Abedruid and the search of Hope

There was a time when the little hamlet of Abedruid had not seen evil in its lanes for such a long time, that children did not cry anymore, snakes sang songs together with the mice and thieves stole solely air from the skies. It was a common practice that all the abedruidians watched together the sunsets and sunrises before and after their daily labour. Everyone shared their bread and ate together randomly, one day with Soleris, other day with Brigid, other day with the almighty druid or the bard. Yuri was one of the most sought after bards in the hamlet. He was shy like a winter sun, but bright and charming as the chariot of fire of the God Sun during the Harvest months. Yuri, shone from within, and enchanted everyone with his smile.
But the day came when Yuri took part in a long journey that became the most famous adventure in the Valley of Abealley. It all started on n a Monday, on the 12th moon of the year, when a dull and grey haired women named Lessness fell down in the corner between Hope Lane and Carpenter's Way in Abedruid, due to some strange coincidence that we are unable to trace back in the records of the hamlet. Suddenly, the women shouted with such despair that the ringing voice of a red robin crystallized with horror in the air of the winter month. No one had ever heard such a strange and fearful voice along the Valley of Abealley. “I cannot stand up, it hurts so much. What am I going to do now? Who will feed my kids? Oh, I feel useless. I dread my future”.
From that day, the illness spread like madness. There were “ Life is mean” shouts mixed up with “I cannot fight it anymore” squeaky voices. Also they appeared “What on the Almighty heaven I am suppose to do know?” exclamations and “I am so tired, so useless. I cannot do anything right” moan-ations. Yuri was already starting to lose the vitality that characterized every single abedrurian before that Monday in the 12th moon of the year, when he decided to escape. His feet ran wild with the northern wind, and concluded that he will not stop untill he found the method to destroy the hopelessness state that was invading the once beautiful and cheerful Abedruid. Hopelessness was the word that the ancients in the council decided to give to the illness in honor of the place where the event happened, Hope Lane, and the name of the shocked lady, Mrs. Less Ness. This malady was already threatening to invade other lands outside the hamlet walls of Abedruid. It was reported that a cow called Lucinda, owned by Pedriad, the Sheppard in the neighbour hamlet of Solaid,located around three abe-miles of the centre of Abedruid, gave up giving birth to a calf exclaiming “What is the point!!” in the cow language. The phenomenon was taken national dimensions, it was not just an isolated matter from a once tiny lovely hamlet.

Yuri started his fugitive journey. He was running and running madly as if a tunnel vision had possesed his soul, when he was forced to stop in this trip to salvation by and old lady. The lady, dressed in black, was lying down in a very strange position , and decided to help her, he was more or less around 100 abe-miles of the hamlet.
“Oh, my dear old folk, is there something I can do for you?” , said Yuri in a mild and low like a breeze wind tone.
“There is nothing you can do, I fall down, uahhhhhhh, and no one can ever help me, as I carry too much weight, uahhhhh, so much weight no one will ever be able to carry it”, moaned Dharra, the name of this little hope women.
“I am sure I can help, it cannot be that heavy”, whispered Yuri with an uncertain voice.
“The weight I carry is the weight of exactly ten tonnes of water from my tears, as told by the sorcerer doctor, that have been accumulating in my eyes over the years. If I blink once more, I will create a wave so big that will destroy my beloved son’s house, just down the lane from here”.
“OHHHH, I can see your despair. Are you sure is there nothing I can do for you?”, uttered Yuri.
“There is nothing you can do”, stated Dharra.

As soon as she said those words, the sky became dark as a mother’s womb, and began pouring rain so hard that the frogs stopped jumping and started swimming in the lane where they both were talking. Suddenly, like 1,000 thunders, Dharra began to cry. The wave was so big that reached the height of ten oaks one on top of each other. But something mischievously wonderful happened. The rain suddenly stopped as if the switch was turned off, and a chilling wind came from the north, freezing the humongous wave, just before it hit the roof of her son’s house. It was so cold that the deer grunts were hunging in the air like rugged puppets in a theatre. The silence was the only presence at that point. In the midst of that haven of silence Yuri had a thought.” Could that we the answer to the hopelessness problem? This woman was scared of letting go of the tears, she just needed to release! How long had she been not crying to accumulate so much sorrow?”.
Abruptly, the women stood up, out of the shock, and stared at the ice wave. “My God, as soon as the summer comes, we will all we destroyed by the melting ice salty water from my tears”, nagged Dharra.
Yuri could not understand how this woman was not able to see the stroke of luck she just had. “I am sure they will be able to move the house to other place, before the summer comes, it must the illness”, thought in awe Yuri.
He suddenly felt that his trip was starting to have a purpose, not just an escape call from the sickness. He was beginning to see how to solve the problem. No matter what had happened, this woman would still see sadness, even if God Almighty came to Earth and drained all her tears, she will still be worried about something. So the solution was not in having the problems solved. Where was it then? He decided to leave Dharra, as there is nothing you can do when someone is in a hopelessness state, and walked further. Yuri walked and walked and walked. The days passed and he did not seem to find a solution to his dilemma. The night came, and was dark and cold . He leaned in a tree. It was a birch. The birch is well-known for being a great companion of lonely travellers in the winter months, especially when the 13th Month is approaching, the last of the year. The birch shivered as the cold harp of the bard touched its white beautiful tree skin. “Would you be so kind to remove the harp from my trunk, and to play and sing for me? It has been a hard windy day today. And I need some peace of sap today”, murmured the birch with his deep voice.
Yuri has not talked with many trees, it is a practice almost always reserved to the druid or the priest or priestess. However he decided to sing, as he felt for his companion.

“ What can I bring you today? Can I bring you hope?
Hope is a place on Earth
Hope is a place in your heart
Hope is the word that moves us all.
What can I bring you today? Can I bring you hope?”

The beautiful lyrics of the bard moved the ancient birch to sing with him.
“If I tell you, then you should already know.
That the place of hope dwells in the poet’s soul, in the mystery of birth that moves us all.
If I tell you, then you should already know.
That the place on Earth is the one that we all long for. It is the one of love”.

After a lot of merry and cheerful singings, the bard felt that the birch could be a great friend indeed, and might be able to give him some practical advice to help him solve the hopelessness state.
The birch, who was one of the senior members in the Lavender Forest, gave Yuri a very good counsel indeed. He prompted him to look for a wise woman who knew a lot about trust, and told him that maybe that is the key to the door he desperately trying to open. Her name was Elvia, she lived in the outskirts of the Lavender Forest, in a beautiful cottage, described by the birch as “charming, surrounded by roses and with a smell similar to gold, if the gold had a smell”.
Yuri walked through the Lavender Forest, contemplating the beauty and harmony of our mother goddess. The path was long. And eternally present. Elvia was the person he was looking for. (to be continued)

Nación celta, Glastonbury 2007