When Greta was sixteen and looked out upon the world, she saw the same chickens and trees as the day before, the same parents called her to her duties and the same bed and bedroom defined her world. When her duties were done and the same group of her companions came to visit and the same boy that favoured her came to sit by her side, she felt that she could find no breath and walked out quick to the yard and wished with all her being that the wind might come and blow her away to show her all the world.
The wind was angered by this and swept her up into the sky saying, ‘I will show you this world that you covet so much and you will know its grandeur and its folly.’
First the wind blew Greta to the top of the highest mountain and set her in a place where she might look down on all the beauty and grace of the world. The wind said to Greta, “There are many places such as this in the our world, this is but one place where the glory of the natural world is shown to us. Would you like me to set you here upon this mountain forever to contemplate this wonder?” Greta looked at the vision of nature and shivered a little as the cold air bit at her. She saw that she was placed such that she could never come from the mountain and her family and friends would be lost to her forever. ‘No,’ said Greta, ‘I am glad to see this place, but I cannot remain here.’
Second the wind blew Greta to the very centre of a great battle, where arrows flew, and men and women struggled mightily with each other with sharp swords and long spears. There was excitement, life was of little consequence, the warriors lived and died at a high state of engagement. The wind said to Greta, “There are many places where people throw themselves into peril for reasons that make very little matter in the greater scheme, but they live in a place where their senses are cleared, their breath is sharp in their lungs and their hearts do race, would you like me to set you here forever so that you might partake of this excitement?” Greta looked at the swirling battle around her as the blood of yet another dying knight fell into the ground and knew that she could not survive long in this place however the excitement made her blood to pound, she would not return to her family and friends. ‘No,’ replied Greta ‘I am excited and appalled to see this place but I cannot remain here.’
Now the wind blew Greta to the hall where a grand wedding was taking place. The Bride and Groom took their vows and looked upon each other well. There was a great feast wherein the guests, the families, fathers and mothers all wished the couple great fortune and many daughters and sons to enrich their lives. Then Greta did see the couple come to their marriage bed and disrobe and come together as man and women. The wind said to Greta “There are many places on this earth where this story is played each day of each year. The love and passion of other people can be a of great solace, would you like me to set you down here so that you might know the ways of passion?’ Greta looked away from the couple as she was sore embarrassed and wanted to leave in that instant. She said to the Wind, ‘No, I know of these things and understand that one day I may enjoy to be in a story such as this. I am glad to have seen their happiness, but I cannot stay in this place.”
Then the wind blew Greta home again and set here down amidst the chickens of her own yard. The wind rebuked Greta saying, “Never call on me again in anger, if you do so I will take you to a place of my choosing and leave you there forever. Look to the wonders of your life and be patient, the zephyrs of coincidence will take you to places that you may never expect and show you things that you could never imagine, be gone.’ And with that the wind left Greta, swirling through the tops of the trees around the yard as it left.
Then came her friends out to find her there and she faced them with a smiling countenance and suggested that they go to swim in the river. When they walked along, she walked by the boy that she liked best and the girl that was her friend.
The Guardians of the Cave 