“Be brave my child! You have the third eye. All you need to do is look inside of you. The keys to unlock is within you”.
My grandfather's powerful words kept resounding in my head as my heart throbbed. I could no longer see a clear path and I had long lost the direction my grandfather had given to me. I had run out of ribbons to tag the paths and it seemed I was going in circles already.
As the night progressed, the air grew thicker and cold. I had no proper garment to shield myself - I had on just a robe made out of cotton and a leather backpack. I was famished and losing my mind. I didn't expect my journey to be this difficult even though my grandfather had warned me.
“The sacred path couldn't be farther than this” I thought to myself. Alone in the thick forest, I was confused agitated and on the verge of giving up. Then I thought about my grandfather and what a great man he was.
The people called him Lakha - the healer. There was no healing root and herb that he had not explored. Words about his expertise had crossed seas and mountains. He knew how to cure every illness before him. Some claimed his ways were magical because he used herbs and roots never seen before by other healers. So much that I thought they envied him.
Whenever he went into the forest to scout for herbs, he went on for days before returning. He would come home with medicine not native to our people. I grew fond of my grandfather and I was always around him. I wanted to be just as great. He would let me watch him work on the sick as he carefully and skillfully performed his art. Sometimes I would offer to help mix potions. This went on for years until he fell mysteriously ill.
“Who will heal the healer?”
This was the question on the lips of everyone concerned. All the healers far and near with their mastery, potions and expertise were futile in their efforts. That was when I decided to go in search of medicine myself. If I wanted to be just as great, I needed to start now.
The entire community was broken. It was dreadful to think we would lose such an asset. I wasn't half as good as he was. I wiped the well of tears that had formed beneath my eyes.
“Be brave my child! You have the third eye. All you need to do is look within you. The keys to unlock is within you”. Like electric, those words passed through me with a surge. I wanted to keep moving. My heart was willing but my body was weak.
I was miles away from home. I came to a familiar spot and recognized it immediately. I had been tagging my path with ribbons of different colors and this was the very first one I tied at the start of my journey.
“I have been going in circles. There's not even a glimpse of the secret path Lakha had described. He said the goodness in my heart would lead me there - the best part of the forest with the best of everything. What did that even mean?"
I coiled up beneath a tall withered tree with its roots barely holding up. It looked very strange. While all other trees around it looked nourished and evergreen, it looked like it was dying. I brought out the last remaining bottle of water from my backpack. I was going to gulp it down but I felt the need to water the roots of the tree.
“Am I being foolish or what? The tree was already gone. What would a few drops of water do to revive it?” I thought to myself as I emptied the bottle on the roots of the tree.
I got up ready to trace my way back home feeling defeated by the forest. I had failed my grandfather and perhaps the entire community. Dragging my feet with my shoulders to the ground, I started to hear whispers and hushed echoes.
“I thought she'd never make it”
“It had to take her forever”
“Is she deserving of this precious gift?”
The whispers became clearer. It was a conversation with more people joining in or so I thought. I turned to see no living being anywhere close. My heart throbbed.
“Who is there?” I yelled.
Laughter of all kinds filled the air. The trees started to shake and tremble. Their leaves rumbled all around creating bellows. I must have fallen and gotten up a hundred times as the earth quaked. I could see the withering tree come back to life right before my eyes. In the midst of the chaos, it's roots had deepend and gotten stronger. It's leaves sprouted with the twinkle of an eye and it became the biggest tree within the patch.
In a second, my head felt woozy. Everywhere was transforming. I could see bright lights from above and everything around me. The leaves on the trees had become golden and emanated luminous glow. The soil beneath my feet had become white dust. It felt so tender. The air grew warm and sweet-smelling. Instantly I felt safe. Safer then ever before.
I was in a utopian place that felt like a heaven. The rumbling and bellowing slowed to a halt. This magnificence I was standing in had stretched the entire forest. It was like a city of blazing ethereal trees. Even the sky rained gold dust.
The biggest tree shook as if stretching its stems and branches. “Oh young human! We had grown weary waiting for you to find your way. I was almost falling apart. Thank you for watering me back to life. You have embarked on a great task to follow in the footsteps of Lakha. He was cherished and loved by all of us”. The tree spoke to me. All my insides churned in astonishment.
“You can talk? What are you and what is this place? Am I in a dream?” I sounded so small as my voice echoed.
“Oh hush! You sons and daughters of Adam with so shallow thoughts. Always thinking you are alone here and own this world. We, other creatures of the earth exist too with as much rights as you all. You take and take and do as you please, you insatiable beings”. A voice from behind me spoke with a hint of disgust. It was another smaller tree. Its leaves and branches had begun fluttering.
“Let her be Dana. She is one of the few. Lakha’s successor! She would go in his ways and groom her kind with the goodness of her heart.” the biggest tree cupped me with its leaves and elevated me to its crown.
“You see, we've always been here never hiding from your kind. But they started to take from us more than we could give. Man wants the finest of homes, furniture, industries, and what have you. All at our detriment.
“We had to do something to protect our kind. We've become endangered but yet still compassionate. We only let in those who deserve our best and want to use us for the greater good. Lakha was one of the best. You may not get back in time to save him but you can take all that you want right now to save the rest of your kind. As long as you remain pure and true, our doors will always be open to you”.