Futuro - Prologue

In a quaint café, nestled within the heart of a great city, two mysterious men sat enjoying a late afternoon drink. The older man posing a question to his friend, promising a moment that had been long coming. 

“Do you wish to know the story of all time?” 

“You’re always hinting at this story!” replied the younger man, almost breaking into laughter at the absurdity of the timing. He longed to hear the mystical fable his good friend was forever alluding to. But here and now? he thought. 

The older man smiled at his friend’s reaction, pausing for a moment, before replying with great presence. “My friend, I have not told you. Yet. But I am ready to tell you. Now.” 

“For every great story is told to those who need to hear it, at precisely the time they need to hear it most. And this is…” the older man pausing once more as if to take in the energy of the room… 

“This is precisely the moment this story must be told.” 

The younger man was awestruck at the new energy now emanating from his good friend, becoming lost in his eyes, behind which, he sensed magic dancing. And with this, he felt that actually, now may be the right time after all. 

So settling back into his chair and picking up his coffee-filled, butterfly-patterned cup, he motioned for his friend to begin the story. The heat from the cup radiating into him, through his hands, and on towards his heart. 

The older man beginning the fable of all time… 

She was a beautiful girl… 

A girl with a loving heart. On the day of our story she stands on the edge of a cliff. Will she jump or will she return to her townsfolk and live a normal life? And what had brought her here? To this place, at this moment, to make this choice? 

She was growing and learning fast, guided by her strong intuition, which was connected deeply to all things. The girl blossoming into a kind and courageous young woman. But despite such evident qualities, she remained hesitant about making a leap into the unknown. 

Many before her had heard the call of the ocean that lay at the foot of the cliff, but few had followed their hearts and made the leap into it. Even some of the greatest warriors in her tribe finding their courage and faith evaporate as they stood and peered over the cliff’s treacherous edge. 

And of those that did make the leap, some never returned. Others coming home radically transformed, sometimes for the benefit of the tribe’s people, sometimes not so much.

But this girl, she was curiouser than most about what lay in the ocean. It would reach out and into her deep heart, drawing her to the cliff’s edge through all seasons. The girl often sitting for hours, sometimes from sunrise to sunset, listening to its sounds, feeling its warmth, and its cold. 

And nothing delighted her more than when the creatures of the ocean blessed the day or night with their magical presence. She longed to know them better, having drawn countless beautiful paintings depicting their playfulness and grace. 

But leaping from the cliff was not only about visiting the ocean far, far below. For the girl sensed other magical places beyond it. The beautiful white beach scattered with shells of all shapes and sizes, the emerald forest she walked in her dreams, and the dark, unknown lands that were cautiously spoken of in her tribe’s myths and legends. 

As thoughts of such places ignited the girl’s heart and soul, a great knowing began to emanate deep within her. A knowing that if she were to make the leap, her world would be forever changed. 

Her heart and intuition had pulled her to the cliff’s edge on this day, and looking down at the ocean now, taking in its scent, feeling its strong call, she heard it talk back to her. It spoke directly to her heart with a calm assurance, telling her that if she made the leap, it would promise to protect her. Now and for all time.  

This message resonated strongly with the girl, for to her, the ocean had always carried a deep kindness and beauty that spoke of all possibility. It emitted a warmth that she felt in all of nature and in those she loved, those she would leave behind if she made the leap, maybe forever.  

This turned the girl’s thought to her townsfolk, as she recalled everything she’d heard spoken about the ocean in a moment of introspection; stories of great peril and loss, but also of overwhelming joy and transformation. 

The sun, sitting giant in the sky on this day, seemed to sense the girl’s thought as it wrapped her in its energising, golden light, settling her heartbeat into alignment with the outgoing tide. Her gaze now drawn upward, toward a distant mountain on the horizon. 

For a moment, she envisioned herself at the mountain top, a wolf sitting next to her, howling to the sky where many condors flew, their silhouettes rising and falling in repeated cadence. 

The girl’s spirit, buoyed by these positive omens, now returned to the cliff’s edge, where she felt an elevated connectedness to everything around her. 

And through this connectedness, a vision formed in her mind. A vision of a beautiful star glowing beyond the planet’s atmosphere, deep in the inky black of the cosmos, where time stood still. 

The beauty of the vision causing a single teardrop to form in one of the girl’s deep, brown eyes. The teardrop beginning its own fall into the ocean far below. 

Gratefully receiving this gift, and feeling the girl’s every hope, dream and wish within it, the ocean called out to her, sending her heart a single word. 

“Faith,” the ocean said. 

This powerful word resonating strongly with the girl, as it cast a brilliant white light into her soul. 

And she knew in this instant, that everything she’d experienced in her life so far had guided her to the cliff’s edge, to this moment in time, the decision to leap now set within her. 

Turning to take a final look at her town, the girl whispered a loving goodbye, before kneeling to pick a beautiful yellow flower from the grass around her feet. Something she could take with her she thought, as a reminder of her birthplace, of who she was in this moment, who she hoped to become. 

Observing the flower closely, and feeling a deep connection to it, she wondered what may become of it... 

“Will its petals still open now that I have taken it from the earth?” 

This thought leading the girl to tie the flower into her hair, to her own abundant lifeforce. 

The girl saying a prayer before turning back to face the distant horizon, closing her eyes and slowly inhaling a deep breath, consciously seeking out every last drop of the ocean’s essence within it.  

Her faith and heartbeat increasing in response, as she readied herself for the leap, to which she was now fully committed. 

Stepping back a few paces, drawing on all her courage, before beginning her run to the cliff’s edge. Her velocity tripling with every step… Close… Closer… And now… 

“Deeper and deeper I fall, through shade upon shade of blue, punctuated with sights that remind me of stars, tiny silver fish moving synchronously in a kaleidoscope of new creation.”

“And this strong embrace, the ocean holding me in the water for a moment before I push up to the surface, a new strength driving me.” 

“My heart growing warmer as I simultaneously sense colours and melody within me, and now we are flying … Up… Up… Up… This is beyond all I have ever imagined, I feel joy!” 

“Of course,” responded the girl’s heart as it smiled, pleased that her mind and body now felt the reward of the leap. That she better understood the power of her own creation, the ability to trust her intuition, maintain faith and choose her heart-guided destiny. 

As the girl continued swimming in the ocean’s love, the temperature of her heart rose, sustaining, pervading all. It made the girl feel that jumping into the ocean should be a simple decision if your heart tells you to. With this thought, a beautiful smile illuminated the girl’s face.

A smile that reminded the ocean of angels. 

And although the girl would not swim in the ocean forever, the feeling of protection and love that she now basked in would always be accessible in her heart.