Three First Words

There were two men sitting on an old bus stop bench. Their quiet, soft voices filled the air, as a few cars zoomed by here and there.  One man; an older gentlemen with wrinkled soft skin, and a scruffy white beard had a twinkle in his eye as he spoke.  The other man seemed to be very young, maybe in his late twenties.  He was sharply dressed, and very well groomed.

"That's a nice watch you got on there, I bet it was very expensive", said the older man.

"Thanks, and yes it was", said the younger man, as he looked down at the watch the old man was wearing.  It looked like it was about to fall apart any minute because it was so old.

"Son, let me tell you something", said the older man, with a slightly stern look on his face. "There is a place...which contains more treasures than either you or I can fathom.  There, you will find treasures more precious than any gold or silver you'll find around here, more precious than any ancient statues, and artifacts.  This place is so indescribably beautiful".  The young man saw the peace in his eyes as he looked up towards the sky and let out a large sigh.

"Please, tell me more about this treasure you speak of.  I'd like to know more.  How does one find this place?  Is there some kind of map or something?  ", said the younger man, as he leaned in a little closer

"Yes, in fact there is a map", the old man said with a large grin.  "Though...many people have acquired this map, very few people follow it."  The old man's grin faded into a disappointed frown.

The young man quickly chimed in, "If I were lucky enough to have that map, I would do anything in my power to follow it.  I would give up anything and devote my entire life to trying to find the treasure."

"You see, many people say the same thing.  Once they realize how hard the path is that leads to the treasure, they just give up.  The path is a very hard one to follow.  You will surely run into many very difficult obstacles.  You will have to give up so much", the old man said.  "Once you acquire the map, you will have to tell others about the map, and help them along the path.  If and when you run into obstacles, the map will show you how to overcome them.  And remember one thing...if you wander off course, the map will light your way back on the right path."  The old man pulled what looked like a worn out book from his knapsack and handed it to the young man.  The young man focused on the book as he received it.

"Thank you, Thank you!", the young man exclaimed.  "How can I ever repay...", as the young man looked up, his heart dropped to the floor in total shock that the old man was nowhere to be seen or heard. 

The young man sat alone on the bench still in shock, with the old man's words still lingering in his head.

As he sat there waiting for the bus, the young man became eager to look at the map.  He set the old book on his lap and turned to the first page.  Right then he realized what this "map" was all along and quietly chuckled to himself as he read the three first words..."In the beginning".