He closed his book. The boy, Jacob, sighed after finishing the book for the third time on the bus. He was always read that one story from his mother.
The Ugly Duckling… I always wonder if the moral really is a moral. I never really accepted it. the boy thought. Why? Why should the duck--person-- be accepted? That doesn’t always happen. After all, isn’t everyone unique? But if everyone is unique, then isn’t everyone normal? Isn’t everyone accepted?... They should be if the moral, “today’s ugly duckling can be tomorrow’s beautiful swan”, but it’s not. Some people just aren’t accepted. They aren’t conforming to society’s beliefs. But then again, how does the word, unique, and, normal, even come in the same sentence? Does society consider us unique, or does he mock and laugh at us in the ways we bow down to him?
The bus was nearing his stop. Wherever it was. He wasn’t one who liked staying in one place, having stability; he was in love with taking risks--
Part of my story, he thought. Not the type of story you write down in your journal, the ones you give to your children, and then they give to their children’s children. No, Jacob thought. The type that was part of him, his personality, His Story; in which the complete version would die with him, never to be read from another.
His belt was jammed. He tugged but it wouldn’t budge. He sat there, calm, as the bus doors closed again and started to speed up again.
I guess I wasn’t meant to go there, wherever. Maybe the next stop.
He tried her, the belt, again, surprised there even were belts in this bus, but not surprised or even annoyed, that the belt unlocked easily, almost as if by himself.
“I am saving you from deep sorrow,” the belt spoke to his heart--or soul. Jacob still hadn’t figured those two out yet.
“I know. I am not angered, in fact, thank you.” his heart replied back.
He considered himself a nobod-- no… A nomad. A wanderer of the lands, which most thought were modern, but he thought was still in the stone ages. But he also thought that he was as they say, “old school” compared to others in general. The way he spoke, walked, lived. He believed in things that God told him, things like that our hearts, are like light, which guides us and guides others as well. And these days, we were in need of it the most. We are in the Night of Civilization, where we are surrounded by darkness, but the only reason we continue, is because of the Light of Hope shining from the deepest, most pure part of our hearts, Jacob thought.
The ugly duckling… That’s who I am. With a different moral. He had realized that he accepted who he was, but didn’t fully know who he was in the first place. He wondered what his purpose was, here on earth; in the universe. He knew what he was, not what he would become, which only his Lord knew.
But the concept of God baffled him too. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it, he believed that that concept was beyond our human’s imagination, and that the only souls who completely understood it and were living, were the souls surrounding him. The mountains, sand, water. They all knew because they watched in awe as God created them.
But he knew that he would find out, since his dream, a version of a premonition, had told him. And he knew that it wasn’t just his false hopes, but the truth, since dreams were given by God himself.
In his dream, he was sitting on the sand, looking up to the sky, his eyes watering, where then he followed the rays of light down to a glimmer. And he saw that the glimmer came from a chest.
Definitely a treasure chest, Jacob thought.
In the dream lifted himself up, but he felt so light as if someone picked him up from his tunic without any sign of it. He was barefoot, but his feet didn’t burn from the reflection onto the sand. His feet actually felt, cold. He started walking to it, drawn by the glisten it had by the sun. He didn’t see it before, now he saw it, and suddenly it started to fade, as if to become like it was never there. Jacob started running, faster, then he realized that the treasure wasn’t moving closer, as if he were running in the same place. He stopped. He then woke up.
He was so astonished but confused by the dream at the time he woke up. It felt so real, much more real than any other dream he had dreamt.
He dreamt this when he was at “home” (which never actually felt like an actual home, because a house is different from a home) and realized that he must leave, to find his Purpose, His story. And so he had, even though his parents didn’t fully support him.
The most prominent thing Jacob remembers about the moment he told his parents about him leaving, is when his mother said, “I don’t completely support you, but you are my son, so I will always keep you in my prayers.”
Jacob checked his workbag and took out his “dream dictionary” as he liked to call it, and studied and interpreted his dream:
“Let’s see…” He uttered under his breath.
The key words he looked for were treasure chest, barefoot, cold, fade, and running. What was said about the treasure chest was that “dreaming you find treasures indicates you have found a hidden talent. It shows your self worth and what you will or can offer to the world. On the other hand, the dream may be a symbol for something or someone that your value or ‘treaure’,” Jacob mumbled as read.
He then began to find a section about being barefoot…
Dreaming you’re barefoot shows that you have a relaxed-and-carefree frame of mind. On the other hand, being barefoot in a dream can also symbolize restricted mobility, poverty, or misunderstanding. You could possibly have low self-esteem or lack confidence. Or you’re dealing with ideas concerning your self-identity and are unprepared for what is in the near future of you,” He mumbled again.
“When you are cold…” He said. “... You be feeling emotionally isolated. This can also mean that you have just or are going to experience a breakthrough in an area of your life. This could also reflect…” He then realized that he was speaking louder than usual. Thankfully barely anyone was in the bus and he was the only one in the back except for a boy across from him on his left. He continued.
“When an object fades it can symbolize that you have a lack of motivation or inspiration…”
“When running toward something or someone, you have a willingness to confront a situation headstrong, and are determined to go for what you want.”
He was done looking up words. He had enough to interpret with.
“Hey, I think I have the same book as you!”
Jacob then realized after a few moments that the boy sitting near him was speaking to him. He hadn’t talked to someone who looked his age for a while. His heart spoke to many, but his mouth spoke to few.