The Sailor, The Island, and The Sea

There was once a sailor, strong, proud and confident; he longed to travel the sea, for that was in his mind, the only freedom he could ever achieve. The sea was so vast and beautiful, the blissful tune of the ever crashing waves, the captivating lure of the fresh scent of a mild salt in the air, it was only in the expansive wonders of the ocean that he could experience the harmonious sounds of the birds chirping and gliding through the blue skies up above, and the vibrantly colored untamed dancing of the seemingly limitless fluttering fish down below, and the soothing caress of the cool winds gently brushing against his skin, ah yes, the sailor loved the sea. But what he loved most about it, more than any of the amazing, phenomenal beauties and mystic wonders of the sea, was the sea itself, He loved that there was no ground below him more than all, yes, there was no ground, how much closer could one get to flying through the air like the wild free spirit of the birds zooming into the abyss of a dawn over glistening sea. He felt, alive, he felt, new...he felt..Free. And he sailed and he sailed for days upon days, upon weeks, months and years, and he loved every waking moment of it, it was bliss, it was a paradise, it was the sea.

But in his travels far and wide, across the shapeless blue he passed by many, many islands. The sailor of course stopped in these islands for food, water, shelter, and sustenance, but over the years he found that not all islands were reachable, the waves near them were sometimes too strong, too harsh, or too weak, sometimes there were rocks in the way, sometimes there were storms that prevented him from moving inland, and sometimes there were sharks, many were the obstacles in the way to achieve the sandy shores of the gorgeous beaches. Sometimes it angered the sailor, sometimes it filled him with sorrow, and sometimes, he did not mind, this was ofcourse dependant on the beauty of the Island, the food there, the animals, his mood, or his expectations. But there were just so many Islands the sailor never dwelled on one for much too long, whether he had been there or not. The sailor, after seeing so many islands, started to wonder..Why was he so fascinated by them, was the sea not enough?, the immense freedom!, the tranquility, the excitement. Why now, all of a sudden, was he to be so focused and fixated on all these beautiful islands?

The answer never really did come to him, although he did see many a fellow sailor actually abandon the sea, and go to stay on an island, going deep, deep, deep past the forest and the trees, the rivers and lakes, and all of the its fruit and animals, but to what?, and why, why would so many a fellow sailor go so deep into an island that might never be able to return to the vast and expansive freedom of the seemingly everlasting sea, so many, until almost all his fellow sailors were trapped in these islands, some beautiful, some not, some with many animals, some with few, and some with horrible fruit, but many with plenty. But for some odd reason the sailor never really questioned this too much, his father had gone to island, and his father, and so on, every settled sailor says that every free sailor must settle one day, no..will settle one day, for there is always an Island that will dazzle and draw you to it beyond your ability to stop this..is inevitable occurrence, they say, for most, though some do travel the sea long and search for the island of their dreams and have it never found, and simply settle in a decent one, but few, very few, never settle, and travel the sea there entire lives, but they, are seen as fools.

The sailor, still young, very young, felt as if, he had travelled the sea forever at a point, the freedom and excitement, had dulled a bit, the smell of salt seemed..typical, and the fish and birds, were just a part of his daily scenery, every now and then the sparkle of the sea reminded him of how amazing it was to be free, but.. it only lasted a moment or two, and then it all just felt routine again, dock at an island, spend some time there, eat, play with the animals, climb a tree, and just leave, again and again and again, all the islands, although of varying shape size and color array, with no two alike, all began to look, and even feel...the same. The islands were all dull and flavorless, and so was the sea. The sailor just floated on..and on and on, for what felt like, forever..that was, until he came across an island like no other. Yes, in that very moment, just upon the sight of it, the sheer beauty of the island had the sailor caught, he lost control, he rushed towards it, all the other islands escaped his mind, this.island, was beautiful. But then the sailor remembered having this feeling before, and didn’t pay it much mind, and his memories returned, he passed one or two other islands while getting closer, pretty, lovely, but still, not...that one. He finally stopped by, and walked on to the island...the sand felt strange, it felt..Softer, he walked further; the animals were more playful and interesting..The trees were much more tropical, the plants and insects more exotic, the smell, more soothing, the air better feeling, and the fruit was delicious, everything about this Island...was perfect. The sailor was amazed, he almost went insane..no, he did go insane. The island was..Perfect, it was like no other, it really was, it...really..was, he couldn’t believe it, the further he walked the more he loved the island, the more he wanted to stay and the more he wanted to go in further, and further, deeper into the island, and the deeper he went the more beautiful and amazing the Island was...it was beyond his wildest dreams..and it was real.

Then all of a sudden when he approached the thick trees of the islands forest, it was hard to walk, very hard to move forward, the ground was muddy and thick, and filled with roots...he managed to get to the outside of the thick trees, and peaked in, and although he couldn’t see well, he saw, the most amazing farming lands, and rivers, and ponds, and exotic creatures he’d never seen before, and that...was just the edge. then..out of nowhere came the forest spirit. The forest spirit was very strong, and fast, alert, and intelligent. It said " go from this place, you are not yet welcome here, I am not ready to allow you passage" ofcourse the sailor replied "Why...why can I not go past, I swear, I will treat the land with respect, and love the land, and care for the crops, and the fruit, and animals, you allowed me this far, why not here?", to which the spirit replied " You cannot go past, I will not let you in here, you must go back," the sailor then said in confusion "please, why? just give me a chance to show you, you will not regret it, I will truely love and care for this land, I love this island, your trees are amazing, your animals are so fun to play with, and your sand is so soft, your island..is amazing", the spirit asked for one day to think of his request to enter the heart of the island, beyond the trees. The next day the spirit approached the sailor, and brought him back to the same ground the stood once before and said " I given your request much thought, and I enjoy your presence here upon this land, but...you are young, and I feel strange allowing such a young soul enter this great land, I do enjoy you being here on the island though, I want you to swim around the island, for a long while without going away to far from it"

The sailor was very happy to hear the spirit enjoyed his presence as he did to the island, but also disappointed he could not move forward...very disappointed, he swam though, but only for a short while, he talked to the spirit a few more times, and played with animals, and grew the fruit, but...all he could think about was the inner forest...beyond the thick trees, he really wanted to be there, and he asked the spirit again if he could be granted passage, but once again he was denied even after a heartfelt conversation with the spirit, and the spirit told him though, why it couldn’t let him though as it said " once I let you through, the island will surely change, and I don’t know how it will change, right now, I control the island, and keep it well, I have lost control before, as it was given to a sailor long ago, but not too long ago, and he left the island, after it has began to rely on him for growing fruit, and the animals grew accustomed to him, the island took long to recover, and I vowed never to let any other sailor beyond the point you have reached, for I fear the loss of control over my island, I cannot give you that much power over this island, I need the control to make sure it doesn’t get destroyed" " I will never hurt the island, I love the island" replied the sailor " I can’t" said the spirit.

The island forest spirit heard him, but did not budge, the sailor felt as though he would never see the inner forest, and began to think he might never see it. And eventually, the sailor began walking away from the island, and the spirit watching him go. The sailor offered a great gift to the island spirit, which made it very happy before he went back to his sailboat and drifted back off to sea. Months later, after many travels, and many deep thoughts about the island..Never going one day without thinking of the island, he remembered..."swim". but the sailor was now afraid to swim around the island, and forgot a great deal how to swim...he had visited the island a few more times, but...not for long at all, and he never got anywhere near as deep as before, just...landing on the shore, reminding the spirit he still sailed these seas, then drifted back out into the abyss of the deep blue sea. As he sailed and sailed far and wide, he never forgot the island, and never really lost his love for the sea....but one thing changed...the sea no longer made him feel free, well, nowhere near as free...as the Island had...and to this day the sailor sails the sea, and to this day he still dreams, of one day...journeying into the inner forest, of the Island with such beautiful sun rays shining bright there upon forever. Though he learned this through the hardest way, in no Island will you enter its Forest behind the tall thick trees of the Island, without first gaining the trust, of the Island spirit. Swim, swim, swim.