Trust
December 23rd, 2006
Tila tosses and turns in bed and awakens. Where am I?
The recurring nightmare causes her to shiver.
She listens to the night sounds of insects in the refugee camp, and then drifts off to sleep. This time she hears a soft voice.
“Yes, you leave your home to go to a new land.
Trust, you are protected, I am with you.”
The child awakens and goes to her mother, eyes misty with tears. “Mama”, Tila calls out, “The wise woman on the cloud tells us not to be afraid.”
“What are you talking about?” asks the mother.
Tila continues, “Do you remember the village dancer in the pretty costume who told stories through dance? The wise woman looks like her but she is on a cloud. Her hand is at her heart and her other hand is open. She says to trust where we are going, that we’ll have a new home.”
“Oh Tila,” her mother draws her daughter to her and smooths her hair.
Chores begin. Tila listens to other refugee people talk in the long line as they fill water jugs. Then she walks back to her tiny shack. Smoke drifts up from cooking pots on the fire where her mother is preparing a meal.
“Mama, people say children in the camp do not know the cow or buffalo, the animals for the work we did in our village. Will we stay here so long that I forget too? ”
“We’re only going to be here for a short time, Tila.”
“But mama, we’ve been here so long.” Tila sits by the doorway, head down in her lap.
“Hush little one.” Tila hears the soft voice and raises her head.
“Wise woman on the cloud, is that you? When will we go to our new home? Will I forget our village stories?”
“Soon little one, soon. Sing this song and remember the good stories from your land. The stories are with you to call on anytime.”
A soothing melody comes to Tila…
by Karen Gosetti
Vancouver, BC
Canada
