Fifteen-minute short story by Yours Truly
(With thanks to my story-teller friend Laura Packer for the prompt):
The Spirit Who Grew A Heart For A Boy
©January 16th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
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Laura’s prompt:
#storyseeds There was once a boy whose heart was made of glass. In his pocket he found twine, a pebble with no sides, and seven seeds. He knew the time had come.)
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My response:
His glass heart was hard, but fragile, and somehow it keep him alive, because what animated him was Spirit. So, one day, when an accidental harsh remark flew straight at his chest, and cracked his heart, his Spirit flew out, collected the twine, the Pebble With No Sides and seven seeds, and went looking for a way to make him a new heart, while he lay there outside his hut, his glass heart bleeding sand into the dust, his eyes filming over.
His Spirit roamed the world, and found itself on the shores of an Ancient Sea, which was lined with strangely shaped pebbles. The Ancient Sea was troubled and restless, and it threatened to swallow the shore. The Boy’s Spirit laid the Pebble With No Sides down amongst the rest, said a word, and went away. The Sea grew calm and still.
Time flowed quietly, while the Spirit of the boy with the glass heart wandered the world, a sense of urgency growing inside its smoky self. On a cliff overlooking a vast emptiness, it saw a dog clinging to a plant right off the edge. The Spirit made a lasso with the twine, flung it over the dog’s body, secured it, and pulled the dog to safety. The dog gazed at It, wagged its tail, and ran away.
The Spirit smiled, and moved on.
Time flew by.
The Spirit came to a forest where all the trees had been burned by a man-made fire.
Dread clutched at It.
It looked at the seven seeds it carried, and knelt down. Clearing the burnt brush and trees, the Spirit planted the seven seeds in the shape of the Big Dipper.
The forest exhaled a sigh of thanks. Small saplings began to spring up. Overhead, the stars of the Big Dipper glowed brighter. A bear awoke from her hibernation, and emerged into the new forest.
The Spirit returned to the Boy, who was nearly dead. He saw his Spirit, and his eyes widened. He held out his hands. The Spirit slipped back into him, and slowly, where once had been a glass heart, there was now a living, breathing, beating heart.
The Boy’s healing had begun.