Fire

ummm... yeah... rambling

     An old man nearing death after a long illness lie in his bed begging the spirit horse to come take him to the great bull of heaven and his place at the council fire. Many nights he prayed and begged until the horse finally came… and as they raced through the sky, for the first time he was scared. And a great weight set in upon his shoulders and chest. They rode on through the night and the horse said sleep, all men must take the journey, and the mans eyes grew heavy as if the weight from his chest and shoulders were now pulling his eyelids down.  When he awoke the horse was no where to be seen and he lay at the edge of a great fire so brilliant the heavens seemed ablaze. On the other side he could see faces and people from long ago but he saw no place for him to join them. And a thunderous voice said… “tell me why?”… “tell me what you have done that I should allow you to join us by the fire?”… and for the second time the man was afraid… the weight upon his chest seemed as if to double. He looked up into the face of the great bull of heaven and cowered in its questioning, doubtful gaze. The voice came again… "Each flame my friend is a piece of your life, look upon your life and tell me why you should be seated at our fire.”. The man turned and stared into the flames…and dancing inside he could see his past… in every memory he gazed upon his weaknesses, his desires, all of his failures and the desperation with which he had lived… and the weight upon him seemed to double again…he could barely breathe, and felt as if his knees would snap under the burden… and he began to weep…and for the third time he was not only afraid he was terrified, when in the fire flickered HER face, their love, their passion, their devotion, and the life they had shared. Suddenly the weight was gone. The fire roared… sending flames to even greater heights… and still the man wept, but he also smiled… he watched as the people on the other side rose and made a place clear… and they smiled at him… he slowly turned to the great bull of heaven and this time he did not cower, and in the bulls eyes he saw joy and friendship and compassion, through his tears he proudly and boldly stated three words… “I created fire.”