Looking For a Pearl

The Sun was going down as William stood in the doorway of his parent's home.

It sat beside a dusty road that two ox carts could barely pass at the same time. It was more like a dirt path than a post road and that is the way it was in the Olde English countryside.

His parent's thatched roof glowed in the setting Sun as William played with words in his mind.

He had visions of attending church the next morning, where he would see Mary. She was the only one that soothed his aching heart.

He would not hear a single word of the pastor's homily if she looked his way.

He kept repeating over and over the words he would say when she looked his way the next day. He wanted to be prepared for that important moment.

Watching the Sun setting in the distance, he glanced up the road and saw the peddler coming his way, leading an Ox with a cartful of necessities.

As the peddler got closer, William gave a smile and said, "A good evening to you Sir."

The peddler replied, "And a good day to you Sir. Is your Mom in need of necessities?"

"Not today thank you. My Mom said, "If you see the peddler, tell him we are good for today."

"Very good. Very good."

William smiled and said, "Next time we will have a need."

The peddler replied, "Very good. Very good. I have watched you grow into a fine young man over the years. May you see fit to call me POEM.

"POEM?"

"Yes. I Play On Every Mountain.”

"What do you Play?"

"I playwright."

"How do you do that?"

“With words, tons of words.”

“I could use a few words for tomorrow. How much are they?”

“They are free if you make a promise.”

“A Promise?”

“Yes. You must promise to use and share them to help others."

“What happens if I break my promise?”

“The world will be turned upside down.”

“l never want that. What happens when the world turns upside down?”

“You can never know, till it happens. I saw you watching the Sun go down. I saw your eyes darting all around. What were you seeing?”

“I was looking.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“No. I could not find the words that I needed.”

POEM looked into his cart and pulled out a poke. He handed it to William and said, "You can find them in this poke.

William opened the sack and looked inside. It was empty. He gave Mr. Poem a puzzled look and said, "It is empty."

The old fella looked deeply into William's eyes and said, "It is only empty if you think it.“

Squinting his eyes, William replied, "I can only think what I see."

"Let your eyes see with imagination. You are looking into a poke full of oysters waiting to be opened. You cannot find the one with a pearl, by guessing."

The old fella tipped his fisherman’s hat and turned around. He headed back up the road to Play On Every Mountain.

As POEM walked away, William was left to ponder.

Between Nowhere and Somewhere
Andy was a writer who moved to the big city to find inspiration. He found a private 24-hour coffee shop and became a fixture where he spent hours writing and hoping to make millions as a writer and moving to his own private island.
2-minute 14-second read time

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