The confused girl wandered aimlessly around the neverending valley. Despite the fact that the valley guided her journey she encountered unexpected obstacles along the way. In one moment she could be dealing with a laughing hyena trying to play tricks on her. In the next stretch of the journey, angry crows would be trying to pluck her eyes out.
She never knew what the journey was going to throw at her next but she carried on, resilient and steadfast anyway. If she was honest, the uncertainty made the journey more interesting. Walking aimlessly through a barren chasm with nothing to distract her would probably feel like torture, she reasoned.
Her mission was to find a special treasure. She needed to take this treasure back to the townspeople as a gift. The problem was that no-one had told her which treasure to choose and she only had enough room in her backpack for one item.
The first treasure she came across was a beautiful rock. It sparkled in the sun. The people would find this so pretty, she thought, but it is really heavy and I’m not sure I have the strength to carry it all the way back.
So she walked on.
The next treasure was a glistening elixir. She lifted it and examined it closely and a small label on the elixir explained that it would bring eternal happiness to whoever drank it. Her excitement rose when she thought about what an amazing gift this would be, but then she read the small print. There was only enough elixir in the bottle for three people.
“That’s not enough,” she whispered. “I wanted to take back a gift that everyone could enjoy. And how would I choose which three people would take the elixir?”
So she walked on.
The next item she encountered was a book of wisdom. Its pages were crammed with concepts and sketches to help people live a useful and generous life.
“This is perfect,” she squealed. “Everyone can read this and so there is no limit to who this might help.”
She lifted the book and, although it was heavy, she knew that she could carry the book back home, if she set her mind to it.
But then she noticed what was written as the author’s name. In bold, golden writing on the front of the book, her name was glaring back at her.
“I’d feel such a fraud if people saw that,” she murmured with disappointment. “People would think I was so arrogant. And what if some of the ideas don’t work? People would surely blame me. And if they did work, I would get a lot of attention. I’m not really comfortable with attention.”
So she put the book down and walked on.
Between dodging fierce tigers, sheltering from storms and rescuing a group of baby birds who had fallen out of their nest, her journey continued. With each step she grew increasingly tired. At times, she thought she might not be strong enough to finish the journey at all.
Eventually she stumbled across a huge bottle of perfume. She took the lid off and breathed the aroma in deeply. It was a beautiful unique smell.
“It’s a fine perfume,” she sighed, “but I’m not sure it will be to everyone’s liking. I will be able to share it with more people than the elixir but it will have less value to the people who use it. Not everyone will be able to benefit in the same way as they would have with the book, but at least I wouldn’t risk being judged. It is much lighter than the beautiful stone but not everyone will appreciate it.”
Then, with sadness, she realised how tired she was. She was so much closer to the end of her journey but if she encountered any of the previous treasures at this point, she wasn’t sure that she would have enough energy to carry them the short distance home. Even the perfume bottle felt heavy in her hand now.
“Maybe I’ll find a better gift in the home stretch that is lighter for me to carry,” she reasoned. “I have enough energy to get this home but its value is not worth the effort.”
So she placed the perfume bottle back where she found it, deciding that she would continue to look for a better gift that was light enough for her to carry.
And she walked on.
Days later, she arrived back in the town with tired legs and an empty back. Her journey was complete but she had no gifts to share and no strength to face another day.
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