There was a Blacksmith along as well whom they called William. He rode a big strapping horse that was not much to look at, for it was brown with white and black spots covering its entire body. None the less it got the job done and suited William for what he needed. Along with the horse that was not so flashy, William himself was a rather plain looking fellow. He wore clothes that you would expect from a Blacksmith. For example, his pants were battered and worn like they had been through many a hard days work. They seem to tell the story of how his workday would be, long hours, and hard work. His shirt was much the same. It looked as though it had been worn many times while doing chores that required hard physical labor. Just like the rest of his material possessions it worked well for what he needed it to do. It kept him warm on a cold winter�s day and protected him from the hazards of his job as well. He was a very quiet fellow when it came to being social with people he was not familiar with, and had not known his whole life. He was especially nervous and tongue tied when interacting socially with attractive members of the opposite sex. With all of that said, he seemed to be a fine, hard working, honest man.

A friend of mine was one of the hardest working, most honest, and generous men I have ever known. He was the best Blacksmith in town because of such noble and valuable traits. The people of the town knew him as William the blacksmith. Many of the older people in town, such as myself, remember a time when William was as happy, if not happier, than any man in the land. He seemed be on top of the world, or as high as a blacksmith could actually be on top of the world. He, as most would say, had everything going for him. He had all the people, not only in town, but also in the surrounding area�s, coming to him for their jobs that require a blacksmith. He had a fine lot of land with a crick flowing through the middle of it. The grass was as green as Ireland in the spring, and there were rolling hills as far as the eye could see. In the middle of all of this beautiful land was a splendid home for he and his wife to live in. Things could not have been any better for William at this point in his life. Then came the day when William lost his most prized possession, and things just have not been the same since.

William lay there in bed every night remembering all the wonderful times he had, and what a wonderful life he led before he lost his most prized possession. He would think of the time in his life when he could not wait to get up and face a new day because he felt so blessed by God to be leading such a wonderful and happy life. Now that he has lost his most prized possession in his life he does not even feel the need to get up and face a new day for he knows it will bring nothing but disappointment. His business, that thrived so bountifully before when he was so happy has dwindled down to only a few regular customers that still keep him in business. He does not even take time any more to walk the perimeters of his land to recognize the beauty and life that spring from it. Needless to say things have come to all time low for William ever since the loss of his most prized possession.

As he lay there one night in bed he began to think vividly about the day he lost his most prized possession. As he lay there thinking about days gone by, he began to read a book entitled "The Art of Moving On", by Chet Vaughn Bartles, who was a famous medieval author. As he lay there in bed reading this new book and thinking about days gone by he slowly began to drift off to sleep.

William found himself sitting at the dining table in his home. Directly across from his was a strange man that he had not seen before. Startled and confused, William tried to stand up, but fell on the floor and made a fool of himself in front of this stranger. As he stood up he asked the stranger, Who are you? What are you doing in my house? The stranger replied, My name is chet and I was just passing through the area looking for a place to stay. I did not want to wake you so tried to get into your barn and sleep in there. I had planned to be gone by the time you got up in the morning, but I stumbled over your water pale and it woke you from your sleep. With that William replied, I thought I hit you with a metal bar.

William found himself sitting down with the Chet at his table once again. William began to tell him all about his life and how he was so happy, and how everything was going so well for him when he still had his prized possession. He began telling Chet about how he lost his prized possession and how everything has just gone down hill from there. They had only been sitting there for what seemed like a couple of minutes, but in that time William had managed to tell Chet his whole life story. Chet just sat there listening throughout William�s whole life story, through every little detail that he included. At the end of William�s story, Chet said to William, come with me for you have much to see.

William found himself standing with Chet outside what appeared to be his house, but things looked far different than what he remembered them to be. Chet began to lead him further and further away from the house until the house was out of sight and it was just the two of them standing there. Before William could even open his mouth and ask Chet what was going on, Chet had pointed him in a direction and said look over there, and when William turned back around Chet was gone.

William was by himself, but he was nowhere near anything he recognized or had ever even seen before. He was all alone in the middle of a desert. Rolling hills of nothing but sand surrounded him in every direction. The wind blew hard against his face. The little grains of sand, billions of them, caught in the wind stung his face to the point where it was almost unbearable. The wind would calm down every now and then and he could see nothing but sand and blue sky. The sun was a bright yellow ball of fire just bearing down on his body trying to make him burn up in the desert. He recognized this feeling. It was the feeling he had been experiencing every day since he lost his most prized possession.

William began to walk forward thinking that if he was going to die, then he was going to die trying to get out of this desolate place. He walked for what seemed like hours upon end. Still he could see nothing but rolling hills of sand everywhere around him. His feet began to blister and burn from the heat coming off the sand through his leather boots. The sky was still as blue as when he started walking, and the sun was still directly over his head bearing down on him making him weaker by the second. The wind was still fiercely blowing little grains of sand into his face like a bunch of needles. He walked and walked until he could walk no more, for his feet were nearly raw to the bone from the burning of the sand and his body was beginning to shrivel from a lack of water. He could barely see the rolling hills of sand anymore because of all the sand that had been blowing in his eyes. He could barely even make out what color the sky was because he was so deprived of nutrition.

Just as he fell to his knees and could go no further Chet appeared and pointed in front of him and said look my friend. And there just down in a valley was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was a small creek running through luscious green pasture. A Large willow tree hung over the brook creating as much shade as any man could ever want. A gentle breeze blew through the valley making the branches of the willow tree dance to and fro. A feeling came over William that he had not felt in a long time. It was a feeling he recognized well, one that he had felt before he lost his most prized possession. Feelings of joy, happiness, and satisfaction came over him. He turned around to say something to Chet but he was gone. The only thing he could see was what appeared to be a huge forest with a river flowing through it. The lone willow appeared to be much closer and much more beautiful and refreshing than the huge forest, so he began running as fast as he could toward the valley. As he got closer and closer to the valley it began to fade away. Just as he reached the valley, it had totally turned back into rolling hills of sand. He laid there thinking to himself that he was going to die out in this lonely desolate wasteland. Just then he remembered about the huge forest that appeared to have a river running through it. He turned around and began running as fast as he could toward the huge forest. To his surprise, instead of the forest fading away like the lone willow, it began to be more beautiful and more refreshing than he could ever imagine. The feelings of joy, happiness, and satisfaction, began to come back to him ten fold. Just as he was about to plunge into the crystal clear water of the mighty river that ran through this huge forest, the book that he had been reading just before he went to sleep fell off the bed and woke him up.