From Dakota's book of fairy tales - The sequel

Inside she offered him some refreshments and a place to sit and all of a sudden she realised that it had been a while since she had company. ‘Yes, it has been while’ the messenger said. ‘Did I just say that out loud’ the lady asked whilst thinking ‘I must be losing my marbles’. ‘No’ the messenger said ‘I just know things!’ enjoying his little pie she had given him.
In the mean time the lady wasn’t able to enjoy any of it. She was eagerly awaiting his important message. At one point she just couldn’t stand it anymore, so she straightforward asked him ‘you said you had an important message for me, so what is it?’ ‘Oh’ the man said, while swallowing the last bit of pie ‘I’m here to tell you about this great invention called the internet!’ The lady looked at him rather puzzled. ‘What about it?’ ‘Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s out there and I love it’ ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ the lady said ‘that’s has been out there for ages now, how can that be so important. That’s nothing new!’ By the time she finished her last words she had turned quite red in the face and was feeling a bit frustrated. She had actually trusted this messenger; let him into her house, offered him refreshments and now he was telling her something this ridiculous…grrrr..how annoying! The messenger looked at her with a pleased grin on his face. Oh, she just couldn’t stand it anymore. ‘Well, if that’s all you have to say, I think it’s is time you left. I would rather be alone now’. The messenger just nodded and said ‘I know you want me to leave and I also know that you would rather be alone.’

‘Actually, now that we are on the subject, your loneliness is, in fact, the reasons why I’m here. I came here today to warn you, so listen very carefully! ‘For the last couple of years, you’ve been living here all by yourself, all safe and neatly tucked away from the outside world.
Unfortunately you haven’t been living at all, you just merely existed’.
The woman started to utter some objections, but the man just shushed her. ‘Don’t object, just listen’ he said and continued ‘in order to live life and exist you can’t shut yourself away from the outside world. When you do that, you are missing out on too many things. Can you even remember the last time you laughed so hard you thought you were going to pee your pants? Can you remember the last time you had diner with a friend? Or how about, a simple nice chat? According to my information it has been a while!’ The lady’s face had turned from red to a light shade of white by now. It all sounded so right, so she nodded slowly. ‘You are right’ she said ‘but there is a reason for that. Every time I go out, every time I open the door and let somebody in, every time I’ve trust someone, I’m the one who’s getting hurt. And quite frankly, I’m getting sick and tired of getting hurt, sick of all the distrust, all the arguments and sorrow.’ ‘Oh, you have a point there’ the messenger said ‘that’s all out there in the great evil outside world! But don’t you miss all the fun stuff? Your friends, other people, the laughs, the chats, the smiles, the companionship, hugs & kisses, or how about touching another human being?’ The lady slowly nodded again. She had been missing all that stuff for some time now. ‘Can’t I have one without the other?’ she asked, ‘Isn’t it possible to only have the fun bits?’ ‘No’, the messenger said ‘because that won’t be living life either’. ‘Man, this is complicated’ she said and she sighed.

They sat quietly for a while. Then she asked ‘Is that the important message you have for me? That I can’t have one without the other?’ ‘No, my message to you is this, you have to start living again, take some chances, get out there or else you are going to die a lonely old lady one day’ he said. ‘Life is out there, waiting for you to join in and I can tell you this…..everything out there is so much better than everything in here. Even the air is fresher outside’ he said while he sniffed. She sighed again, wondering what to do with this information. Then she said ‘but I can’t just go out there, I’ve been indoors too long. I probably will get sick and if I won’t get sick there will be other problems…..I don’t know anyone out there. People here, don’t know me, I haven’t spoken to my friends in ages. I can’t just walk out there and say Hello world, I am the lady of the house, now can I?’ ‘Yes, you can! All that is needed is a bit of guts’ he said while he handed her some nuts. ‘Have the guts, to go nuts’ he added with a big smile on his face. ‘You know, you have started a war against life and that is something you can do all by yourself. For peace you need two parties and that’s why I am here. I am here to represent life in this case. Together we are going to make peace’. The lady still looked at him in disbelief and sighed ‘maybe in the morning. I don’t think I can do that today. ’ ‘No, not tomorrow, you have to start working on this today. You’ve been waiting too long…..just believe in yourself and get out there. The world and life is waiting for you.’ ‘Hmm, maybe life is but I am not so sure about the world….’ she said. ‘Of course, you’ll see, just grab your coat and lets go’ the messenger said. She hesitated a bit longer and asked herself ‘do I really want to go out there again? Do I really need all that? Who needs to live life anyway? But if I don’t live I might as well be dead right now! And besides, didn’t this guy just show me I can just as easily be hurt and disappointed in my own house too. What do I have to lose?’

‘Right’ the messenger said ‘let’s go!’ He helped her in her coat, handed her a scarf and some gloves while they walked in the direction of the door. ‘Oh, wait a moment, there is something else you need to know before we go. The people outside think you are living in a castle.’ ‘Huh, as you can see, I live in a normal house! My home is my castle, but that’s all. Like I said, and as you can see, this place has no castle characteristics at all. Why would they think such a thing?’ ‘Well, they think you are unapproachable and that’s why they can only see the castle now. You are known as the lady of the castle. When you look down from your bedroom window, they see you looking down on them from a tower.’ ‘How odd’ she said. ‘Yeah, I know! I even had to pretend a bit when I came here. When I asked for directions, people kept directing me towards a castle and I have been searching for a castle ever since, but wasn’t able to find it until it finally became clear to me that they saw a castle that didn’t existed. So, I prepared a whole song and dance to get in here’ ‘Aha, that’s what all the racket was about?’ ‘Yup, now let’s go…..I’ve some other stuff that’s need to be done today as well’.

They walked towards the door, the lady just a couple of steps behind the messenger. It really looked like she was pretty unsure about the whole thing. The messenger reached for the doorknob but then she stopped him while his hand was nearly there. The lady obviously had caught up with him when she did that ;). ‘You know, maybe this isn’t such a good idea’ ‘Now hold on, you can’t back out now! You’re nearly there’ ‘Oh’ she laughed ‘I’m not changing my mind. I just think that this is a big step and if anybody has to take it, it’s gotta be me!’ Her hand reached for the knob and she turned it. Slowly she opened the squeaking door and looked outside. ‘Oh, that looks nice” she said surprised and ‘smell that fresh air. I want to go out right now’ ‘Well, go on then, what are you waiting for’ the man said. And with a hop, a skip and a jump the lady was outside, breathing in as much of the fresh air as she possibly could right that instant. The people outside looked at it in wonder. Who was that lady? They had never seen her before. Was it possible that that was the lady of the castle? No!! It couldn’t be her! In unison they looked up at the castle and stood there in awe. Where once had stood a castle there now was an ordinary house. Could that be? One person passed the lady and touched the house in disbelieve. ‘Ehmm’ he stuttered ‘arrrre you the lady of the castle?’ ‘No, I am the lady of the house’ she replied with a big grin on her face. ‘See, there is no castle, just a house and oh, by the way, my name is Caithleen, what’s yours?’ ‘Martin! Nice to meet you Caithleen’ he said. The other people came closer and they all started to introduce themselves.
It didn’t take long, after a short period of time people were chatting happily but then Caithleen realised that she hadn’t seen the man anymore. She looked around, ‘where is he?’ she thought. ‘Maybe he’s still inside the house?’ She excused herself and walked towards the door. She didn’t had to enter the house though, because right there on the doormat, exactly where she had last seen him, was a note and all it said was:
“Don’t ever lock yourself away again; don’t ever throw away the key,
They say “If you love someone, set them free”;
I would like to change that into: If you love yourself, set yourself free.
Love life and live to love.
Enjoy the great outdoors!!

I'll be seeing you”

*THE END*