Installment Five: An Epic Hero's Journey: The Determined Storyteller in the Battle against the Cave Monster: The Healing Pool

Installment Five: The Healing Pool

When last we saw our courageous DS, she heard for the first time, the monster in the cave. He threatened her but the Determined Storyteller would not be daunted. Our heroine also faced a new foe, one that attacked her father and she was forced to choose which way to turn.

Even as the DS turned to aid her father, she heard a sound from inside a cave niche that beckoned to her and she knew she must follow.

Inside the niche the DS saw a healing pool but as she neared the sound that called grew louder and became a drone. There was a bed of rock on which the DS was compelled to lie prone, face down and still. A light appeared and moved over her, a magical test from an unseen source. And then Van Morrison was singing in her ears...”It's a marvelous night for a moondance,” and “On the bright side of the road.” She wanted to dance but couldn't, but in her mind she boogied down and she smiled.

Leaving the cave once more, our smiling heroine met legends of angels and warriors who gathered around her and they marched to defend her father’s castle.

The minions of darkness were no match for the light and the DS’s father was released from their grasp. He was floated safely on the wings of light to another plane to rest and recuperate.

Our heroine, she who shags out dust bunnies and dirty dishes, turned once more to the cave of the monster who had called her to battle. She knew she would be tested many times in the days to come and when all is ready she will face that invader of darkness. Its face would soon be revealed.

Entering the niche once more, the DS closed her eyes beside a still pool and felt her breath and found her inner self. “I surrender not to the enemy but to that which must be done. Come oh courage for we will not fail. We will be victorious.”

Though she could not yet see its face, the Determined Storyteller heard the monster call again, "There are more of us, you know. And one bigger than I. We will destroy you!"

The calm of the healing pool surrounded the DS, she asked the powers that be to gaze again into their magic pool to see if these creatures did exist or if the monster was trying to trick her into submission. “I will not be defeated or daunted or stopped,” she said. Yet “truth” was not yet within her grasp.

She prepared for sleep, knowing that in the morning she may be called to visit the wise healer who would reveal the monster's secrets. Though her mind swam with thoughts, exhaustion of the journey carried her to dreams. Angels guarded her and the mighty army of warriors as they found peaceful slumber.

Let go your cares for night has come and we are meant to rest.