Part of my habit every time I feel reading is to scan first those old book stuff of mine. This time, I found one of my most like story in an old book during my high school years and I just felt the need of sharing it with you guys. Who knows, it might be of help to ease that depressing thoughts and loneliness and may be a source of inspiration and an appreciation of life with your love ones.
Here it goes...
"Among the Navaho Indians was an initiation rite for young boys before they were accepted into the tribe as warriors. The moment a boy was between the ages of 13 and 14 years, his father would take him to the forest for the initiation. There would be only the two of them, and they would bring nothing except the horse they rode on. The forest was dense, and it could be very warm there.
As night fell, the father told his son, "You have to pass this test my son, or else I will be shamed before our tribe. you will not be accepted by the tribe, and you will never be recognized as a grown-up man. If you do not pass the initiation ceremony, you will never qualify as a soldier."
The boy had to obey his father. He trembled with fear. He could not complain though his father told him, "I will leave you here now, my son. There is no food, and you have no weapon for self-defense. Help yourself."
In the dark the father left the boy. Alone, the boy leaned against the trunk of a big tree. He shivered in the cold night but sweated beads of perspiration because he was afraid. Every rustle of the leaves made him tremble because it might mean a wild beast. Every squeak in the branches of the trees seemed to him a wild beast ready to pounce on him. Every step might be that of a leopard or a wolf about to devour him.
So he could get no sleep. He shivered, thinking: "What kind of father is he? If he really loved me, why did he conform to the laws of the tribe and leave me here to die? Why did he have to abandoned me for the sake of his pride?"
But then he could not cry out to complain because he was afraid that if he cried, wild beast might come and tear him to pieces. He was even careful about his breathing because it might attract the beast. He kept still because whenever he moved, he feared that it was not his movement. Finally, he grew sleepy. He fell asleep terrified with fear.
Morning came. The sun emerged from the mountains casting its resplendent beams like the illumination of thousand diamonds reaching the earth, beautiful as creation, the streaks of light sparkling on the dewy leaves of the trees.
As he beheld the glorious morning, the boy was speechless and wondered how he had survived the night. In exultation he shouted, "I am alive!"
He realized there were no wolves and no other fierce wild beasts there. Then he looked, and about ten feet from him, what did he see? his own father! All alone, his father guarded him with his bow and arrow and with his hunting knife.
In tears over this joyful discovery, he ran to his father and embrace him, saying, "Oh! Father! I thought you had abandoned me!"
His father whispered, "No, my son, I could not abandon you in the fearful night. I was here with my bow and arrow ready to shoot down any wild beast that might get near you. How could I abandon you? even when you were so afraid in the dark, I was there with my eyes searching through the darkness and watching over you. I was always there."
A beautiful story indeed. if you have any comment about the story, please feel free to do so..
Oh, by the way, I included in this blog a picture of me and my beloved jipsy - my source of inspiration, love, happiness, and hope..
