Warrior 4 - River

I went and stood by the river. The river was a powerful one. It gushed with a loud roar under the bright autumn sun. I jumped into the deep side of the river. Initially I went under the cool water but the river brought me up again. I coughed with pain. I was ready to die, but the river refused to kill me. Like a mother, it carried me on its waves and carefully deposited me on its bank.

I could not help but laugh at my predicament - I could not even die! I sat on the bank and laughed. Soon the laughter turned into deep sobs. Remorse engulfed me - I cried for my lost brother, my lost castle and most of all, I cried at the lost chance to go into the city behind the hidden door.

I sat and wept there for several hours. Finally, exhausted and spent, I lay down. I must have nodded off because when I awoke, night with its crisp sounds had arrived. Half awake, my attention went to the night sounds. The night, the river and the trees seemed to be saying something to me. I listened intently.

All the sounds merged and murmured, "One."

Quite puzzled by this, I fell asleep again and woke up just before the sun did. Slowly I sat up. I was stiff from the cold. I stretched out - my arms were up in the air and just then the sunlight burst through the air dispelling the night's reign of darkness.

I cannot put into words what happened to me at that moment. The brightness and the warmth of the sun, the merriness of the river, the coolness of the air, the dance of the trees all joined together and invited me to become one of them. I now understood "One" - we were all one.

I was one of them and they were one of me. I was in them and they were in me. I could not exist without them nor could they without me. I closed my eyes and heard everything say, "One ... One ... One."

Slowly I lowered my arms. That one moment had completely rejuvenated me. I got up and turned around to go back to the city. One look at the city far away in the mist was enough to drain some of me. No! I decided, I would not go back to that heartless and dreadful place. I looked back at the river and it smiled at me. I smiled back. Once again I listened to the river. To my great surprise and joy, it invited me along. That was the first friendly thing anybody had said to me since I lost my castle.
Indeed everything was friendly here, the river, the trees, the leaves, the shrubs, the sky, and the clouds. I felt cherished and needed.

I looked at my new friends. The trees wanted me to dreamily sway with them. The leaves wanted me to join their festival of colors. The blue sky wanted me to fly into it. The soft clouds wanted me to put my head on them. The birds wanted me to share their songs. The river wanted me to travel with it.

I took the river's invitation and started following its flow. I would walk along the river bank all day; when hungry, I would eat from the trees; when thirsty, I would drink from the river; when tired, I would sleep on the Earth.

I learnt how to build a fire from twigs. I would start one in the evening and would let it simmer all night. In the morning, I would bathe in the river's waves and let sunshine dry and warm me up. Although, I now felt healthy and quite happy - happier than I had ever been before - not a day would pass without my thoughts going back to the city behind the hidden door. But I knew I did not have enough strength to face the creatures, so I would force myself to think of something else.

Many months passed like this. Slowly winter arrived. With winter came scarce food and weakness. I walked less and less. Even though food was rare, the trees would somehow provide it for me.

One fateful morning I woke up shivering and covered with snow. The trees were slowly going to sleep and wishing me luck. The sun was now distant and cold. Even the river was slowing down. I rubbed myself for warmth and listened to the river. It weakly but urgently urged me to walk with it. I slowly got up and started walking with its flow.

At late afternoon that day, it suddenly became very cold. A strong icy wind started blowing. A blizzard came out of nowhere. Slowly, it became difficult to walk or even see. I went close to the river to listen. To my shock, I realized that it too had given up. I felt completely abandoned. I did not know what to do! I could not imagine living without the river's guiding songs. In desperation, I shouted out to it, but no one answered back.

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