Shaman and the Lonely Traveler (Tale 4)

Shaman and the Lonely Traveler

It was serene, chilly night, when Shaman would hear someone knocking to the door of his shack.

Although half asleep, Shaman would scramble out of his bed and welcomed the visitor.

– Greetings – he said as soon as he opened the door. The man on the threshold was tucked in a long, rusty coat, and was shivering from the cold, evening breeze.

– Greeting, Wise Man. – muttered stranger – Will you invite a Lonely Traveler for a drink?

– Come in, please. My shack is not a palace, but there is always place for wearied journeyman. – said Shaman and invited Lonely Traveler to take a sit.

– Would you like something to drink? Tea, coffee or mate?

– Coffe please. – said Lonely Travaler eagerly. He was traveling so long that a taste of fine, black coffee seem to him all but forgotten.

– Ehm… There is no coffee – Shaman noticed after a while.

– Oh… will have tea than.

– Sure – said Shaman and poured two cups of mate. – Long journey you’ve been through?

– Oh, yes. I have just crossed the Desert of Thousand Tears.

-The one that is said to turn into a Thriving jungle when a thousand of human tears are going to be shed on it’s sand?

– … which is never going to happen as all water evaporates before touching the ground… – chuckled Lonely Traveler – Yes, the same one.

Than they would both sip in silence their mate.

Eventually Shaman acknowledged Lonely Traveler’s patience and asked.

– What brings you to my shack? – He perfectly knew the answer, however. After all everybody was coming here for the same reason.

– I have came here for answers. – said Lonely Traveler, not surprisingly.

– There we go… – mumbled Shaman and assembled his old wise man pose – Tell me than.

Lonely Traveler would clear his throat and started his story.

– I am a Traveler and I walk alone.

– I have climbed ,mountains so high that their peeks would melt so close to the starts they were. I have sailed through waters so immense that they would close the horizon in their embrace. I have seen wonders and horrors, tasted delights and suffered tortures.

Among all I have met people from many cultures and nations. And despite their origins they would all be amused on why I would keep walking.

You see Shaman. I wander because I seek.

Because I chase my Dream. I am searching for Love, I am searching for Happines , I am searching for Purpose.

I have been offered shelter many times and far more than that. I have been asked to stay, to settle down, I have been asked to give up my Quest. To stop searching for what is never going to be found.

I was offered comfort, I was offered relief. All I had to do, was to quit trying reaching for impossible. And than a Wise Man in other village, a Witch Doctor similar to you Shaman would say something I would never forget.

He would say: Life is about seeking compromise between your dreams and the reality.

But that’s what he said. And that is not what I believe in.

So I thanked him for his words, and still kept going. But the doubt has been sown in my heart.

Now I have cometh to you Shaman.

I have cometh to ask you for an advice. Should I try to find the Dream although it means risk of having nothing in the end. Or should I try to find compromise?

Shaman would stare at the distant for a long while, sipping his mate and enjoying the view of the stars.

Than he would speak.

– The choice you make has to be determined on if you are ready to face the greatest challenge of your life.

Lonely Traveler would just smile.

– I am prepared for that Shaman. And I have been asked countless times for it. Am I really ready to face the disappointment? Am I ready to stand up to the the moment in which I realize that what all I was chasing was just a mere illusion? I am ready for that moment, because at least I will be able to say: I did everything I could.

Travelers face was expressing determination and it was Shaman who was smiling now.

– That is good, Traveler. But that is not the challenge I was talking about. – he would say.

– What is it than? – pressed Lonely Traveler – What could be bigger challenge for a man than a moment in which his dreams are broken?

Shaman would just sigh.

– A moment in which your Dream will be realized.

Nothing challenges man more than his dream becoming true. So before heading out, ask yourself Traveler:

Are you truly ready to face the Dream you have been trying to reach that hard?

Lonely Traveler would frown puzzled by those words. He would say nothing more.

He would bow, finish his mate and than he would leave the shack.

And he would keep walking until he disappeared in the darkness.

The End