by Cuthalion
But she saw me.
„Don’t be afraid, child. Come closer.”
I obeyed, and now I could see her face clearly. It was of great beauty; long hair fell over her shoulders, shining like a pale stream of silver. Her eyes were dark and deep… the eyes of someone who witnessed worlds rise and fall, eyes that pierced my soul, revealing every failure and triumph in my entire life, eyes filled with eternal youth and the wisdom of age.
„Look, child. I want you to see this.”
I saw her hands, cradling a bird that seemed to be asleep. It was small and somehow weak, and it didn’t move.
„Is it ill?” I asked hesitatingly.
She gazed down at the bird with love and compassion.
„It was, and it is exhausted, too.” she said. “It has been haunted by wild falcons and hawks, and wounded by their sharp beaks and claws. It has endured the pain and continued the flight until its strength was spent and its wings were broken. But now the time has come for rest, and for healing.”
With those words she lifted the bird to her face, and gently blew her breath over the fragile being. Then she kissed the feathery head and reached out both arms.
„Fly!” she said, and her voice was the melody of a song unknown and yet familiar, humming in the air, moving with the waves and circulating in my veins. „Fly and be strong and whole again!”
And the bird rose from her hands, and its wings and body were of a flawless white, and it gave the cry of its kind, sharp and clear. He moved in circles, once, twice… then it turned away and sailed on the wind, fast and weightless and triumphant. I saw it diving into the golden fire of the sunset, and then it was gone.
“Remember this, child,” the woman said, gently touching my head as if in a gesture of blessing. “He is healed, and he has found peace at last. Fear no more.”
And this was the moment…
*****