Previously: We are back with our three original travellers, continuing their search for treasure. After three days, their goal beckons; they know not what it is, and yet they can sense that the enigmatic Mike, whom they have recently met, knows a lot more about it than he is giving away.

The three friends have come to many realisations on their journey. One of the most poignant comes in the recounting of the story of a child, who tells us that there is indeed a way to find good in everyone.
When we last left them, Mike has just posed the question as to whether or not it is possible to find paradise on earth…

“I feel that if there is a paradise on earth, then we are getting a small taste of it on this journey,” said Nunco.
“And I walked in its light and radiance while my daughter Sophie was alive,” mused Electra, “Though now, I have to say, those memories are still so clear, so vivid and so alive that I feel I am still often wrapped within a shimmering brightness, one that can so often lift the veil on my darkest feelings”

As the evening drew in to a close, the waning rays of the setting sun danced across the sky, edging the advancing clouds with sharp red hues as an aircraft crossed in the dimming light.

Meeting the souls aboard the aircraft in his thoughts, Nunco voiced his feelings out aloud: “Before there was ever an aircraft, like that one up there, someone had a thought, a belief that flying was possible!”

“Mike, do you have any understanding or way of helping people who have really lost it?” asked Preteritus, looking at his friend with mock concern. “Nunco is having one of his ‘thoughts become things’ moments again, and I seriously getting worried about him. Next he will start telling us that ‘what we think about the most is most likely to come to pass’, then we know we have some real issues!”

“But what if he has a point?” asked Prostremo.
“Not you as well! We really are in trouble now!” replied Preteritus.
“Go on,” encouraged Electra. “I can see something in your eyes. It’s as though I am starting to get a glimpse again of what I first saw when I met you.”

“Well, you know the way I was always rushing headlong into things?” asked Prostremo rhetorically, with that far-away trance-like look in his eyes. “I think I’ve just realised how I was actually setting myself up for failure. I was so focused on planning that I often forgot what it was that I was setting out to do, and what was far worse I never stopped to enjoy the journey.

“And that meant that I was rushing straight past all of the lessons that life was offering me on the path. I never realised the value of all the happenings in my life, I was rushing helter-skelter though things with no real sense of purpose.

“In fact. I actually feel I have more purpose right here, with you guys, because exactly as Nunco says it, I am actually stopping long enough to taste the journey itself, to savour the richness of the surroundings. And yes, I do remember that thought, the one that led us here, and I can see exactly where Nunco is coming from!”

Prostremo stopped, a tear glistening in his eye, stunned by his own realisation. All around, unseen by all except the most vigilant eye, the birds sang their various chirpy songs, the language of nature in its purest melodies.

The embers of the dying campfire winked in harmony with the setting sun as Preteritus got up, shivered from head to toe and said, completely out of the blue: “So I wonder when the guy flying that aircraft decided he wanted to be a pilot and ferry people across the skies as a way to fulfil his dreams.”

“All conscious actions start as thoughts,” agreed Mike. “Deep within our subconscious we are connected to everything – to our surroundings, the sounds, the smells, the sights, even the tastes within our mouths as we feel our way through this universe, unseen by many whose lives we affect.”

“I guess the secret is not to live in the past, but to learn from the past,” said Preteritus in a somewhat self-deprecating tone.
“So then why the tone of voice?” asked Mike.

“I get it!” exclaimed Preteritus. “Maybe this is my first lesson, and there’s actually no point in my beating myself up over my distorted view of reality. I suppose it’s not that the past is necessarily going to definitely repeat on itself, or that I should ignore it either. But in order to learn from the past, we need acceptance of what was and who we are now.”

“Everything that was has created the circumstances for everything that is, and when we look at now and combine that with our thoughts, we can choose to do the things that will help shape our future,” said Prostremo, “which means we not only learn from the past, but from living in the present we also learn by doing.”

“So, given where you feel you are right now,” said Mike, “do feel any closer to understanding what you may be looking for as you seek the treasure?”

“It reminds me of the story of the cow who drank the moon,” said Preteritus.
“That’s certainly not one I’ve ever heard before!” Prostremo responded, looking at his friend quizzically.

“We’ve already heard Nunco telling us about how cows always look for greener grass beyond own field, and how he relates that back to us humans,” said Preteritus. “Well anyway, there once was a cow in a field with a river running through it, and a fence separating it from a roadway. The cow was watching the rest of the herd sticking their heads through the fence to pick up a few morsels from the side of the road.

“Not content with just living in the field, even if it was full of luscious grass, this cow believed there had to be more to life, and every night, she used to gaze up at the moon in the sky and wish she was there. She would dream of frolicking through unbelievable landscapes, surrounded by the bovine equivalent of singing, dancing and merriment.

“How she longed for a life that was more than being milked twice a day and roaming round her organically fertilised field, listening to all the other cows moan about how the grass was always greener on the other side of the fence. This cow had dreams; she knew she could be more in life, she had potential – and what’s more, she really believed in the idea that one is capable of far, far more than one ever thought possible.

“So one day the cows went into a new field, which had a small lake at the end of it. When night fell, the sky was clear and the moon was shining as bright as ever before.” Preteritus paused for effect, as he could see that the others were starting to see where the story was leading.

He continued: “As you seem to be guessing correctly, yes she did indeed notice the lake at the end of the field and she did indeed see the moon’s reflection shimmering on its surface. With a sense of growing excitement and indeed belief that she could finally realise her dream, the cow gambolled over to the lake. Seeing the moon reflected in the lake, finally having come down to her level, she took a deep draught of the water, with her nose buried right in the centre of the reflection. But anxious to get even closer, the cow overstretched herself, lost her footing and plunged head-first through the shattered image into the lake, where she drowned.”

 

“I guess there is a moral to the story?” asked Electra.
“Oh yes, the moral of the story is…”

To be continued next week

peter@3r.ie