A Dark View of the World….
Once upon a time in a far-off land there lived an old blind man.
Some of his neighbours said that he was at least ninety years old but there was
no one around who could verify his date of birth. He was in fact 93 years of
age and had lived through all types of hardship, both personal and national,
throughout his life. However he did not have one ounce of bitterness in the
smallest bone in his body. In fact, he still loved life and looked forward to
even better times to come.
It was during the great
fire seventy years ago that he had lost his sight but he could
still see clearly in his mind’s eye the beauty of the landscape that he had
enjoyed from boyhood.
He merely had to relax in the bright sunshine and he could ‘see’ some of the
most beautiful sights that those with two good eyes were blind to. When one of
the village children brought him his food they would usually bring him also one
of the bright coloured flowers from the riverbank. He could ‘see’ the bright
yellow of the flower and the red streaks that traced their way through the
petals. He could ‘see’ the
lightly coloured green stalk and the one leaf that each stalk held. Ah but the
scent. Now that was real. The all-powerful aroma that brought back memories of
his beloved wife caused the salty tears to form in his unseeing eyes and to
roll down his cheeks into the corner of his mouth.
The same fire that cost him his sight had also cost him his beloved.
When the flames raced through the long grasses towards them they had tried to
outrun them. She had tripped and fallen. When he heard her cry he had not
hesitated, he had turned and run back into the danger that was obvious but
without a second thought he would willingly have given his life to save hers. It was not to be. He had
picked her up and with his clothing and hair alight, he had run carrying her.
He ran like a man possessed until he reached the riverbank.
He could barely see but without hesitation he jumped from the
bank into the dangerous river knowing that there were things there that were
just as dangerous as the fire. He had swum out into the middle of the river
holding dearly to his beloved. He could not see anything at all now but it did
not worry him. All his thoughts were on his beloved and the fact that he could
feel not a trace of a pulse. He
refused to accept that she was dead and held tightly to her whilst threading
water...............
It was then that he heard the crack, crack cracking of rifle
fire from the riverbank. He also heard the laughter of the white-mens’ voices
shouting and cheering. He heard the splash, splash splashing as bullets hit the
water around him. But he still clung to his beloved. He now knew that she was
dead but also knew that she deserved a proper ritual burial. For that reason he
would not release her body.
As he took the deepest breath that he had ever taken, he prayed
to his spirit guide for protection. He then dived under the water until he
reached the riverbed some fifteen feet deep. He held firmly onto his beloved
with one arm and to a large rock with the other for what seemed like ten
minutes. It was probably not that long but if he could only hold on for another
minute or two maybe the white-men would leave and he could reach the riverbank.
Still clinging to his beloved, he silently swam to the bright
sky, which he could still see through his closed burned eyes. He put his head
above the water and listened for any human sound. There was total silence...............
He swam to the shore and lay on the water’s edge with his
beloved beside him. Within minutes he heard a noise coming towards him from the
nearby reeds. A voice spoke to him in his native tongue and he realised that he
was now safe. He told the other about his blindness and the other helped him to
carry his beloved into the nearby bushes.
Suddenly, the old man awoke...........
With the warm sunshine on his face he had fallen asleep and
dreamt of the past. He was happy that he felt no bitterness or hatred within
himself for something that had not only changed his life all those years ago
but which had also changed his land for all time.
The year was 1930 in the ‘outback’ of Australia where the
white settlers were paying retribution on the Native Australians for stealing some
chickens to feed their families.
-----------Mike---------
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