They soon long to grow up and taste the sweetness of freedom. To leave the nest, the shelter, the confines. To release the wish-granting genie. Some are in a great hurry because of the deprivation they have endured. Others, who have been overindulged, cling to their mother’s skirts, trembling with fear.
The clock hurries them along. It is time! The child and their innocence approach the precipice… Time is up! The child leaps into the void. Their innocence remains on high, and the void receives a new cynic.
The struggle begins, the power games, the fight for survival, the treasure hunt. Who will dig deepest? Who will search for the summit in the depths? Why does nothing taste of anything any more? Why do kisses no longer taste like kisses, nor embraces like embraces? What is this I am digging?
Some notice the trap of empty dreams and put down their shovels. They climb back up the slope where they left their most precious possession. They leave behind the void of muted colours, long faces, and furrowed brows. They dance again, paint, sing, perform, look into one another’s eyes. They laugh at their embarrassment and marvel at their feats. “Was I capable of this?”
She waits for them with an outstretched hand and a smile. When they meet, she says:
“You took your time, but at last you are back.
I will show you another path. One that, invisible to the eyes, stays suspended on high.
We will cross the void.
You will return to colours, to kisses that kiss, to embraces that embrace, to magic.
We will cross the bridge of the invisible, and your heart will be filled.
As we cross it, you will wonder why you were afraid, why you worried, why you doubted.
And in the end, you will understand that a full heart cannot be afraid, and that your treasures were waiting for you right inside.”