Redeemed

The Sprite had once been strong and brave before her fall. Now she was skittish, fearful and silent. Maral faithfully travelled with the Sprite though the pace was very slow. The path did not allow for two to walk abreast; so Maral took the lead and blocked the majority of the wind.

In the evenings, the silence became overwhelmingly uncomfortable prompting Maral to begin shareing her experiences from her journey. When she ran out of stories, she spoke of her childhood in the forest. For a long time, the Sprite did not respond and Maral felt like she was speaking to the wind. Slowly, however, acknowledgments began to come from the Sprite.

As Maral won the Sprite’s trust, she began to speak of her own childhood. Their companionship dulled the dreariness and harshness of the Shifting Sand wasteland. Time began to pass not unpleasantly for the pair.

The Sprite was fascinated by Maral’s fire dwelling experiences. She chose to become vulnerable and shared her sacred secret about the great promise she had received when she was just a child. She had placed all her hopes and determination in this promise and had been chasing it for many years.

Maral had subconsciously assumed many negative things about the Sprite because she had been reclaimed from the sand but as their friendship developed each assumption was proven false. Maral found that the Sprite had been traveling much longer and over greater challenges than she herself had encountered.

Soon the Sprite’s old strength, gained from her many travels, returned to her, allowing her to take the lead. The pace was almost too swift for Maral, but she managed to keep up. The slight Sprite seemed more resilient to the relentless wind.

One quiet night the Sprite spoke about her fall. She tearfully confessed that she had become dejected as time passed and she seemed to be no closer to her promise. The harshness of the wasteland wearied her body and mind until she began to wonder if all her life had been in pursuit of something unattainable.

On the hottest day, she fully accepted that her promise was a myth. She was so low that she had looked out at the sea of sand for a while, then willfully stepped off the path.

She had been lost for years. The sand was wild and terrible. She had seen horrible things in the belly of the abyss. Then, after suffering much, she felt an unexplainable reawakening. Her promise was calling to her.

It was then the Reclaimer’s rope had found her and the battle to return to the path began. The sand had no desire to lose her and fought ferociously to prevent her escape. She had been a passive participant at first, but as soon as she caught sight of the firm path, she completely woke from her stupor and fought as never before.  

Drained, she stopped talking, Maral was silent as well. The story hung heavily before them. Then, Wisdom’s voice came on the wind. She spoke of perspective.

 Deferred hopes, born from unrealistic expectations, make a heart sick. A sick heart will hinder reason. Hold firmly to your promise without adding a timeline will be a difficult but worthwhile endeavor.  You are not responsible- or even able- to force great things to happen on your own. Only do what is before you to do each day. One can do no more and no less to reach their goal. However, the fulfillment of the promise might appear different than expected. You must find peace with that possibility.  Finally, when discontentment arises, hand it over to the peace of assurance knowing if one is faithfully doing all that one can, the promise has already happened.

Maral was confused, “It has already happened? But it hasn’t actually happened.”

The Sprite’s deep sigh drew Maral’s attention. She seemed as if something terribly heavy had been removed from her person. Smiling said as she laid down, “Its perspective.”

Maral wouldn’t understand what this meant for many more years.