It came to her when she was a young girl who liked the fairy tales her mother read.
When she explained the visage to her book reader, it was met with the sort of kind rebuttal that any parent would be expected to show under the circumstances. Nevertheless, it was real, and it was the very beginning of a quest that would consume her every waking hour from that time on. It had happened one night, just as she was going off to sleep, that the visage appeared. She was a truly beautiful thing with long, golden hair and silver wings. She told her about the eternal charm that would bestow great happiness and untold wealth on her if she found it. The message she received had been given extra force and significance by virtue of the fact that she who gave it made it quite clear that she, the young girl, was most deserving of it.
Although she was not told what form the charm would take, whether it was a stone, a crystal, a ring, an amulet or a pendent, she had always been convinced that she would know it when the time came. Simply knowing that it was meant for her, knowing that it was always there to find, had made her life-long quest worthwhile.
Now, at the age of ninety-two, having never found it, and knowing that only hours remained, she reflected on the joyful search that had seen her through her time.
There were so many, far less fortunate.