So, this is how the mysterious journey began.
After saying goodbye to Atesta, Atesta's father left the village that same day carrying only a small sack with some food and some water. He promised Atesta's mother that he would be back one way or another with the cure.
All that people remember now is that a few days after his departure, a small wooden cube with intricate carvings all around had shown up at the doorstep of Atesta's home. Inside there was a round ball that seemed to glow from within. Inside the ball, a small amulet could be seen. The amulet was in the shape of a bone carving that Atesta's father had made for her when she was 6 and that she still carried on a leather string around her neck.
They say that as soon as Atesta's mother brought the box into her room, she opened her eyes and reached out for the cube. She hugged the cube tightly for 2 days without waking up. And on the second day, she woke up, walked to her mother, hugged her, and told her she was better now.
Atesta has told people in the village that at the moment she felt the cube in the room, she felt her father's presence and also that she knew that he was alive somewhere.
Nobody really knew what had happened to Atesta's father or if he was still alive. It had been almost a year since he was seen leaving the village. Atesta knew he was still alive somehow but, recently, she also began feeling a worsening sensation that he was in trouble. She could not explain how she knew. All she knew is that she had to go help him.
For months, Atesta stared at the cube and whispered things into it as she ran her fingers through the intricate carvings on the outside. People thought that was strange but they wondered if the old bond somehow was transcending time and space.
The lines and patterns on the cube were becoming more and more familiar but Atesta did not know why. For months, she took long walks to all the special places she would visit with her father. The caves, the ponds, the creeks, the meadows. She would carry the cube everywhere she went.
Early on she noticed that the round ball inside the cube changed colors and intensity as she walked. It was brighter at the entrance of the caves, bluer when she was close to water, and redder when closer to the meadows. She started tracking and documenting the intensity and color on an old map that her father and her used to record the amazing things that they would see everyday in their walks.
This map was very special to her, and old. When Atesta was 4, her father gave her the map and told her that from this point forward they would record the most beautiful, meaningful, and special things they would see everyday day. But only one thing everyday. He had said that this was a way to better understand the one thing's magic and connection to the universe.
And this is how their bedtime ritual had started. Every night, at bedtime, Atesta and her father would review their day and select the one thing that deserved to be recorded in their map. It was like a diary of a journey of discoveries of the miracles of the world. As a result, they also learned a great deal about each other.
Today, as she looked at the map and some of the old entries, she realized that the lines documenting the ball's color and intensity began to resemble the patterns on the cube and, for the first time, she realized that many of the lines seemed to converge into one distinct area.
Immediately, she knew what that meant. She ran back to the village to collect a few things. She was going to find her father.
She was 14 now and felt confident enough and old enough to do anything humanly possible to find her father and bring him back. She knew people in the village would not agree with what she was about to do so she decided to not tell anybody. She did write a note for her mother explaining that she had to do this. That she could not live a life knowing her father needed her.
And, as her father before her, she left the village with a small sack with some food, some water, her maps, and the cube. And she set out towards the big cave. The one behind the big waterfall. The one where they had written on the map many years ago that this is“where the water, the light, the sound, and the colors can form a mirror to the universe where you can see what you desire most.”
She knew this is where she had to go. She knew this is where her father went.
To be continued ...
After saying goodbye to Atesta, Atesta's father left the village that same day carrying only a small sack with some food and some water. He promised Atesta's mother that he would be back one way or another with the cure.
All that people remember now is that a few days after his departure, a small wooden cube with intricate carvings all around had shown up at the doorstep of Atesta's home. Inside there was a round ball that seemed to glow from within. Inside the ball, a small amulet could be seen. The amulet was in the shape of a bone carving that Atesta's father had made for her when she was 6 and that she still carried on a leather string around her neck.
They say that as soon as Atesta's mother brought the box into her room, she opened her eyes and reached out for the cube. She hugged the cube tightly for 2 days without waking up. And on the second day, she woke up, walked to her mother, hugged her, and told her she was better now.
Atesta has told people in the village that at the moment she felt the cube in the room, she felt her father's presence and also that she knew that he was alive somewhere.
Nobody really knew what had happened to Atesta's father or if he was still alive. It had been almost a year since he was seen leaving the village. Atesta knew he was still alive somehow but, recently, she also began feeling a worsening sensation that he was in trouble. She could not explain how she knew. All she knew is that she had to go help him.
For months, Atesta stared at the cube and whispered things into it as she ran her fingers through the intricate carvings on the outside. People thought that was strange but they wondered if the old bond somehow was transcending time and space.
The lines and patterns on the cube were becoming more and more familiar but Atesta did not know why. For months, she took long walks to all the special places she would visit with her father. The caves, the ponds, the creeks, the meadows. She would carry the cube everywhere she went.
Early on she noticed that the round ball inside the cube changed colors and intensity as she walked. It was brighter at the entrance of the caves, bluer when she was close to water, and redder when closer to the meadows. She started tracking and documenting the intensity and color on an old map that her father and her used to record the amazing things that they would see everyday in their walks.
This map was very special to her, and old. When Atesta was 4, her father gave her the map and told her that from this point forward they would record the most beautiful, meaningful, and special things they would see everyday day. But only one thing everyday. He had said that this was a way to better understand the one thing's magic and connection to the universe.
And this is how their bedtime ritual had started. Every night, at bedtime, Atesta and her father would review their day and select the one thing that deserved to be recorded in their map. It was like a diary of a journey of discoveries of the miracles of the world. As a result, they also learned a great deal about each other.
Today, as she looked at the map and some of the old entries, she realized that the lines documenting the ball's color and intensity began to resemble the patterns on the cube and, for the first time, she realized that many of the lines seemed to converge into one distinct area.
Immediately, she knew what that meant. She ran back to the village to collect a few things. She was going to find her father.
She was 14 now and felt confident enough and old enough to do anything humanly possible to find her father and bring him back. She knew people in the village would not agree with what she was about to do so she decided to not tell anybody. She did write a note for her mother explaining that she had to do this. That she could not live a life knowing her father needed her.
And, as her father before her, she left the village with a small sack with some food, some water, her maps, and the cube. And she set out towards the big cave. The one behind the big waterfall. The one where they had written on the map many years ago that this is“where the water, the light, the sound, and the colors can form a mirror to the universe where you can see what you desire most.”
She knew this is where she had to go. She knew this is where her father went.
To be continued ...
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