Friday, July 9, 2010

Allegory

One fine day, a princess was born into a beautiful garden. The birth was quiet and beautiful. No one in the world was there to witness the golden butter petals of the fertility flower curl down to reveal the baby. The child, supported and held by vines, reached out her plump little fingers and selected a buttercup from which she drank the morning's dew.

Sun rose and set in the garden and then it rose and set again. The child, growing, watched the path of the ark with her large blue eyes. During the days, she romped through the garden, clad in a garment of leaves, her golden locks bouncing with energy behind her. At night, the moon watched over her and she, in turn, watched the lady bugs crawling through the grass.

One day, the child, curious, reached out to touch one of the lady bugs. Her fingers, clumsy from inexperience, approached the insect with too much force. She crushed it. Looking at the mangled mess on her fingers, the child shed her first tears. Even under the protection of the garden, the lady bug was vulnerable to forces larger than her.

When the child was grown, she had a vision while she slept. Her heavy breaths matched the tone and pulse of the beating sound she heard in her dream. With each dark and resonant clang of the drum, she watched her garden shrivel. Finally, all that was left was earth. The little princess scooped a measure of dirt into her cupped hands and kissed the earth that had provided for her for so long. Even with the tenderness of her affection and the strength of her intention, she could not bring life to the pile. There was something missing.

The princess did not know where to go or who to ask for advice on how to bring back her sanctuary. Even the stone pillars depicting the gods and goddesses of the natural world had disintegrated into dust. Finally, the girl knew what to do.

At exactly midday, she walked into the center of the field and raised her hands to the sun. She reached her finger tips, stretching with al the burning desire in her towards the atmosphere. As the last bit of strength in her expired, she plummeted towards the ground and burst into a million light leafy pieces which floated around the ghost of the garden. As each piece landed, it combusted in a burst of colors that  splashed around and colored the gray barren soil with vitality and life. Each spot that received a band of color sent forth roots until every plot teemed with green plants and vibrant blossoms.