The Golden Windows

One of my favorite stories for children is a fable called The Golden Windows, which goes something like this: A boy looks out across the valley each morning and sees a house with golden windows (the same phenomenon I often see when I glance across the bay towards Sausalito in the early hours). He longs for a home like it.

Finally one day, the boy decides to cross the valley to see this wonder for himself, and he arrives at the far-away house on the hill just as evening approaches. When he knocks on the door, a girl his age answers. "Excuse me," he says, "I've admired the house with the golden windows for so long; do you think I could have a look?"

"Of course," she replies, "it's right over there; I've long admired it, too." And she points back across the valley, where the setting sun is reflected in the windows of his own house...