The Explorer
A story we've all forgotten about the choice to be brave.
A ball of bright light gently sits in the middle of a starry blue sky.
A bunch of squawking seagulls cover the ball, the rays of light shine through the empty spaces between them.
The joy of seagulls is infectious.
One seagull in particular looks to his brother seagull, who laughs the warmest laugh into his eyes.
The receiving seagull smiles.
Today couldn't get any better.
All of a sudden...an EXPLOSION!
The seagulls' faces, panicked.
They all fly away as they're tossed into the stars.
The receiving seagull, we will call Gary.
Gary finds himself flying above the clouds, searching for a piece of land.
He feels confused and lost.
Lonely at his core.
SLAM!
He hits into something and all goes black...
"Gary? Slow it down." An angelic bird sits on a loveseat across from Gary.
They are in a waiting room, sort of normal, besides the fact that he is sitting next to an angel!
"Remember the exact moment you got separated."
Back to the laughing seagulls.
Across from Gary, the seagull's eyes are full of tears of joy.
The smile of a warm friend.
"It's been so long since I've felt this", Gary exclaims.
"Now what happens next?"
"Ah! An explosion!", Gary tenses. "They all left!"
"Slow, slow. What really happened?"
"Ok. Hmm. That's weird." The softness of Gary's voice trails.
"What do you see?"
"There was no explosion. They all started to go one way. And I went a different way," he says, matter-of-factly.
"I wanted to find somewhere new."
His eyes squint and concentrate harder.
"I was just exploring. Just curious, I guess."
An innocence washes over him.
"So you chose to go out on your own? And explore?"
The angel tilts her head forward as her glasses fall upon the bridge of her nose.
"Yes! I guess I did!" Gary exclaims with relief.
"So you chose to be alone?"
"Well then. Yes", the wheels turn in Gary's head.
"So what have you learned?"
The angel puts a pen to her clipboard.
"Well, I guess I would have gone back to my brothers and sisters if I didn't die out there. So...I was never really alone."
"I just chose to go my own way."
"I still had the love of my brothers and sisters with me!"
"Maybe they didn't understand, but that's ok!"
"I was being brave!"
"You were being brave." The angel smiles.
"So there's no reason to feel bad about all that, is there? About leaving your family?"
The angel listens closely.
"No. No there isn't", Gary's body relaxes.
The angel looks into Gary's eyes with the same warmth he's been missing.
"You're an explorer, Gary."
At peace, he smiles.
Written By: Dana Kippel