The Path

In a time

That was very much like our own

There lived a girl.

She had heard of a path-

One that seemed to whisper to her

But she did not know that

Countless lost

Had heard it speak

And had become found.

This path was

Narrow, but straight.

She thought to herself:

This

path

is

too

hard

For me.

Not knowing that the only thing she would have to do

Was walk on the path

With a special guide that would help her with

everything

that

she

needed.

She took one step, then another

Onto this path.

It was only like a soft

Twitter of a bird, the way that it spoke

But the voice was sweeter than the sweetest candy.

Suddenly, though,

In the middle of its song

Was the most unwelcome interruption.

She

Failed to recognize

That this other noise

Was actually

the most horrid,

deafening

screech.

For if she had,

She would have covered her ears

And fled.

The scream

Filled her eardrums.

It fascinated her.

But she knew

That something about that

Distorted cry

Was off.

The enticement was too much

For her.

So instead of stepping forward,

She looked back.

Then,

She stepped back.

In the distance,

She saw a wide path.

It looked so different

from the path

That she had walked on.

It was paved with gold,

The finest silver,

The shiniest diamonds.

She thought that

It was simply beautiful

And oh!

so easy

To pass through.

And so it began.

She moseyed through this

Wide passageway,

And looked around her.

Her eyes liked what she saw-

Beautiful

flowers,

Wonderful

birds.

It seemed to be full of light

And life.

But all of a sudden,

She noticed something

strange.

As she ventured further and further

through this path,

Things began to change.

With every step,

The gold turned to lead,

The silver turned to coal,

And the diamonds

to ashes.

The grass

Once looking so green and vibrant

withered.

And the flowers

turned black

And vanished like smoke.

The birds’ song

No longer pleased her ears

And soon enough

the birds too

Fell to the ground

And died.

She sped along,

Thinking that this was just

A dark patch

In a quilt that she thought to be

made of

all sunlight.

But there was no end in sight

To this seemingly sudden

End of loveliness.

She sighed

And paused for

just a few seconds,

Closing her eyes

As she did.

She opened them.

All at once

She realized

That it was pitch black.

She could see nothing

in

the

slightest.

She gasped.

“Had it been like this all along?”

She found that those words

Leaving her mouth

were true

Though she hadn’t realized it.

Yes, indeed, she saw around her

Only darkness.

All that was on her mind

Was to find the light

That she had lost.

She turned on her heel

And walked.

As she got farther

And farther

From that wide path

She heard a noise.

At first, it was like the breath of the wind.

But as she got closer,

She found that it was familiar

To her.

She just could not

shake that feeling.

Then she realized that it sounded like the twitter of a bird.

This time, it felt

Like a pin

That would not stop pricking her

over

and

over

Again.

Until she could take it

no longer.

So she went even further

From that wide path,

Finding that as she did

She felt oddly peaceful

And the twitter

That had pricked her

sounded sweet

once again.

And then she saw it-

The narrow, straight path.

She decided

That she would walk this path once again

This time, going further

Than ever she had.

To her, it looked

Nowhere as beautiful

As the wide, broad path.

But she kept going.

She fell countless times.

All of her attempts

seemed to be in vain.

And, soon, she could not rise.

From her eyes flowed rivers

and her legs turned to flames.

Her shivers and shakes

Could not,

Would not,

be tamed.

But then she felt something different.

A tap on her shoulder.

She looked up

And there He was.

She had known

That He was real

But somehow, her mind

had

twisted

and

turned

Him

into a fable.

It was the special guide

That she had heard of

But had never acknowledged.

“What shall I do to escape this fate?”

she asked Him.

“For if I walk on the wide path, it is darkness. And even here, I feel no light!”

The guide

stared at her

in such a way

that she found that she

was unable

to hold His gaze.

She expected Him to shake his head

and disappear, like the beauty

of the wide path

had.

But instead

He smiled

and held out His hand

to her.

He said only a few words to her

But they were

More valuable

Than a million.

“Follow me,”

He said.

“And you shall find the light that you seek.”

So she took His hand

and He pulled her up

and He walked with her.

When she let Him do so, her surroundings began to change.

There were flowers there

More beautiful than the ones

Lining the wide path.

And the sky smiled down at her.

She looked back,

And found

That the beauty

was unchanging

And it was faithful

And it was true.

The girl was in awe.

She asked her guide,

“How have my eyes deceived me so?”

He looked at her and said,

“Because your heart was blind to the truth, you would not seek Me. Now you see the truth, and so the veil of darkness has been removed from your eyes.”

She was speechless.

And so the girl grew

Following her guide.

Sometimes she expected Him

to fail

But he never once did.

One day, He

Asked her

A question

As she looked back

and admired how far

She had come.

“Exactly how far could you have gone on your own? Tell me, would you have been able to endure as you were?”

She stopped

And realized an undeniable

Truth.

“I could not have risen, nor could I have continued if You had not been there to guide me.”

He nodded and smiled at her,

as

warm

as

a

hug.

Gently,

Yet firmly,

He said,

“Don’t you ever forget that,

My child.

Know that truth

Now and forever.”