Child of the Dawn

Bear with my metaphor and maybe you'll when you're done reading, you'll understand what I'm trying to say ...

In a little village in a dark, smothering jungle, the chief became the proud father of a new heir.  It had been a long wait.  Some of the village folk had begun to wonder if the chief ever would be able to bring forth any offspring.  He had taken himself many brides, and  tried in many ways to secure his future linage, but without success.  Some of the older folk had begun to think that this was an omen, that the chief's line just was not meant to rule.  Maybe it was time to appoint a new leader who would provide secure leadership for the village in the years to come.

Needless to say, the chief had done his best to assure the village that he what it took to be leader ... and that there would, someday, be a future leader.  But he himself was beginning to doubt that a child would come, who could calm the troubled minds of the village folk.  And then it happened.  One morning, the chief's youngest wife, after a bad case of morning-sickness, respectfully, yet excitedly approached the chief where he sat, troubled on his bamboo porch, and told that a child was on its way.

In joyous ecstasy, the chief stood up, and shouted "The ancestors have spoken!  The ancestors have spoken!"  The village folk began to gather, thinking their leader had finally gone crazy.  "The ancestors have spoken!"  Before long the whole village stood in front of the little bamboo hut.  "The ancestors have spoken!  A child will be born, who will lead the village!"  The village had wished for an heir for a long time, but there were serious doubts in their minds as to whether this really could happen ... so they brought the old medicine woman.  After a few long tense minutes, which were filled with silent hum as the village folk deliberated on the validity of the chief's ecstatic shouts, the old woman came out of the dark hut and stood on the porch.  "The chief will bear a son, who will lead our people!" she echoed through the village.  The tense air that hung in village, like heavy drapes, suddenly vanished ... as all those gathered began to rejoice ... because a child would be born, who they had hoped for so long.

No work was done the next few days, as young and old sang and danced around little fires between their dark little bamboo huts.  They ate and drank as they had not done in years, for it had been years since they had had a reason to be happy.  A thick cloud of smoke hung, like a dense fog, around the huts and between the trees of that little village, and the echo of drums carried through the darkness that lay beyond.  The chief sat on his porch, looking over the festivities, a proud man.  No longer was there the thought of the silent disrespect from the village fathers, for now the chief too would be a father.  The chief's other wives danced around the one would bear the heir ... deep inside they envied, that they were not the one to bear this honor.  The whole village was filled with joyful commotion.

In the days that followed, the village was a completely different place.  Village folk went about their work in the usual way ... the men went out hunting ... the women cooked over little fires in their huts ... but they had a new joy, which sprouted from the hope that their village did have a future.  The chief accompanied the men to the hunting grounds, as he had not done in years.  He walked more upright than ever, as though he was somehow taller than the folk could remember him.

Then the day came when this child was born, and as he cried out his first cry, the village began to shout "The ancestors have spoken!  The ancestors have spoken!"  This day brought about more joyful celebration than the day on which the announcement was made.  But in this happiness hid a dark sting which the chief would not see for years to come.  This child bore more than what his father expected.

As years rolled by, this child was raised in the best possible way, which happened to be the traditional way.  He enjoyed privileges no other child could experience.  He was loved and cared for by the whole village.  He was taught all kinds of things so that he would have the knowledge to lead.  But as the child grew up, a little problem began to surface.  It seemed that the boy had an unusually high level of curiosity.  It did not start with much, just simple questions.  "What is fire?"  "What are trees?"  "What is chief?"  "Why?"  "Why?"  "Why?"  The chief brushed any concerns off at first, reassuring his conscience that his son was just a little boy ... and that little boys do have questions.  As the years went by, the boy's questions were answered, but a day came when the harmony was shattered.  The boy asked his father "Why is our village so dark?", for the dark, dark jungle really was a dark, dark place.  His father replied "The village isn't dark when you get used to it.  That's the way it is."  Unsatisfied with this answer, the boy asked anyone he came across, the same question.  But no one could satisfy the question.

One night the boy's curiosity became too much to bear, and he sneaked out of the dark little bamboo hut and set out to find the end of the darkness.  The boy walked for hours on end, over little stream ... under giant ferns, with dew dripping from the tips of their giant leaves.  Just when the boy was beginning to think that his quest was in vain, he came to a clearing on hill.  As he looked up, he saw darkness above, and he felt a sense of despair.  But then he noticed something twinkling in the dark sky.  And then another.  And another.  Soon he saw that the would sky was filled with little twinkling lights.

Overwhelmed and tired, the boy sat down on a damp rock, and stared at the stars.  The time rolled by, but the boy did not notice, because the stars really were beautiful for him.  After a considerable time, he began to notice a change in the sky.  It was somehow lighter.  First he thought he was just imagining it, but it really seemed to be growing lighter.  The black of the overhead sky turned bluish grey ... and gradually became lighter ... and lighter ... and lighter.  The boy felt sure that something significant was going to happen, for he had never seen something like this.  The sky started to get a pinkish tint.  Then it grew brighter pink ... and then it turned to orange.  Still it grew lighter ... and lighter.

A suddenly calm fell over the hill, and over the jungle, and the birds, and the breeze.  And then it happened.  A big bright disc of orange light peeped over the horizon, it's warm light fell on the boy.  He shielded his eyes with one hand, and tried to look at that light.  But the light was too bright to see.  Now the boy could see the bright green tops of the trees and the jungle.  Now he knew there was an end to the dark.