Carpo

       There is a swallow, not like any other swallow. Her longing eyes are a mixture of wisdom and sorrow. Her wings carry her to explore the world. She has relatives all over the world and the ages. One day, she sees a wonderful princess in her balcony bitterly crying as if she were a prison in her wonderful place. The young lady wears a blue, gold silk beaded dress like a fairy tale princess. The swallow hears her singing in a melancholic tone:” How miserable I am! I need someone to be with me. I need someone to listen to me.” The wise sparrow has a heart of gold and decides to help the distressed princess. She says:

I am the wise sparrow.

I am ancient as Pharaoh.

My honesty is like an arrow.

My love will be you follow.

Just tell me your sorrow.   

The girl looks in wonder to the beautiful sparrow. She now thinks that someone can listen to her sorrow.

“I feel that I am empty. I only follow the rules. I do not have the choice to decide which dress to wear. I want to run like girls. I want to play with them,” said the young princess.

“Do you want to be free like me, my dear?” said the swallow.

“Absolutely yes. I want to taste my freedom, to unleash my dreams, to explore the world. You always migrate to all over the world, my dear swallow. How silly I am! I forgot to ask you about your name,” said the girl.

“My name is Carpo. You will see me only in autumn here,” said the swallow. “But do you think that when you become free, you will be happy?” asked the swallow tenderly.

“Of course, my dear Carpo. This is my only wish,” said the girl.

“I can fulfill your wish. I can make you turn into a swallow whenever you like, and seeing the world. But beware what you wish for,” said Carpo.

“I am in. I can’t give up my dream,” said the young princess determinedly.

     In a blink of an eye, the wrong princess becomes the most beautiful swallow that you can ever see. Together they fly over the charming oceans and seas. The princess is overwhelmed with joy and happiness. She thinks that she will be happy forever.

One day, they see an old ship full of novice sailors looking for something to bring home to their starving children. Their only hope is to find plenty of fish in this endless ocean. They sing the song:

We have only one wish,

To find plenty of fish,

To fill our children’s dish.

O’ mighty sea,

Cannot you see?

       They watch them facing the waves of fate like yellow leaves controlled by the wind. The waves roar, and the sailors longing for the shore. Out the blue, there appears a pirate ship. With swords and canons, they take the ship of the miserable sailors. In their eyes lie the look of crushed dreams and the winter of the soul. The young princess cannot believe her own eyes. How can man be that cruel and heartless? How can man murder the hope of these poor sailors?

“Is the world that cruel? How can we fix that? I will not stand helpless,” said the young princess in an agonized tone.

“You need to understand that sometimes you cannot control and alter life. You need to accept the outcome. Life is not always fair,” said the wise Carpo.

    With tears in her eyes, the young princess leaves the ocean with a broken heart. She flies over the green fields decorated with the brilliantly-colored flowers. Together, they complete the life’s painting. That brings some joy to the heart of the princess. She sees a beautiful boy playing with his white dog. The laugh warms her heart. Together, the two swallows sing a sweet melody of hope and peace.

   Then the war begins. The sky is now raining bombs and canons. The loud thunder of the man-made war is stronger than their melody. The green fields become gray ashes, and flowers become black ashes. The painting is now full of gray and ­­­­­­black. The sounds of the flights trigger only the fear of the unknown and the present as well. The two swallows seek shelter from the air raid, like the young boy whose innocence fails to understand the dark side of humanity. The desperate look on the boy’s face breaks the heart of the two swallows. He is now looking for his parents after this ruin. He goes like lightening to home to make sure everything is ok. Where is the house? Is it the garden where he used to play? He is shocked and utterly speechless. The tears silently rush from his small eyes to mourn his childhood, his happy life. Some moments in life make you grow faster in just the blink of an eye. These moments change the course of your history. Actually, you mark the events of your life using the two prefixes pre- and post- only and you fail to use present mode. Luckily, he finds his parents still alive. But are they truly alive about that? Each second is like forever. Each second carries an endless stream of complex emotions. Each moment makes your heart grow older and older.

“How can man do so? How can man hurt his brother? For what reason?” said the young princess.

“For no reason, my dear. They seek only more territories, more money, more of this, more of that. The more they get, the more they lose. They never understand that,” said Carpo.

“How could man sleep after all of these bloodbaths and massacres? Is it really worth it? I cannot understand,” said the young princess.

“Some men are already heartless. But you have a heart of gold, my dear,” said Carpo.

 Finally, there is a truce signed and each party seized fire. They run away from all of this madness seeking another trip. Together, they fly and pass by many seas and oceans; many rivers and lakes; and many lands and farms. There is a farm which is full of different kinds of fruits and vegetables. It is the harvest season now. Wherever the two swallows go, they listen to the wonderful songs of young farmers seeing the fruits of their work. They say:

There is our farm.

Look and see the charm.

We work it with our arm.

We protect it from any harm.

           There is autumn, the harvest season, the personification of hard-working. The farmers are glad to see the lovely fruits. The dream of the money that they will get after selling their food crops, such as corn, wheat, rice, different kinds of fruits and vegetables. They also get ready for the carnival.

But? There is always but. The fire broke out and gutted the farm. The gray ashes become the normal scene. They know that winter is coming with no food, nor money. Winter is coming with no happiness, nor joy. Winter is coming, and starvation is coming. Their only hope now is to ask their neighbors for help.

They ask the two kingdoms, their neighbors, for help. The first one refuse to help by saying that their crops are hardly fulfilling their needs. The other kingdom turns a deaf ear to their hardship and refuses to meet their messengers in the first place. They have now two choices: either to starve to death, or migrate to another place and face the unknown. Each choice is like a sentence of death.

“How come did they refuse to feed their children after this disaster? Didn’t they know that it can happen to them as well? Why?” said the young princess.

“They are heartless, my dear. They always choose materialistic pleasure over sympathy. They lost their humanity, my dear,” said Carpo.

“It is bitterly cold now. We need to leave,” continued Carpo.

“I need to go home after this journey. I need to protect my people from what I saw. I understand the world now. You opened my eyes,” said the young princess.

Together, they go home, sweet home. The princess becomes human again as before. Actually, not as before. There are some changes. Her eyes become wiser. Her thoughts become more critical and rational. She now understands that she cannot stop the sufferings of human being, but she can survive by hope and sympathy. She now understands that together man can fix all the imperfections of the world, together we can create a world of happiness and peace.

Now it is the time to say goodbye. Carpo can never leave her without tears coming to her eyes. Their moments are unforgettable and their warm friendship is unbreakable. They are true soul mates.

“I forgot to ask you about your name?” said Carpo.

“My name is Ishtar,” said the princess.