“I love darkness,” said the Bunny, sitting at the edge of the forest clearing, his ears twitching in the gentle evening breeze. “I love the way everything changes and the world around you gradually becomes less noise and dirty. It leaves a huge place for fantasy and imagination. I love Darkness…”
The Squirel looked confused again. She had met the Bunny just three days ago, and still couldn’t understand why this strange creature wandered through forests at night, all by himself…
“But isn’t the Darkness also the place for secrets?” pointed out the Squirel, glancing nervously at the shadows growing longer between the trees.
The Bunny’s nose twitched as he turned to face the Squirel. His eyes, somehow both gentle and wise, reflected the last rays of the setting sun.
“Not unless you think that way. I have seen even bigger and dreadful secrets being hidden in daytime, when creatures like you never expect that. But I do not blame you for not wanting to see the beauty that the darkness has. In general, creatures like you are always living with precautions and superstitions in the boxed realities of their own. But if only you left your box for a few minutes, you would see that all is different, all is unique and interesting. But you do not want and, well, I do not blame you for that…”
The Squirrel looked at the bunny, suddenly feeling challenged. “I’m not afraid,” she said, although her voice trembled slightly. “I just… I just can’t see in the dark like you can.”
The Bunny’s whiskers twitched with amusement. “Perhaps not with your eyes, but there are other ways to see.Hmm… Close your eyes. Trust me that’s going to be fun.”
“Okaaay. Not that I do not trust you, but it’s already dark. Why do you want me to close my eyes?” the Squirel protested. She hated darkness her entire life. The black, ugly. Ugg… Darkness was her fear.
“Exactly,” said the Bunny. “Now you will begin to truly see.”
So the Squirrel closed her eyes. She felt how the fear was crawling up her spine, like that time when she was a kid and saw the wolf the first time. She trembled… She was not seeing the ‘magic’ the Bunny was telling about.
“I do not see anything.” she protested again.
“Exactly. Feel it! and only after you will see it. Listen. What do you hear?” asked the Bunny.
“I hear… leaves… the river… the small insects crawling the trees… I hear it all.”
“Great! Keep on “seeing” my way. Now what are you smelling?”
The Squirrel took a deep breath and inhaled. “Pine trees… wild flowers… and something sweet, like berries?”
“Exactly. Feel it! and only after you will see it. Listen. What do you hear?” asked the Bunny.”I hear… leaves… the river… the small insects crawling the trees… I hear it all.””Great! Keep on “seeing” my way. Now what are you smelling?”
The Squirrel took a deep breath and inhaled. “Pine trees… wild flowers… and something sweet, like berries?”
“Good,” said the Bunny. “Open your eyes now.”
When the Squirrel opened her eyes, she saw it all. The trees, the insects, the river and of course the darkness transformed. She saw a world that was different. And she was happy that she saw it all…
“It’s… beautiful,” she breathed.
Moral Of The Story
The greatest adventures begin when we step into the unknown, when we leave the boxes we’ve built around ourselves. There is beauty in what you don’t understand, in what you can’t immediately see. Sometimes, you must close your eyes to truly see the world.
