Call me crazy; I believe in chance encounters, signs or omens that I’m on the right path…fortune has been very good to me lately.

This particular tale began when I was walking down the beach one Sunday and came across this message in a bottle, washed up on the sand.

‘What are the odds?’ I thought to myself, these are the kind of coincidences that give me goosebumps and a sense of elation for having experienced them, ‘who does this these days?’….It seemed kind of old-fashioned and well, cool.

She was just begging to be taken home and sure enough I indulged, working hard to uncork her secrets.

Alas, my hunt for treasure reached a fork in the road, for it was written in a language not of my tongue.

Chinese!

I will now have to find one sage enough to translate her words.

The desire to play with possibilies ensued and so I whisked myself away on a voyage to see someone special,

A real-life treasure I recently discovered.

To my delight – and his -

We shared sea-salty, sandy, magical adventures together.

Fresh home from travels,

I’ve been working away on a secret that I, like the bottle, am harbouring.

I have very exciting news!  Developments.

Fear not, I will be spilling soon.

‘Til then, til my secret is revealed (I’m working on it!),

‘Til I see my treasure again,

I am happy to look over to that bottle, her message still contained,

Wonder what it has in store,

and be astounded by the mystery of this world and the way it works.

All images taken by Cecilia Gardiner