Once upon a time (which is the way that all tales begin), there was a girl who lived within an old walled garden. The garden was filled with all manner of roses and rare flowers, and was a place of immense solace and serenity.
This girl in the garden was the embodiment of kindness and gentleness. The light within her was so radiant that small animals would draw near her just to bask in its glow, and one smile from her could lighten the hearts of anyone who visited her.
Of course, every light casts a shadow of some sort, and although the girl was kind, and gracious, and luminous, one only had to look into her eyes to see the sorrow within them. It was not uncommon for her to be found curled up within a tree's roots, weeping, though she would smile through her tears if a visitor came along, and do her best to make them welcome.
A fox happened to pass through this magical little garden one day, and was startled to find the young woman sitting near the creek bed. He approached her with caution, as wild animals have long discovered that not all humans are kind, but he had never seen anyone cry before, and was curious. Her shoulders shook as she wept, and it was only when a small twig snapped beneath one of his paws that she discovered she was no longer alone.
"Good day to you, Mister Fox. My apologies - I did not hear you coming." She smiled softly and smoothed her skirts, seeming to brighten at his company.
"Why are you crying?" the he asked her. "I have travelled the land for many years, and this is one of the loveliest places I've ever visited. How could anyone experience sorrow here?"
Wiping her eyes on the back of one hand, she held the other out to the fox and opened it to reveal a small, glowing coal.
“This is why I cry”, the girl said. “It burns me every moment of every day, and though I can pretend to forget about it for a little while, now and again, the pain eventually becomes too great and I have no choice but to curl up and weep for the agony of it.”
The fox moved a bit closer to her so he could get a better look at her hand, and noticed that there was no cord or chain binding the ember to her body.
“Why do you hold onto this coal if it causes you so much pain?” he asked.
The girl blinked as though confused. “What do you mean? How could I possibly let go of it? It has been with me for as long as I can remember, and holds countless many memories for me. Even though it causes me great suffering, I love it, in my own way. It’s part of me—of who I am.”
Fox tilted his head inquisitively. "But if you were to drop it, it would stop burning you. As soon as you let it go, you would begin to heal."
The girl sat silently for a few minutes, tears streaming down the sides of her face. "I’ve lived with this pain for so long that I'm afraid of what might happen if I let it go. I don’t know who I would be without it."
Photo by Katerina Plotnikova
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