for following, stay tuned for amazing magical journeys!

Raven Sapphire.