The Prison

 In a distant land, beyond seven deserts, seven seas, and seven mountains, a boy lives in a majestic castle with his father and family. In this castle everything was provided free of charge to him, the laws of nature had no control here and was changed at will to suit the situation. The castle also had a large garden containing every known and unknown specie of plants and animals some of which were similar to those found in the normal world far away, but no specie was harmful to the other. The castle was so vast the top could not be seen, so wide the edges could not be seen. There was no night but perpetual light all year round.

Though a large house it was, there were no servants. Everyone was equally a child of one father and not one above the other but somehow, the castle maintained itself. Food was always served, as if done by invisible servants and everything ordered itself so no one needed to do any cleaning or preparation of anything.

Of all the children in this house, one was particularly unique. Somehow, he became ashamed of this free life. He wanted to earn things for himself and not have everything given to him at a single thought of it.

His dissatisfaction grew into pain and depression and he stopped playing with the other children and spent all his time in solitude wishing he could get out of this kind of life.

One day his condition was reported to his father who demanded to see him. He was summoned before the father who was already sitting in one of the massive living rooms, wandering what may be the hurt his son felt in this land were pain is utterly unknown. When he was in the presence of his father, he was asked what the source of his pain was. He replied saying he wanted to earn all he got for himself and did not want anything given to him for free or done automatically. This baffled the father and he wondered what may have come over this boy. But after moments of contemplation, the father called him forth and asked him if he was really sure about the choice he was about to make. Bright were the boys eyes, gleaming with joy and he nodded rapidly in acceptance. Then the father touched his forehead and in a

single flash, he disappeared. Moments later, he was being born as a child in another land by a woman.

Except for the absence of the grand castle and presence of natural laws like gravity, this land looked very much like the one he had come from but a little grey and less perfect. One surprising thing that happened is that the boy forgot all about where he had come from the moment he was born and was a child like every other in this world.

Fortunately, he was born into a very wealthy family who loved and cared for him so much. His father owned a large company and since he was their only child and since his parents planned not to have any other children he was heir to his father’s business empire.

He had a nice childhood which ran very fast and turned him into an adult in so short a time it seemed. He went to high school with his peers and also attended a prestigious college. When he was through with his college education, preparations were been put in place to train to him to take over his father’s enterprise since the father was ageing and soon to retire.

Just a week before the day he was to be formally introduced to the board of directors, he watched an advertisement on TV describing a land of perfection far away. The advert further stated that there was a map to this land to be given free to all who decide to take the adventure. An address where the map could be collected from was also displayed on the screen.

The next one week was spent in contemplation as he wondered the possibility of a place more perfect than the one he was currently in, for his was very rich and comfortable life. After long and hard deep thinking, he decided to take an adventure to this perfect land.

One faithful day, he went to the place were he was to be given the map to the land of perfection. On reaching there he met and old man at the desk. Before he asked any questions, a card was handed out with six statements on it. He asked that he need the map, but the old man told him that every road out of the city led to the land of perfection only six rules were need to guide him.

There were seven major roads out of the city he lived in each having a signpost painted in one of the following seven colors: red, indigo, green,

orange, yellow, sky blue, and violet. The old man told him that which ever route he took will one day lead him to the land of perfection, so in his mind he choose the road with the violet signpost.

The day of the board meeting at the company, he woke up in the morning and told his dad he was leaving on an adventure. His father, disappointed, enquired why he decided to do this when he was about to takeover the largest and most profitable company in the city but he said it was want he wanted to do now, when he comes back, he could take over control of the company but the meeting should be postponed indefinitely owing to his return from the adventure trip.

Since he was a grown man, the father had no choice but allow him do what he thought was best for himself. The father offered him all he needed for the trip which included: food, gold, mirrors, oil lamps, violins and some books to keep him company along the way.

He packed and headed out of the city, following the road with the violet signpost.

He mounted on his horse driven cart with two friends who were on the same mission and headed out.

He traveled with his entourage for several days and nights along the dangerous roads in the forests using an oil lamp as their guide at night. As he journeyed along, he met some people along the way who were going the same direction and were stranded because their caravan broke down so he picked them up and they all journeyed together.

The forest became thicker and thicker and the path they followed became thinner and it became more difficult for the horses to move. After some miles of difficulty due to the forest, the journey with the horses finally came to a halt as they had to hack their way through the thick thorny forest vegetation machetes.

After trying for days to clear a path large enough for their cart, they decided to take only that which they needed so they could leave the cart behind. So they took only their essentials and left the rest behind so they could go light and they also set the horses free.

They proceeded on foot for several days and camped regularly when they were tired of walking. Their journey was not without obstacles as on several nights they were attacked by wild animals which they scared off using fire after fighting furiously with their swords. Among other obstacles were broken bridges which delayed their journey for several days or even weeks sometimes. They even took paths which lead them to dead ends after which they had to turn back and walk several days back to the branch which misled them.

Some of them on the trip got exhausted and decided to return back to the city from whence they came. Some even remained to settle and live in the forest because they had no strength to go on.

They journey through the forest lasted for weeks until everyone in the crew were very exhausted and decided to rest. On sitting, one of the crew members heard something that sounded like the roar of an ocean so they hurriedly slashed through a very thick wall of vegetation and before them was an ocean that went as far the eyes could see. They rejoiced and ran back and forth the beach. They sang and jumped up and down. After a few moments of jubilation, it dawned on them that they had no boat to sail across to wherever the sea might lead them.

So, on the suggestion of one of the crew members they decided to go back into the jungle to get wood to make a boat. They cut down trees and made a boat large enough to accommodate all of them. The construction work took several weeks of painstaking labor to complete but after it was complete, joy shone out of their weak faces once more, they were ready to set sail.

Anytime they were in trouble or needed help in making a decision, they would look at the instructions given to them by the old man and then the needed strength to keep on the journey would be theirs. The statements were as follows:

(a)

Do not seek comfort on this journey.

(b)

Let go of all excess.

(c)

Share all you have freely with yourselves and anyone you meet.

(d)

Put the cares of others before yours.

(e)

All is gained when all seemed to be lost.

These were the statements that served as their map on this adventure.

As they traveled through the sea, all seemed to be going well until on day a terrible storm struck and they lost two members of the crew. They kept on and wept generously over the loss because those they lost were amongst the nicest people in the boat. On another occasion, they were stuck in ice and had to stop sailing for weeks. The cold hit them so bad a crew member died from frost bite but after weeping the rest kept on after the ice had melted away.

After weeks of sailing, they came on an island of extreme beauty. They set anchor and entered into this mini paradise. Some of the crew members thought this was the paradise they had all been seeking and decided they’ll stay back. Some of them were not sure this was the place and decided that they would keep on moving. They refilled their food and water supplies from the abundance in this mountain and kept on their journey.

Just as they were a few miles away from the island, they saw a huge wave coming from the horizon just behind them. This terrified them as they thought the storm was headed their way. But, unfortunately they storm had a different purpose, it came to the island and swept it all clean into the sea and mysteriously, it stopped and the sea returned to a calm state.

One day, in the calm of an afternoon, the sea started opening in a swirl right in front of them as if to swallow them in. right there in the eye of the swirl just a few meters away from them was a huge nine headed monster emerging from it and bursting out large gusts of water and with a voice as loud as thunder.

As the monster tried to use some of its tentacles to get them, they fought furiously with it using whatever tool was at their disposal but without much success. The huge sea monster wrecked their ship and killed some of the crew. Whenever a head was cut from the monster, three grew in its place and made the monster more powerful. After much fighting a crew member came up with a bright idea.

They used their mirrors to focus the light of the sun on this monster. The focused light was so strong it burnt a large hole through the monster leading to its death. They sailed along with their wrecked boat until they reached the sea shore.

They came down with a sigh of relief thinking their journey was already at its end and behold before them was a desert that went on as far as the eyes

could see. Two members of the crew decided to stay back as they could not embark on the trek through a hot sandy desert, but the remaining crew members who were three in number apart from those who decided to stay back continued the journey.

They remaining three trekked hopelessly through this sandy waste for days. They were exhausted and miserable but struggled through the dust storms, huge sand dunes and dangerous desert reptiles.

One day, they came upon an oasis which allowed them refill their food and water supplies. One of the crew members decided to stay back and live in the oasis.

The remaining two people on the trip, which included the boy who owned the cart and horses, trekked for miles after which they decided to rest a little. After they sat down, one of them looked back at the dunes from whence they came and behold, the guy who stayed back at the oasis was fast approaching them running as if being chased by a wild beast. When he arrived at where they were resting, panting heavily, he began reporting what had caused his escape from the oasis. He told them the oasis had been devastated by locusts and some strange birds which threatened to take his life. After a short rest and some conversation they got up, strapped up their gears and continued the journey.

After several miles and days their food was exhausted and they were left with just a little water to keep them on. There were no oasis in sight and decided to just walk on and die anywhere their bodies would fail them.

After some miles, they came across an old lady who requested of them some water. Knowing fully well this was their last drops of water, they were a little hesitant to honor the request. But on remembering the third piece of advice on their guide card, they proceeded with great difficulty to offer this lady their last water.

When the old lady had drank to her fill, she told them to close their eyes. This they were hesitant about doing but she insisted they did. After minutes of contemplation they both closed their eyes. They waited for instructions to open them but heard nothing, when they got tired they decided to open their eyes and on opening them they saw themselves surrounded with a place of infinite beauty, far beautiful that the oasis or the island or even their home

town. They were not so quick to get excited because they had seen similar places in the past. One thing was missing, the old lady. She had vanished into thin air. So they were worried and started running around to see if they could find her but to no avail. Then sitting down, but not with the heart of complete accomplishment because they planned on heading forward since there were not to seek comfort until the end, of which they did not know where.

Right in front them they saw a being dressed in white descending from above and behold, it was the old lady. But she was no longer old and shaky but of a kind of mature beauty that comes with age and a smile that reflected the joy and peace of this land, whatever it might be. They recognized her immediately and proceeded to ask why she had left them but on reaching her presence, a kind of joy, indescribable with words filled their hearts and they knew this was the end of the journey home and forgot all questioning. Somehow they fell at peace with the place and had a sense of hope engulf their whole being. They did not need words from the lady just some meters away from them because right in their hearts they new this was the place they all traveled so long to see.

Then in a flash all their lost memory came back to them and the two companions now remembered who they truly were. It happened that one of them was one of his heavenly father’s associate, who sacrificed his high place to aid in guiding the boy who was sent to the prison of earth to earn his way back to greatness which was and has always been his state of being.

Both travelers were welcomed back into the castle with a grand ceremony. They told the stories of their adventure to the entire household who listened to them with all eagerness and attention.

He was home and could live in eternal bliss but decided to go back to the prison to guide others back home. His act of sacrifice was highly honored by his father and he came back to earth which was the place he was cast to earlier but this time not to be born of a woman and with complete knowledge of his origin.