A Journey Worth Taking

A Journey Worth Taking

From a distance a glimmer caught her eye. A shine that peeked her curiosity. As she stared at the, it was as if she was being pulled towards it. An uncontrollable desire from inside her make her long to find her way to it. She had to see for herself what could put off such a magnificent glow.
She patiently traveled over rocks and hills, never taking her eyes off of that which gave her the feeling of excitement. Along the way the feeling would be so intense; she could not help but smile and at time laugh out loud.
Minutes turned into hours, hours into day and days into nights. She would rest at night, dreaming of what could be casting such a spell over her. When she would wake up, the light would be the first thing she looked at. She felt no hunger or thirst, only the longing to get to her destination.
She finally reached the foot of the mountain which seemed to be the resting place of her desire. Rugged terrain with jagged rocks lined the way to the top of the mountain. As she looked up, she saw that the light was now several radiant beams of color. Her heart raced, for she knew her journey was near its’ end. She looked all around the base of the mountain, hoping to find an easy way up. To her disappointment none could be found. She looked up at the beauty, smiled, took a deep breath and started to climb. For the first time, not knowing what may lie in her path, gave her an uneasy feeling. Then she would look at the illumination across the cloudless blue sky, the uncertainty would leave her. She knew whatever it would be, it would be worth the journey.
She had many challenges on the way up the mountain. The elements seemed to be trying to discourage her. Hard rains fell upon her, causing the ground beneath her to become slick. High winds would blow so hard; she had to hold on to twigs and branches to keep from blowing off of the side of the mountain. In some places, large hail would beat down on her, bruising her body. At times the sun was so hot it blistered her lily white skin. With all of that, she never gave up. The beauty of the lights kept her spirits high and the shear determination she felt inside kept her going.
Once again night started to fall upon her but she refused to stop. She was being drawn closer every step of the way.
The light she had been following was lighting her pathway. She could feel its’ presence. She could feel it wanting her to be there as much as she wanted to be there. She followed the light with great expectation.
The night seemed to be longer than the ones’ before. Perhaps because she was awake or maybe the anticipation a of another challenge to try and discourage her. Either way, she did not care. She had traveled so far and accomplished so much, she would not give up.
The light led her to an opening that went into a cave. Slowly she looked around as she stepped inside. With a pounding heart and sweaty palms, one step at a time she entered. She could not believe her eyes. The cave was made of crystal. She had never seen or heard of anything so beautiful in her life. The further into the cave she got, the more beautiful it seemed to get. The ground which was dirt on the outside was now crystal. The stalagmite sparkled as if diamonds hung from the ceiling of the cave.
She found herself in the middle of the cave where she saw what had been drawing her to this place. Resting on a pedestal of black stones was a red cushion with yet another black stone nestled atop of it. She stared at the stone trying to figure out how such a beautiful, brilliant light could come from such a dark cold piece. What kind of power did it possess? This was nothing like she has expected. Nothing in which she had dreamed. She turned with a disappointing sigh. With her head held down, she started to leave. Suddenly she stopped. She saw a figure standing in front of her. She let out a scream after she got a good look at the figure. Having not eaten, drunk or slept, the sight of a dragon was a bit more than she could handle. She fainted, hitting the floor of the cave with a thump.
She slept sound, dreaming of places heard of only in fairy tails. In her dreams, she met different creatures and had many adventures. She dreamed of evil tyrants and their magicians who would cast spells on leader warriors who stood up against them. She dreamed of battles and wars and of the innocent being urn out of their homes and sometimes killed. Then she dreamed of happier times in the lands, where tyrants would fall.. their magicians killed and peace would once again flow.
As she woke up, she felt sad. A sense of helplessness filled her heart. She opened her eyes as she sat up suddenly realizing that she was still in the cave. Looking around she saw that she was not on the cold floor of the cave. Instead, she was lying on several pelts and furs. She rubbed her hands across them. She had never felt anything so soft. Looking around the cave she saw that everything was still the same except for the furs in which she sat. she got up and walked over to the black stone wondering what was going on. Her thoughts were interrupted by the rumblings of her stomach. She giggled as she looked down at her stomach. The echoed sounds of her own growling made her laugh. She looked back at the furs where she saw a crystal platter of fruit sitting on them. Normally she would never eat anything not knowing where it came from, however these were not normal circumstances. She walked over to the delicious looking spread of grapes, strawberries, kiwi, bananas, mangos and apples. As she sat down onto the furs her mouth started to water. She reached for a grape and pulled it from its bunch.
As she bit into the grape, its’ sweetness flowed across her tongue like water flowing in a river. One by one she ate them and then moved on to a banana, a kiwi, some strawberries and finally an apple. She crawled to the top of the furs and sat with her back propped up against the crystal wall of the cave. Finishing her apple, she noticed a crystal goblet filled with a neon blue liquid sitting on the floor by the furs. She placed the apple core onto the half empty platter then reached for the goblet. She sat enjoying the refreshing drink when she spotted a sparkle at the end of the furs. She sat the goblet onto the floor beside of her and crawled across the furs to see what had caught her attention.. There she found a small crystal dragon. Her eyes lit up as she stared into the blue eyes of the figurine. The beauty of the rainbow colored wings amazed her. The crooked smile on the dragons face made her smile back at it. The dragons was holding a purple rose, made of crystal, in its hands. She received a feeling of contentment in her heart while holding the perfectly detailed figurine. That feeling was immediately removed from her when she remembered the encounter with the dragon before she fainted. She sat the figurine down as she stood up having the sudden urge to get out fast.
She darted to the opening of the cave when she heard a low sigh come from behind her. Her mind was telling her to go and not look back but her heart was telling her to stop. Trembling from head to toe she stopped and slowly turned around. Her heart raced as her eyes widened at what she saw. Standing behind the black stone was an eight foot dragon. He was identical to the crystal figurine with one exception. The figurine was happy looking. The real dragons’ big glue eyes were filled with sadness. His rain bowed wings drooped as if they were soaked towels. He gave a depressing snort causing a grey puff of smoke to rise from his nostrils. He turned away from her and crawled to the opposite side of the cave where he curled up as a puppy would. He laid his huge head down on the crystal floor with a thud, never taking his eyes off of her.
She eased over to the furs where she sat down with her legs crossed in front of her. She watched as the smoke streams left his snout. The urge of wanting to leave the cave was gone but the feeling of helplessness had returned.
It seemed like hours had past as the two sat and watched each other. Then at once a purple rose, made of crystal, appeared on the furs in front of her. She looked down at the rose and then back at the dragon. He never moved except for slowly blinking his big blue eyes. She reached down for the rose. With that, the dragon raised his head as if he was waiting for something to happen. And it did. As soon as she touched the rose, it changed into a real rose. She was amazed as she watched the transformation. She looked up at the dragon, who by this time had stood up and smiled. The feeling of helplessness left her when she saw the crooked smile shine across his face.
His wings stood up and glistened as if jewels were strung throughout them. She got up and walked to the dragon where she stretched out her hand to give him the rose. When the dragon took the rose, immediately the rose turned back to crystal. The dragon dropped the rose as well as his wings and the smile he was wearing. The rose shattered when it hit the crystal floor. He then turned and crawled back into his corner to lay down where he was before. Once again the overwhelming sense of helplessness filled her heart. She returned to the furs where she curled up wishing she feeling would go away. She felt as if her heart would burst from the pain she could feel for the dragon.
She watched as the dragon closed his eyes. Eventually she drifted into her own deep slumber.
While dreaming, she found herself in and evil magicians’ dungeon. There she saw a young man in a barred cell. The magician stood in front of the man with the steel bars between them. He chanted a few words and threw a small vase onto the floor at the mans feet. Black smoke rose from the vase as it broke on the floor. Once the smoke cleared the man was gone and in the place where he once stood was a dragon. Her dragon.
She was startled when the door of the dungeon came crashing down. A warrior dressed for battle came rushing in. as soon as he was in, the warrior ran his sword through the magicians’ stomach, pinning him against the wall. The warrior started yelling at the magician, wanting to know where his friend was. The magician pointed at the dragon. The warrior proceeded yelling and cursing at the magician to break the spell. All he could get out of him was the words, “black stone”. Suddenly the magicians’ body went limp as blood trickled out of his mouth.
The warrior looked around to where the magician pointed. He grabbed the black stone and the keys to the cell. He opened the door of the cell and handed the stone to the dragon. He told the dragon he knew what he had to do. The dragon took the stone and nodded to the warrior. The dragon spread his beautiful wings and flew across the room where he landed at the door. There he stopped and turned to look at his friend. His big blue eyes showed disappointment as he let out a roar. It was as if he was trying to say thank you and good-bye to his dear friend. His fiend hung his head down as the dragon flew out the door.
She found herself back in the cave, only it was not crystal. She watched as the dragon built a stone pedestal, placed a red velvet cushion on it and gently placed the black stone on the cushion. Towering over the pedestal he fell to his knees causing his paws to slide down it. When he did this the pedestal changed to crystal. Seeing what he had done he sat back onto the cold stone floor. He placed his paws flat on the floor in front of him. This caused the floor of the cave to transform into crystal. The dragon began to cry knowing he would always have to be alone. That was his curse. Not only being a dragon but he was cursed to where he would never be able to feel or love again. She started to cry when she saw the crystal droplets fall from his face and crash onto the floor. She felt his pain. She understood his curse. Her heart broke for him.
Soon the dragon crawled out of the cave. She followed him to see where he was going. He perched himself on the side of the mountain. She sat down beside of him. There together they watched as days and nights passed. Seasons changed from one to the next. As the land changed in front of their eyes, she reached over and placed her hand on his knee. With that she woke up with a jerk. She sat straight up. She knew what to do! She got up and walked to the black stone. She placed her hands on the stone. Closing her eyes, she imagined her love, pain, happiness and sorrow.
All that she held in her heart. She opened her right eye slightly to see what was happening. She smiled to see that the stone was changing. She closed her eyes tighter to concentrate harder. She started thinking of her journey, the determination to get there, the need to know, the feeling of excitement, acceleration, the pain from the elements. Nothing stopped her then and nothing was going to stop her now! At that instant the stone burst open, knocking her backwards onto the floor.
The dragon jumped to his feet and ran to her to see if she was alright. She lifted her hand to him for help up off the floor. Instead of helping her he backed away and let out a low growl. She got up and tried to explain to him that it was alright. He did not have to be afraid to touch things anymore. She tried to tell him the curse was broken. The stone was broken. She walked over to the stone. She was amazed at what she saw. She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“Wow!” She exclaimed as she scooped up a handful of diamonds from the pile.
She put them down and went back to try once more to convince the dragon everything was over. The dragon went back and curled up in his corner. He did not feel that it was over. He was still a dragon and he was not willing to take the chance of hurting her.
She went to the dragon and sat down beside of him. Gently she reached over and placed her hand on is head. While rubbing so lightly, she told the dragon that her whole journey had been about chance. It had been about listening to her heart. She told him she took a chance, maybe he ought to listen to his heart and not be afraid of loving and being lived again. She leaned over and kissed him on his snout. She went to the furs to lay down.
The dragon was confused. He did not understand. She touched him, even kissed his snout and she was alright. Why then was he still a dragon?
She knew that the curse was broken. She felt it in her heart. Now all she could do was to wait for him to realize the same. She patiently lay in the furs waiting. She did not care how long it took. She would wait. The warmth from the furs made her drift off to sleep.
When she awakened, she found herself in the arms of a stranger, yet someone very familure. She took a deep breath as she slowly turned to find she was in the arms of the young warrior she had dreamed about. The young warrior that so many years before had been cursed by an evil magician’s hand. Only the heart of a kindred spirit could ever break that curse. She had that heart.
The smiles given to each other said all that needed to be said. As she looked into his deep blue eyes and he into her brown eyes, she gently touched his crooked smile with her fingertips. Without a word being spoken, they both knew that their journeys to this place had been a “JOURNEY WORTH TAKING”.


The End