Beryl looked towards the sky as she did every day at this time. The clouds were moving by as always and they would take the form in this part of the cloud or that part of the cloud of the spirits that always lived there.
Sometimes the forms would be of animals and other times clearly of people and still other times shapes that she didn’t recognize but were not a shape of a normal cloud so it must have been something she didn’t know about.
It was a special time of the day when she would have her tea. Sometimes her friend Millie would come over and they would both look at the sky and have their tea together.
They had been friends for as long as she could remember and now they were both elderly and looking forward to having more time off since their children had grown up and were enjoying good lives. Beryl and Millie felt very good about that.
They both lived in separate little apartment-like places, sometimes called in-law apartments, in their children’s homes and so they were comfortable and within easy walking distance of each other.
Beryl looked up into the sky again and she wondered when they were going to finish the tower. She and Millie had discussed this so many times but as the tower was being built over the years, and her grandmother and even her great grandmother had mentioned it to her, that it would always either fall down or it would be blown over by a strong wind.
Over the years people learned how to build it better and now her young ones and Millies young ones as well had all discovered how to build it so it was stronger and more durable and the tower didn’t fall over any more. It didn’t blow over even when strong winds would come and it was getting higher and higher.
She noticed, the last time she looked, that it was almost touching where the clouds would be. She thought for a moment about the old stories and how the old ones said if they could only fly up to the clouds and be with the spirits that were there, that the clouds showed every day, that they would be happy and feel wonderful. And so came the project of the tower.
Millie looked at her friend. She knew exactly what Beryl was thinking because Beryl spoke about these matters every day. Millie’s life was different. She had her boyfriend, as she called him although she was too old to be called a girl and he was too old to be called a boy but they liked to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend just for fun.
Millie loved her friend Beryl, and she wanted Beryl to be happy too but Beryl’s children, especially Johan, had made the tower their lives work and so of course it was very important to Beryl.
Beryl spoke all of a sudden, “Look, they’re moving that piece into place. I don’t see how they can move it up like that but they have their ways, these engineers eh?” Millie said, “Mmm, yes.”
And then after a last bit of struggle the final piece went into place and soon the clouds encased it and were moving through and all around the tower. For those who were present there, a great shout of happiness and joy was made. People hugged each other and were even weeping because this was something they had worked so long for - generations of people had tried to do this and now it was going to be possible to visit the spirits in their home.
Millie and Beryl were having the same thoughts and looked at each other and reached over and patted each other’s hands. This was a momentous occasion.
The people who were below the top of the tower looked up at those who had placed the last piece. They could see them climbing up that last piece to be with the spirits and visit them in their home. Soon everyone below the top of the tower could see that their favorite spirit was defined by the clouds and it was that wonderful smiling face that they all loved so much.
High up in the tower Johan was there. He was thrilled to have been part of the group who placed the last piece and he had climbed up with the rest of them. He saw a bit of the smile and knew this must be the smiling face he’d seen so often from the ground. He felt what he could only describe as ecstasy. It was the greatest joy and yet there was an unusual silence. His friends were around him and nearby in other parts of the tower but he felt totally at peace, quiet and still.
In a moment he heard the voice and the Voice said to him, “You have done well to come and visit us in our home. We welcome you and so we will give each of you a gift. You can come only once but we will give everyone their own gift and it will be a story. The stories are meant to encourage life, to support love and to provide a welcoming for all life between you and all life - and between life and all of you. In this way these stories will support the re-blossoming of the best and most benevolent life for all beings.”
Johan was overwhelmed by his feeling of pure love that he felt from the voice. He felt tears of joy streaming down his face and knew that it was time to leave. He started climbing back down.
When he got to the plateau level where others were waiting but still a ways up on the tower, people saw the tears streaming down his face and they knew he must have had a marvelous experience because even though the tears were coming he was smiling and looked joyous.
He climbed back down to the bottom and others hugged him and he hugged them in return. Johan shared what the voice had said and from that day forward people were able to gather stories from the spirits in the sky.
Soon the people all had stories and they told their stories at gatherings. No matter what disputes or arguments had preceded their gatherings, after the stories were told all was forgiven. Love prevailed and a better life was had for all beings.
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Happy Valentine's Day to you all. Goodlife