A Dream Come Truth
Image generated by author using Bing Image Creator
Patrick’s Parables
There once was a woman who had never seen the ocean. As a little girl, she gazed out of her cottage in the forest and wondered what a world of water looked like.
“What does that much water look like, Mother?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen it either, but your father has. Go ask him.” So, the little girl ran to her father, who was chopping firewood on the side of the house.
“Father, what does the ocean look like?”
“It looks like nothing,” he said. “You can stand on a boat and as far you can see, there is nothing. Just what carries you.”
“But isn’t their water?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“Then how can there be nothing?”
“One day, you’ll see and then you’ll understand,” he said excitingly as he began to chop. The girl never forgot her father’s words even after she was married with children of her own. Soon, those children were grown and had children of their own. So, the woman decided it was time.
She packed a small shoulder bag with food and water and began to walk. She walked forever. She walked until her feet tried to leave and retire, but she pressed on. Day after day, week after week, she pressed on until suddenly she heard it.
It sounded like a thousand birds flapping their wings in a furry. She had heard birds before in the forest, so she thought nothing of it and continued. As she walked, the birds became louder, the grass subsided, and the dirt turned tan and soft.
Finally, after many years of walking and searching, she found what she had been looking for.
“Oh” she said. Then, she turned around and walked home.