By Fernando-x Arteaga
Once upon a time in The Middle Ages, an
unremembered village existed in the area of the equator. It was in the Andean
Mountain Range, where shadows didn´t exist. Most of the folks used to call it
The Village of Xavier because a famous wise man named
Xavier, who mysteriously disappeared one day, lived there. Those lands had the
cleanest water in their turquoise falls and rivers among groves as if each tree
was painted with shiny oil paint. Moreover, when the winds blew, they used to
carry some melodies similar to Beethoven or Mozart where some white rabbits,
colorful birds, green crickets, and multicolored butterflies danced
happily.
Once, the darkness of the night never
ended and the days didn´t come back for good. Neighbors couldn´t understand why
the sun turned off and they didn´t know how to solve the problem. Anon, a
clever young gentleman, whose name was Moon, began looking for answers and he
couldn’t find anything for many days. Suddenly, a bratty and young goblin, with
shiny garbs of gold, appeared to talk to Moon.
“I know why there haven´t been days so
far,” the goblin said with a high-pitched voice. “There is a secret road that
goes to a mysterious place, in which a string links the sun with the Earth,” he
continued whispering.
“I really don´t understand,” Moon replied.
The goblin softly told Moon, “If you went
to that place, you would understand and the light of the sun would return.”
Then, they began that long trip to light
the sun again.
During their trip, the goblin opened a
small bag, which had many interesting instruments. For instance, the bag had a
bottle with all of the fragrances in the world. It held the smell of chocolate,
mint, rose, lemon, and all imaginable odors. However, the most important
instrument was a magic wand and the goblin taught Moon how to use it by casting
a spell on everything because they must be prepared when they arrive to the
enchanted lands.
When they were getting closer and closer
to the mysterious place, called “The Doors of the Sun”, some aromas such as
strawberries emerged from the earth as well as the sky turning immediately
pink. At the same time, the weather was as cold as the ice from the North Pole
while they had to cope with some magical threats on the road. Moon used
his wand to destroy hungry giant plants with white eyes, which wanted to eat
them. Furthermore, Moon destroyed thousands and thousands of fatamorganas that
tried to convince him to forget his purposes. At the end, he and the goblin
arrived at “The Doors of the Sun.”
They both were astonished and said at the
same time, “This is the string that links the sun with the Earth. It is a
gilded string!”
“Keep your body just there! Don´t attempt
to take a step otherwise everything will be destroyed,” someone warned with a
cracked voice.
Then, they turned around and saw an old
man approaching slowly.
“There won´t be light any longer. I am so
tired of turning the sun on and turning the sun off,” the old man said
angrily. Also, he went on to say, “I came here to cure my little son, but
I am trapped and I never see him anymore. I can remember that a
bird told me the cure is in “The Doors of Sun” when my son began disappearing,
getting translucent. My dear boy could have been alive if he had drunk a cup of
water boiled with that gilded string. However, when I touched it, the string
wrapped around my hand strongly and a voice came from the sky and said that I have
to control the days and nights eternally until someone appears to take my
place.”
So, the goblin immediately opened his bag
in order to take out a silver book and he read a mysterious legend.
A few minutes later, the goblin replied,
“The legend say that nobody can touch it, but the string could be cut using
only one of human hair.”
“Yes, I know about that, now, but I was so
desperate at that moment that I couldn´t think of the solution,” the man said
sadly.
“Nevertheless, you are the wise man called
Xavier. You are the one who helped people in your village by curing everybody
with your wisdom. Why couldn´t you cure your child at home?” the goblin asked
Xavier and the silence overflowed that space.
They looked at each other and the senior
Xavier bent his head down. After that, Moon said that he would be the man
to help him because he had learned a lot of useful spells before he arrived
there. When all of them closed their eyes, as fast as thunder, Moon raised his
hand and said, “The sun will be free.” After that, a rainbow appeared in the
sky and a soft wind caressed their flesh and a brilliant luminosity blinded
them. From that moment, the Earth travelled around the sun while
spinning, producing different seasons during the year. Finally, the two men and
the goblin disappeared from the Earth, having an eternal life. Consequently,
you can see these valiant beings everywhere in the sky because the goblin´s
body transformed into the clouds, the young man called Moon is the celestial
sphere that appears at night as the moon, and the wise Xavier is the North
Star. So, the clouds, the moon and the North Star appeared in order for humans
to remember the time when the sun turned off. Fortunately, normal days returned
to the Village of Xavier and the sun won´t ever lose its light again.
Adapted from childhood story.