The return of Josepth

The return of Joseph

Joseph lived in a town where all the houses looked the same. People walked around with their arms wrapped around themselves, or with hoods over their heads or stared at the ground. People walked the same circuits day in and day out. They never changed, spoke out. They were comfortable and kept to themselves.

One day, Joseph smelled something on the breeze. It was a scent he had never smelt before. Then he heard the cry of an animal he had never heard before. This bothered him, it disrupted his routine and his circular thinking. There was an itch in his mind now, a curiosity that just wouldn’t go away and in fact grew stronger with each passing day. What was that smell and sound? Where was it coming from?

The itch grew so strong that he started unravelling his arms, tilting his hood back and before he knew it, he had stepped off the circular path and was heading out of town!

He was like a bloodhound, following the scents and sounds, determined to get to the source of this disturbance, this interruption to what was familiar.

As he approached a hill he could tell that the scent and sounds were strongest on the other side of it. He hesitated momentarily. Did he really want to know what was on the other side? Could he go back? But he knew that even if he turned around he would never be able to get the scent out of his nostrils nor the sounds out of his ears. Best to get to the bottom of this!

As he crested the rise, before he could get a look at what was causing the commotion, he tripped and stumbled, rolling down the other side.

When he finally landed, bruised and worse for wear, he stood, brushed himself off and looked up.

What he saw made his eyes burst wide open, to copy his mouth’s reaction. He was completely shocked, stunned into disbelief. He was rooted to the spot, numb to his core.

For what was before him was a scene that he had never heard described in his life, it defied all logic and reason and all he had ever known.

Before him there was a riotous explosion of color, a cacophony of sounds, too impossible to take in at first.

There were trees whose branches appeared to be dancing in time to music that appeared to be erupting from blowholes of whales, swimming in seas of glittering flowers.

There was a table made of grass with hairy legs, with field mice racing on laughing crickets.

There were hundreds of tiny glowing winged beings, flying leisurely while weaving outfits out of shimmering cobwebs.

The land itself couldn’t make up its mind if it wanted to be soft as velvet or rough, with rolling granite; it undulated and shook as it changed. But this didn’t bother the natives at all, they simply adjusted to every change as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

As a fish floated by, having a chat with a well-dressed rhinoceros who held it aloft on a ribbon, he caught a whiff of an enticing perfume trailing in their wake.

All this and more came crashing into Joseph’s mind, eyes and ears, completely overwhelming him.

Suddenly, a mermaid who was dancing on golden water spurting from a many-trunked elephant turned her brilliantly silver eyes onto him. That shook the boy out of his awe-struck rapture, suddenly feeling v vulnerable and alone.

Then the raven conducting the orchestra with her impossibly large vibrating wings squawked at him, alerting the field mice who hopped off the table to race towards him.

This inspired the tutu-touting grinning octopus to spin towards him at great speed!

With squawks, thumps, whizzes and whirls cannoning right at him, the boy was rigid with terror, if his body could do anything else, he would have been fleeing for his life!

As they all crashed into him, tentacles wrapped around and lifted him, feathers tickled his body, tiny feet scurried over his face, scales slid down his back.

He didn’t know what to feel. Disgusted? Shocked? Pleased? But then the sounds that accompanied them sounded not unkind, in fact they made him feel light, and a slight smile started growing on his face.

They took him to the center of their gathering. Buoyant, cheery music started playing from underneath, above and all around. All the weird and wonderful creatures started dancing. Pirouettes, stomps, slithers, shakes and vibrates. They held his hands and it was impossible to not move with them.

He still wasn’t sure what he was feeling, vaguely aware that his body was just doing its thing, totally out of his control, so long as they held onto him.

Unbidden, a laughter burst out of him, as he spied a trio of red-booted sparrows darting into the mouth of a gargantuan elephant, shooting out of its three trunks with a Boom! Boom! Boom! His laughter was the signal for the creatures around him to let go of the boy and he actually found himself still moving and he didn’t quite mind.

As the moments passed, indicated by the rainbow-trout hands of the clock hanging from the moon, colors started blooming in random spots on the boy’s body. At first just tiny dots, then, as he kept moving and not minding, the spots became splotches, then rivers.

When the boy closed his eyes to smell the scents even better, little horns appeared on him, a stub of a tail twitched at the base of his spine and his skin rippled with scales, feathers and an oily film, changing back and forth.

Gradually, Joseph noticed the music had stopped. He opened his eyes and saw that every single being was looking intently at him, smiling widely and brightly.

The raven spoke with a cawing voice, “You are the most wondrous creature we have ever seen, with your colors and features growing on you, changing from one thing to the next. Will you lead us?”

All the Impossibles quickly chimed in and nodded, shook, stomped in agreement.

All the joy Joseph had felt rushed out of him, a burning of embarrassment burned in his face. A coldness swept through him, turning him rigid with fear. His stomach flipped and gurgled and he thought, “Who am I to lead? All these gorgeous dreams are infinitely better than me! I am nothing compared to them!” “How can you possibly ask me that!?” he cried.

Sweat dampened his scalp, his lips started trembling and he felt miserable. It was so much better when he was swallowed up by the crowd, didn’t have any responsibility. His eyes started welling up and he wished he could be anywhere, anyone, other than crying in front of them, so powerful was his shame.

Then, he felt a powerful stillness in the air. The crowd started parting from the back.

An elderly woman stepped forth. No, at first he assumed she stepped, but then he noticed she had no feet and she was floating. She floated in a dress made of a gently cascading pale blue waterfall, which matched her pale blue eyes, which had a calming effect on everyone present.

Joseph felt his heart slowing down from the speed of a hundred-foot stamping elephant to a gently loping horse. His stomach was no longer twisting and turning like the eels he saw earlier.

The old Grandmother, for that is what he assumed she must be, spoke. But he didn’t hear her with his ears or even in his head. He felt her words through his whole body.

“It is perfectly normal for you to be overwhelmed and terrified of us, then at the idea of leading. But, it had to be done this way. If you were told about what was over the hill, would you believed anyone? If anyone had told you that you could lead, would you have believed them?”

Joseph managed a chuckle at the ridiculousness at that and said “No”.

“You had to experience truth. All the wonders of this land are reflections of what has always been inside you. But now is the time for you to find the original. Explore and live what is inside you, no need for reflections”.

He didn’t quite understand what she was saying but he could feel the truth of it.

She put one waterfall-arm around him and gently led him away.

After a short walk, where there were no stars or moon in the sky, the Grandmother took him to the lip of a dark pool. But it wasn’t a pool of water. It was a pool of nothingness. He could sense that it wasn’t merely nothing. It was a void. He could feel it was alive. There was a sense of expectancy, like it was waiting for something to happen, it wanted something more but it couldn’t give it to itself.

The Grandmother took her arm away and softly said, “This is where you will find yourself”..

Joseph still didn’t understand but her calm, serene presence was so palpable he knew he could trust her.

He stepped towards the void, fully expecting to fall in. Instead, surprisingly, his foot stepped on a surface. He walked till he was in the middle. It was soft, warm and inviting.

He sat down. And waited. And waited.

He started becoming fidgety, restless, then frustrated. He wasn’t used to being on his own, and definitely not without his normal routines.

He thought to himself angrily, “It wasn’t fair! Why is he here anyway? What was the point of all this? Find himself? Stupid woman, I’m right here! What’s there to find!? Uh!”

He punched the black ground angrily and this fueled more anger. “Why the hell did they ask him to lead!? Who they hell do they think they are!?” his thoughts heated up.

The more his anger grew the more his thoughts became scattered and erratic.

“I hate this!! I hate being on my own! I hate here! I hate this! I hate that I left home! I’m so stupid! Why did I do that!? Why did you make all those stupid sounds and smells!? Why did you entice me!? I hate you all! I hate me! I hate this!!!”

Joseph stood up, ripped at his clothes, punched the air, kicked and stomped at the void. He screamed and roared at the top of his lungs, he kept screaming and flailing, pouring out every ounce of his being. “Aaaaaarrr!!!!”

Tears of grief, the loss of all he’d known and been, poured out, mingled with his rage. He screamed till his throat was as hot as a phoenix, and dry as the desert, too painful to barely draw breath.

Finally, his body completely spent, he collapsed into a puddle of exhaustion.

There was nothing left. There was no sign of the boy, only the void.

Gradually, his consciousness returned. There was no more anger or sadness. Now, a curiosity, a self-reflection.

 “I don’t know who I am anymore. I know I definitely don’t want to be who I was. Who else can I be?”

With that awareness, his memory leaped to when he first saw the Miracles and now his memory is sweet and gives him gladness. Then, as if picking up speed, his mind jumped to when they held hands/tentacles/feathers together. His heart beat faster and his smile widened.

He remembered the smells and how good they made him feel.

Then, as the moment when they asked him to lead arose, he stood up and an explosion of marvelous energy bursts within, and transformed him.

He grew to seven feet tall. Beautiful, thick brown horns curved out from his forehead. Majestic earthy brown wings sprang out from his back, beating furiously, eager to take flight.

A long, thick red tail whipped out from the base of his spine and thumped the floor with passion.

His entire body swim with all the colors of the rainbow, they melted and morphed through and around each other.

He leant back and let loose a primal roar of celebrating who he truly is, at the same time as his mighty wings propelled him into the sky with a mighty Woosh!!!

After many moons of feasting and dancing with his fellow Myth-Makers, Joseph turned his attention to where his journey began.

The revelers had transported to several dream lands throughout the realm. Joseph knew the journey back would be long.

He danced, pranced, skipped and flew for many a mile, the jubilation of his brothers and sisters strong within him.

But, as time went by, even that joy started to wind down till it was just a whisper, leaving him with quietness.

After a time, this quietness turned to restlessness and his slowed footsteps turned to irritated feet shuffling and troubling thoughts.

“Crap, what if the people at home don’t like how I look? What if they don’t accept me? What if they kick me out? What about my family?”

“What are they going to be like? Are they going to be doing the same boring stuff?”

Worried thoughts turned into angry ones, fists clenched tight and feet stomped as he walked.

“I bet they are going to be the same! I bet they’re really boring! Who cares what they think! I’m so much better than them anyway!” He imagines his giant size squashing buildings and people, his anger starting to engulf him.

Then, somewhere inside him, a gentle voice reminded him, “This is not all that you are”. As soon as he heard this, he remembered all the beauty of the Dreamlands. He stood still, soaking up the memory. He remembered the gift of transformation he is bringing back to his village.

The boy-turned-man took a deep breath, accepted his fear, anger and beauty. He smiled a gentle smile to himself and continued walking on in a leisurely pace. He didn’t need to know anything about the people ahead, how they were or how they lived, he was okay with himself and that was all that mattered.

When he entered the town, the people initially ran around in terror then quickly hid in their homes.

Joseph kept the gentle smile on his multicolored face, his tail slowly swung back and forth, his wings hung quietly on his back.

He entered the middle of the town and sat beside the water fountain, played lazily with the water for a few minutes. He then settled into a comfortable seated position, closed his eyes and waited.

After a long while, the townspeople poked their heads out of their windows and doors. Seeing nothing stirring from this alien monstrosity, they ventured out timidly, huddled tight together for support.

Another step. Still no movement. Two steps. Only the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and wings and the occasional flick of his tail indicated he’s anything more than a statue.

When they’re about halfway to him, several cries of “No!” were uttered, as all the children, bored with the endless waiting, rushed out to touch the magnificent wings and traced their fingers over the shifting colors on the skin. Darting away and back again, the children, seeing no reaction, grew bolder and stayed longer, sighing at the softness of the feathers, oohing and aahing at the colors, giggling at the tail that seems to be playing with them.

The adults, having overcome their horrified imaginations of little children being torn asunder, finally took in the truth, that no harm was coming to the children. As they got closer, they started to feel the calm, soothing essence that emanated from this strange creature.

Oh! People suddenly recognized the face of the boy who disappeared all those moons again. With this realization all their fears evaporated and a growing curiosity developed.

Joseph slowly opened his eyes and his smile grew wider, beatific, eliciting uncontrollable smiles from everybody.

He shared his story with them and they marveled they can hear it, not with their ears or minds, but from somewhere else inside them. Such is the rawness and authenticity of his sharing that the people could not help to feel inspired and oceans of dreaming grew within them.

After that day, whenever Joseph returned to the water fountain and sat in silence for a while, others joined him, inspired by his peace.

As they sat there, in the stillness of their own being, their own magic unfolded.