What

"What's wrong with Mr. Whale, Prophet?" The Child asked.

"Nothing. He's winding down," The Prophet replied.

"Oh," said The Child.

"Prophet?"

"Yes, Child."

"What's winding down?"

"That's when you shake the work week off of your shoulders and relax."

"Oh," said The Child.

"Prophet?"

"Yes, Child?"

"What kind of work has Mr. Whale been doing that he needs to shake off his work week? Mr. Whale hasn't been working."

"Oh, really," said The Prophet. "And what does he do when he carries you around on the ocean?"

"Oh, I forgot all about that, Prophet. Sometimes I forget that those who support me need to rest. Does the lily pad need rest too?"

"It wouldn't hurt to give it a rest, Child. What do you suggest?"

"Why don't we walk on the ocean a while, and let it tag along?"

"Good idea," The Prophet said.

So, The Child and The Prophet stepped off the lily pad and started walking on the water, and The Child started singing a happy tune,

Here we go round the mulberry bush,

The mulberry bush,

The mulberry bush,

Here we go round the mulberry bush

So early in the morning.*

And Mr. Whale and the lily pad followed as they listened to the song of The Child with joy.

Shalom,

Pat Garcia

*Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush, First Recorded by James Orchard Halliwell, 1840s. England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_We_Go_Round_the_Mulberry_Bush

Very

"Very, very, nice,  Child," said The Prophet.

"It is, isn't it, Prophet. I just wish I would be there now. I'm very impatient."

"I know, Child. How well I know."

"At least, I know I'm moving in the right direction."

"Very true, but you know much more, Child."

"Do I?"

"What did you view in the sun, Child?"

"My dream."

"Have you ever viewed it so closely before?"

"No."

"So what do you think it means, Child?"

"You mean, I'm getting closer?"

"You're closer than you think. You're on the verge," and The Prophet chuckled at the face of The Child.

"Wow."

"What do you plan to do when you get there?"

"I'm going to sleep; then, I'll have a nice quiet breakfast while I cry."

"Cry, Child, that's very strange."

"No, it's not Prophet. It's very me. I always sleep and cry at successes."

"I see. Shall we return to the lily pad?" The Prophet asked.

"How far do I have to get back?"

"Are you very tired?" asked The Prophet.

"I am, Prophet. Excursions on the water make me tired."

"Look, Child. Look whose coming."

"Oh, how nice. It's Mr. Whale. Thank you for coming to get me, Mr. Whale" The Child said and climbed aboard it back and grabbed hold of its dorsal fin.

"Prophet?"

"Yes, Child."

"I just love Mr. Whale." The Child said as the whale began to pick up speed. The Prophet's laughter echoed over the ocean as The Child held on to the dorsal fin, and the whale zoomed in the direction of her lily pad.

Shalom,

Pat Garcia

Up

"Up, Child," said The Prophet.

The Child had been sleeping soundly on the lily pad.

"Why do I have to get up, Prophet?"

"You need to see something beautiful."

So, The Child rose, drank a glass of seawater that miraculously tasted like tea and looked out on the horizon. It was dawn.

"What do you want me to see, Prophet?"

"It's a surprise.  So come now, we have to leave the lily pad for you to see it."

"But I haven't walked on the ocean for days. I think I've forgotten how to," The Child said.

"Good reason to walk. Walking the ocean ought to become a routine."

"Prophet, I don't think I'll care for this adventure without my lily pad."

"You'll love it. So, stand up and let's go, before you miss it."

The first steps on the ocean were tricky. One of The Child's feet went  beneath the water.

"Prophet, I'm slipping under."

"Keep your eyes on me, and don't look at the ocean. We're almost in the right spot."

The Child turned her head and looked at The Prophet as he held one of her hands.

"Strange, Prophet. Why are you looking straight ahead?"

"If you turn your head and look straight ahead, you'll see why. We've reached our destination."

The Child turned her head and saw the most beautiful sun rising on the horizon.

"Oh, Prophet, it's beautiful," The Child murmured.

Suddenly, she saw someone before the sun dancing with joy.

"That's my dream, Prophet!  That's my dream up there in the sun.

The Prophet laughed. "Yes, Child, that is."

"Prophet, can everyone see my dream?"

"Child, no one can see your dream but you."

Shalom,

Pat Garcia

Time

"Time is moving so slowly, Prophet. I'm in the same place I was yesterday."

The Prophet chuckled at the Child's impatience.

"No you're not, child?"

"But I don't see any progress. I think I'm moving, but every time I look up it looks as if I'm in the same place. Time is standing still."

"Trust me, you're moving Child, and let me assure time isn't standing still." The Prophet said.

"Then why don't I see that I'm moving toward my goals?"

"Child, there has been many who started out as you have that  thought as you're thinking right now."

"Did they make it?"

"Of course, they did. Sometimes they faltered, one or two even fell, but they kept on going, even though they didn't feel any movement."

The Child pondered over what The Prophet had said.

"Maybe, they didn't have a Prophet, like I do, to help them along the way." The Child mumbled with a sigh.

The Prophet bent over in fits of laughter. When he had calmed down, he said, "Child, they had help. They too had to learn the timing of their own drumbeats in order to see progress. You're not alone in your quest."

"Do you mean they had a Prophet too?"

"Of course."

"And how do you know they had one, Prophet?  Were you there?" The Child asked.

"Child would you like me to tell you a little story?"

"Oh yes, Prophet," The Child said, forgetting her question. "I love your stories. They seem so real."

"Then, once upon a time, darkness and water covered the earth…" The Prophet began.

Shalom,

Pat Garcia