I remember well the day one of my best friends went missing. The officer came to my house to break the sad news. "Are you Rusty?"

"Yes."

"I'm afraid one of your best friends has gone missing."

"Amazing. I was just thinking that."

He said that he needed my help and the help of my little sister, Cinnamon. We both nodded our heads enthusiastically, eager for the challenge. We grabbed all the gear we thought we would need, and then threw in our swords and staves - just in case.

The officer took us to the mysterious sagebrush wilderness that was just a hundred yards from our house. "There you go," he said, pointing into the dark and tangled mess. "He is somewhere in there... I think."

"No problem officer, this is nothing that Master Thor and his sister can't handle," I said raising my staff and working myself into a fit of wizarding power.

"Are you ready?" I asked Cin through the sheen of magical power surrounding my body.

She nodded, her eyes focusing to beady points of pure concentration as she raised her sword, "Let's do this."

Just as we gazed into the depths of the unknown our spell was broken by a call from our mother, "Come and eat!" The sagebrush forest faded from view, and concern for our imaginary friend would have to be put on hold, albeit temporarily, until tomorrow afternoon.

"Mmm - I'm starving," I said as we walked back through the desert-y landscape to our house - our *real* house this time.

Opal Dream

Starring: Sapphire Boyce, Christian Byers, Vince Colosimo and Jacqueline McKenzie.

Rated PG for mild thematic elements, language and some violence.

2006, Drama.

Kellyanne, the young daughter of an Australian opal miner, becomes sick when her imaginary friends, Pobby and Dingan, go missing. Her brother, recognizing the true cause of her sickness, tries to raise awareness of what is happening by putting up posters around town. As the community begins to divides itself, things finally come to head when an adjacent opal miner takes Kellyanne's father to court.

I enjoyed this movie especially because it reminded me of my own childhood, except for that going to court part. But don't let that keep you from watching it - it contains a great message of learning when to believe someone. A truly heart warming film for the entire family. Plus, who couldn't do with a little more faith in things that make you happy?

You can learn more about Opal Dream at IMDB and Wikipedia.

(This is a revised version of a post which was originally published on whitehole.net/cinblog on April 2nd, 2008.)