To Ease the Passing of Time

He said to her when he left, “I’m going to learn what only a few men have learned. I shall discover the hidden secrets beyond the bright blue sky and the shining stars. I shall walk in the steps of wise men and they will teach me how to talk and write like a poet. I will follow my destiny to wherever it takes me. But always remember, my dear, that I will carry you in my heart like a sacred candle every step of the way, and that I will repeat your name like a prayer throughout my entire journey. And when I return one day I will teach you everything that I have learned, and we will be happy together forever after.”

She said, “You don't need to learn all that stuff. You know that I love you the way you are, and that’s all you need to know. It’s that stupid book you’ve read about that Greek king who left everything to pursue his dreams that screwed everything up in your head. You want to be like him.”

His kissed her tenderly and started walking as the sun was setting in the horizon. She waited until she could no longer see him and returned to the house of her parents crying. She patiently waited for him to come back for a while thinking about him every night and day. After a few years, she thought. “What the hell! I’m not going to wait for him forever. What if he never comes back?” That was long before the smart phones and internet. She got married to the son of their neighbour and had a few kids with him. She was not really in love but the guy had a good job and her parents liked him.

A few years after, one day, around noon, as she was drawing water from the well, she saw him. He had a long beard and a strange smile on his face as he slowly walked towards her. She thought he looked like a saint in the religious paintings in the church. He said, “Oh, my love, I have so much to tell you and to teach you. I have learned to talk to the moon and the stars. I have learned the secret language of the wind and the birds.” She said to him, “Tough luck! I’m married to the guy next door. If you had really looked at my eyes, you would have seen all the stars of the universe shining in them; if you had really listened to my voice, you would have heard the gentle wind and the birds singing, and if you had taken the time to really know me and how we could have been happy together, you would have learned everything you needed to know about yourself and the universe.”

I met him shortly after that. Like him years before, I had just started my journey to pursue my destiny. I had left my true love behind thinking that one day I would return to her full of experience and wisdom and that we would be happy together forever after. He told me his story as we were walking together on a dusty road. He said to me. “You are a dreamer like me. If you are not careful, your dreams will swallow you and everything around you. You should go back to your true love. If you take time to really look at her eyes, you will see all the stars of the universe shining in them; if you listen to her voice, you will hear the gentle whisper of the wind and the birds singing; and if you keep loving each other in spite of everything, you will learn the secrets of compassion, tenderness and forgiveness. Love is really all you need to know about the universe.”

I thanked him and I said goodbye to him, and I went back to my true love.