short story – SOUL WARRIOR

HEAVEN & HELL ARE INSIDE YOU (The waterfall of Truth)

There once was a girl with long green hair. She liked to travel, sometimes by foot, and sometimes with her heart and mind. In her journeys, she connected to her inner world and wise beings who shared their knowledge with her; this helped her to discover herself. This story is about one of those journeys.

The girl with the green hair never saw her true reflection. Every time she tried to see it, the image looking back at her was always blurry or distorted. So, she grew up being unaware of how her Soul looks like; and this made her want to hide from the world at times. Until, one day, when everything changed.

She heard that in the South, there was a magical waterfall that helped people see their essence. So, she packed a few things and went to find it. The girl walked and walked, over plains and hills; until one day, she reached a forest. She walked through that forest for quite a while until she saw a waterfall. Next to it was an old lady who was sewing, using silvery threads like the Moon rays.

“Hello. Is this the waterfall that shows people their true essence?”

“Hello, my dear”, said the old lady smiling. Yes, it is, I’m its keeper.”

“Why does the waterfall need a keeper?”

“The waterfall doesn’t need a keeper. It’s the people who come to see it who need some guidance. Are you ready for your journey?”

“Yes, I’m ready,” said the girl.

“Ok, then, follow me. We will walk behind the waterfall.”

The old lady got up and started walking towards the waterfall. The water was falling furiously, forming a noisy but mesmerising curtain. The girl with the green hair followed the old lady behind the waterfall and she saw an entrance leading to a cave. They stepped into the cave. It was dark in there, and the girl got scared. She heard a noise, and suddenly the cave was lit; the old lady was holding an oil lamp.

“I will be with you every step of the way, so don’t be scared,” said the old woman. “No matter what happens, allow yourself to feel whatever comes up for you.”

“Ok, I will.”

They both started to walk on a path and after a few minutes, they reached a cave chamber. The old lady walked in first and sat down against a wall. The girl with the green hair walked in too; she felt a chill down her spine. When she reached the middle of the chamber, she stopped. It was then that she started to hear the voices. They were low at first, but getting louder and louder, and saying the same things over and over again: That person is better than you! You are so weird! Why would anyone love you? You are fat! You will fall, no matter how much you try! You are not pretty enough! You can’t do anything right! It’s not good enough, try harder! Why can’t you be like everyone else? You don’t deserve to be loved! You are stupid!

The girl with the green hair felt overwhelmed. She stood there for a while unable to move; then she fell on her knees and started crying. Every single sentence was like a knife that was piercing her heart. At one point, she felt tired; it was then that she felt a hand on her right shoulder.

“It’s enough, let’s leave this place!” said the old lady and helped the girl get up.

The girl wiped the tears off her face; she felt weak, and her head was hurting. They both started to walk again in silence on another path until they reached another cave chamber. The girl with the green hair stopped and wearily looked at the old lady as if she didn’t want to go in.

“The first chamber was the hardest part. You are much stronger than you think, and I’ll be here if you need me” said the old lady smiling.

The girl with the green hair took a deep breath and they both walked into the second chamber. The old lady sat again next to a wall and the girl walked to the middle of the cave chamber; but she couldn’t hear any voices there. The old lady signalled her to sit. The girl sat down on the ground, then closed her eyes; she could still hear the voices from the first chamber in her head, and it made her shudder.

“Silence your mind, that is the only way you can hear the voices in here,” said the old lady.

The girl tried to do that but found it extremely hard; those voices in her head were loud, and she felt overwhelmed again. She then heard a soft voice whispering “You can do this!” This made her feel better, and at that moment, the loud voices in her mind started to become softer until they disappeared one by one. She started to hear other voices, this time nicer and happier ones: You are better than you think you are! You are unique! You are innovative and very clever! You deserve to love and be loved! You might fail, so try again, until you succeed! You are very resilient! Why would you want to be like everyone else? You are prettier than you think you are! We love you!

Hearing these voices made her feel surrounded with love like someone was hugging her. She felt like every affirmation was now soothing her broken heart, and she started smiling. The girl stood there for quite a while until she felt that it was time to go. She got up, looked at the old lady and smiled. They both started to walk until they got out of the cave and the waterfall. The old lady sat down in the same place where she was when the girl came and started sewing again.

“Come, sit next to me,” said the old lady to the girl. “How are you feeling?”

The girl sat down next to the old lady.

“Tired, but good. Those voices, they are all inside me, aren’t they?” asked the girl.

“Yes, they are, those were your Hell and your Heaven. Humans believe that they are places where we go after we die, but that is not true. They are both inside us, and they can either put us down or lift us.”

“I felt that. In my Hell I felt frozen, defeated, and that there was no way out of the pain. In my Heaven I felt surrounded by so much love. Those parts of myself have been hiding there for a long time. I didn’t even know they were there.”

“They were waiting for you to bring them out of the dark and into the light. When you do that, you will start to see how your Soul looks like.”

“Thank you for your guidance!” said the girl with the green hair and smiled.

“You are welcome, my dear! If you ever want to talk to me again, you know where to find me. Here, this is for you.”

The old lady gave her a beautiful bracelet with a heart on it, made from the silvery Moon thread. The girl took the bracelet and put it on her left hand. She then hugged and said goodbye to the old lady. As she was about to leave, the girl with the green hair caught a glance of her reflection in the water. For the first time in her life, the image looking back at her was clear, and she caught a glimpse of her Soul; it was so beautiful…

( Yin & Yang photo taken by me)

HURT PEOPLE ARE LIKE ROSES

The girl with the green hair struggled to understand the “ugliness” in humans. She knew there was beauty in them too, as she saw it many times and that gave her hope. But mostly, she saw that “ugliness” and it brought with it pain and anger.

It was a beautiful cloudy day, and the girl decided to go to the park with a rose garden. When she got there, she saw a beautiful red rose and started smelling it, holding it gently between her palms. She loved roses. Every time she inhaled their mesmerising scent, it felt like she was taking in their essence. She wished people were as beautiful. The girl laid down in the grass next to the rose bush, closed her eyes and started to listen to the bird songs.

“Hello”, she heard at one point. The voice was soft and friendly. She opened her eyes but couldn’t see anyone around her.

“I’m here look to your right,” said the voice. The girl looked to her right, but she could only see the rose bush. She then got up and looked at the roses. She saw the beautiful red rose that she smelled, moving around even though there was no breeze outside.

“Hello,” said the rose cheerfully. “Did you like my scent?”

“Hi,” replied the girl. “Yes, your scent is beautiful! I wish humans were as beautiful as you.”

“Thank you. Well, humans and roses are more similar than you think”.

“Really?”

“Yes, you seem surprised.”

“I am, humans are not always beautiful. They can be ugly and hurt others sometimes.”

“I can hurt you too if you hold me by my thorns,” said the rose. “It’s all about how you hold me; same with people. Imagine that the thorns on my stem are the result of the pain that you experienced in your life; and that the place that holds your heart is in the yellow centre of my flower. If your heart broke, now it will be hiding. Maybe it wants to heal, love and trust others again, but it feels that the price to pay is too high. So, every time someone gets close to it, the thorns protect it from the possibility of getting hurt again.”

“That is beautiful,” said the girl with tears in her eyes. “I never thought about things like that before. How can someone heal a broken heart?”

“The best way to heal a broken heart is to hold it gently like it is the most precious gift in the world; just as you held me when you smelled my perfume, with a lot of love and respect. The broken heart will start to open itself slowly and will heal in time. But, to heal someone’s broken heart, you first must heal your own.”

The girl had tears coming down her cheeks. She thought about the times in her life when she was like a rose and hurt the people she loved with her thorns. She also remembered the times other people’s thorns hurt her, but she couldn’t walk away from them. The girl finally understood that instead of focusing on her thorns and heal herself, she focused on other people’s and tried to heal them.

“Thank you, rose!”

“You’re welcome. I hope you will come and see me again.”

The girl got close to the rose, put her hands gently around it like she did before, and gave it a soft kiss on its petals. She felt the warm sun on her skin. A leaf fell on her face, and she opened her eyes. She looked at the red rose to her right and smiled. She now knew that the “ugliness” in humans is not at all what she thought it was, and she decided to learn how to turn it into beauty again.

(Rose photo taken by me)

Note: This story is not about abusive relationships, where the hope is that the person who abuses you will change and stop hurting you, if you accept them as they are. They will not change just because you want them to, no matter how much you try, hope and maybe even blame yourself because they are like this; the decision to change must start from them. Learn to love and put yourself first; you deserve to be treated with love and respect.

NOT EVERYONE CAN TALK TO TREES

She loved trees. One of her best friends was a tall maple tree from the forest close to her house. They first met when the girl was little, one day when she was picking up mushrooms in the forest with her mum. She was chasing a squirrel and got lost; the tree kept her company with one of his magical stories until her mum found her. Since then, their friendship grew stronger every day.

The tree was a great storyteller; the girl used to listen to his stories with such delight that sometimes she didn’t want to go home. She dreamed of being a tree and spending the rest of her life in the forest with her friend because it was there that she felt most free and alive.

“I don’t like being a human,” said the girl to the tree one day as she was lying in the grass, admiring his beautiful tall branches. “I wish I was a tree just like you.”

“Do you? What do you think it’s so great about being a tree?”

“Well, you get to spend all your time in this beautiful and peaceful place. You can just be you, and no one is trying to change you into something that you are not. Nothing can hurt you here.”

“Yes, I get to live in this beautiful place, but it doesn’t mean that nothing can hurt me. There are many things that you don’t know yet, my dear. What I want you to know right now, is that you are more like me than you think.”

“Really?” screamed the girl happily.

“Yes” chuckled the tree. “A long time ago, I was a young sapling starting its journey through life like you are now. My trunk was more like a twig at that time, and my roots were very thin and fragile. There were many times when I thought I might not make it, especially when storms came about. But I learned to see them for what they truly were: they might cause destruction, but they also bring growth. The water from the rain helped my roots become stronger; my trunk became solid in time, and my branches grew taller. The wind carried my seeds for miles and miles away, and it’s like this that other trees can grow, in places they didn’t think was possible.”

The girl looked lost in her thoughts. “I can’t imagine you ever being a fragile sapling.”

“I was such a long time ago, that it almost feels like a dream.”

“So, how is that connected with me being like you?”

“Well, throughout your life, there might be times when you’ll have to deal with storms too, and those moments can feel overwhelming. You might feel angry or sad when that happens, but don’t let the storms break you or define you. Just like me, hang in there and pick yourself up when you are ready, again and again. Find out what you can learn from them and move forward. Once you learn to weather the storms, you will begin to stand tall, to be proud of what you have overcome and who you have become. Remember that the only thing you can control in life is how you react to things.”

“That sound a bit scary but feels nice at the same time,” said the girl smiling and she gave the tree a hug.

“That’s good.”

Years went by, and the girl grew up. One day after saying goodbye to her friend, she moved to another world, far away. The storms came and went in the girl’s life; the tree’s words stayed with her and gave her strength to go on every time. The girl became stronger and discovered herself through the storms, just as her friend told her. Quite a few more years have passed, and one day her maple tree friend came to her mind a lot; so, she decided to go back home and visit him, to thank him for the advice that helped her weather the storms.

When she got to the forest, all she could find left of him were his roots and a big chunk of his lower trunk. The girl felt that her heart broke into a million pieces. She fell to the ground and started crying while resting her head on the tree stump. As she traced the rings of the tree stump with her fingers, she wondered how humans could be so cruel. She then realised that not all people could still talk to trees because they forgot how to speak the heart’s language. If only they knew that if they silenced their minds and opened their hearts, they might be able to remember again and find the guidance that they seek, in nature.

(Tree photo taken by me @ Shropshire 2015)

DANCING WITH THE DEVIL

The girl with the green hair loved music, for it had the power to connect humans with their deepest emotions and heal their Souls. There was magic in the sounds and rhythms created by humans, and she experienced their healing effect many times. She felt the music with every cell in her body, and this made her feel free.

There was a gentle mist in the air that day, and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. The girl was walking along a river, lost in her thoughts; there was a heavy feeling surrounding her today. Suddenly she heard music in the distance; someone was playing the violin. Mesmerised by the sound, she started to walk towards the music as if something was pulling her there.

She saw a woman playing the violin. She was young, had long white hair and green eyes; her beauty was angelic. The woman smiled at the girl. There was something quite familiar about that woman and the song she was playing, and the girl stood there spellbound.

“Would you like to dance?” said a soft voice that pulled her out of the music spell. She turned her head to the left and saw a very handsome man standing next to her. He had wavy dark hair and blue eyes that pierced her soul; his voice soothed her a lot. She wanted to say no at first, but she realised that there was something quite familiar and comfortable about him too, so she said yes. He took her hand and gently pulled her towards him; they started to dance quite close. Their bodies seemed to move in the same rhythm effortlessly.

“Do I know you? You seem familiar”, said the girl.

“I think you know me very well by now,” he said and smiled; then looked deeply into her eyes.

The girl felt a sudden chill through her body and at that moment, she realised who he was. She smiled, leaned her head on his chest and continued to dance.

“You are not afraid of me anymore.”

“No, I’m not. I know now that you don’t want to hurt me.”

“I never wanted to hurt you. I’m not here to destroy you, I’m only here to make you stronger. I never made you do anything that you didn’t want to, you were just not strong enough to say no. I’m part of you, and you needed me to help you grow.”

“I know. I wouldn’t change anything that happened in my life.”

“Good. You wanted to see what it’s like to be human and I’m part of that. There is no light without dark; they are two sides of the same coin. You might find it hard to accept that you are not only good. You also have the power to kill, lie, cheat, manipulate and destroy; both these sides are deep inside of you. In the end, it’s your choice if you use any of them to hurt others, nobody else’s.”

“I do find it hard to accept that, I want to be perfect and pure like an Angel!” said the girl.

“But you are an Angel, it’s just that you are also a Devil at the same time.”

The girl looked into his eyes and smiled, then whispered in his ear “Thank you for helping me become stronger.”

He smiled back at her and kissed her softly on her forehead. “With awareness, comes responsibility. Remember that nobody can put you down unless you let them. And if you put others down, you are responsible for your choices.”

The music stopped at that moment, and he gently let go of her waist.

“We have to go now, take care of yourself,” he said.

“We?”

He turned his head to the angelic woman playing the violin; she smiled at him, nodded, and looked up towards the sky.

The girl with the green hair looked up too; the sun was now out and shining brightly. She closed her eyes and let the sun caress her face. When she opened her eyes and looked down again, they were both gone. As the girl stood there, two long feathers, one white and one black, glided through the air and landed at her feet. She picked them up, smiled and started to walk.

(Smoke photo taken by me)

THE CHILD WITH THE PURPLE SKIN

It all happened one time when the girl was travelling to the south, to a place far far away. One day she came across a big and thick forest. The girl felt a bit scared to go into the forest, but something stronger than her fear was calling her. She decided to walk on the footpath that laid before her.

She walked for quite a while, taking in all the mysterious sounds and smells around her. There was a sense of familiarity about this place, and the girl felt how her fear gave way slowly to curiosity. She started to wonder what she was looking for there and at that moment, she heard someone crying in the distance. With every step that she took, the cry was getting louder. She then saw a child sitting down in the grass next to a river, with the head resting on the hands and knees.

“Hi”, said the girl with the green hair.

The child stopped crying and turned to see where that voice was coming from. That’s when the girl noticed something quite amazing, the child had purple skin.

“Don’t look at me, I’m hideous!” screamed the child and turned around while covering the face with the arms.

“I don’t think you’re hideous.”

“You don’t?”

“No, I don’t. I think your purple skin is beautiful.”

The child looked deeply into her eyes for a few moments as if to find out if the girl was being true to her word. She noticed the child had the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

“I’ve never met anyone who thought that my skin is beautiful”.

At that moment, the girl saw a spark of life in those big brown eyes, and she gave the child a big smile.

“Well, you have now. What are you doing here by yourself? Where are your parents?”

“I don’t have anyone, I left home. Nobody liked my purple skin. They were embarrassed to be seen with me. They wanted me to be like everyone else. I tried blending in, I even tried different ways of covering and changing my skin colour, but nothing worked. So, I decided to leave.”

The girl felt angry.

“There is nothing wrong with you. You are different, but beautiful the way you are! The problem is that people are afraid of the things they don’t understand.”

The child looked at her. Tears started rolling down the cheeks and suddenly jumped into her arms. The girl kissed the child’s head gently and caressed the soft hair. She could not explain it, but at that moment, she felt so much love for this child standing next to her.

“You don’t have to change who you really are just to please other people, not even the people that you love, like your family. They probably found it hard to love you for who you were because nobody showed them how unconditional love looks like. It’s hard to feel rejected for being different, but don’t let that make you reject yourself. When you reject what makes you different and unique, you’re betraying your Soul. Would you tell that river to stop flowing, a butterfly to stop flying, or a flower to stop blossoming?”

“Of course not, why would I do that?”

“Then why is it ok for someone to tell you to change the nature of your soul, your unique essence?”

The child nodded as if to show that he understands what the girl was trying to say.

“I have been wandering for a while now, and I couldn’t find anyone like me. I couldn’t find anyone who likes the colour of my skin either. Some people laughed at me. Other people tormented me. Others pretended to like me but only because they wanted something. I felt very scared and alone at times.”

“I’m sorry that you had to go through this, but now you met me. Do you believe me when I tell you that I like your purple skin?”

“Yes, I believe you. I can see in your eyes that my pain is familiar to you.”

“Yes, your pain is familiar to me. I believe there are other people out there, who are also familiar with your pain and you will find them one day. They will love and accept you for who you are.”

“Can you please, take me with you? I want to find them.

“Yes, I would love to.”

The child jumped in the girl’s arms again and held her so tight that, she lost her breath for a moment.

“Thank you for truly seeing and accepting me,” said the child softly.

“Just remember that you will still meet other people along the way who will reject you for being different. Stay strong in who you are and don’t let the words full of their fears cut you. Choose to rise above their intolerance, which is only coming from their own inability to see this uniqueness in themselves.”

“I will. I feel stronger now that I met you and knowing that you will be there for me.”

“I will be there for you, and will not let anybody put you down again, I promise. If you ever feel that I am not keeping my promise completely, let me know.”

“I will let you know, I promise.”

“Are you ready to go out of this forest and back into the world?”

“Yes, I am ready” said the child while getting up, then clasping the girl’s hand.

The child with the purple skin and big brown eyes turned around and looked at the flowing river for the last time. Then looked at the girl with the green hair and nodded. They both started walking on the path that was leading towards the end of the forest.

Many people say that the two of them travelled around the world together for a long time and helped many people to discover and accept the true colour of their soul.

(Photo taken by me @ Brecon Beacons, Oct 2013)