The Prayer
 by Razvan Dobre

Once upon a time, there was an old man living in a little village in the mountains. This man was very old and had only one son. His wife had died a long time ago. His son was the light of his eyes and the thing that kept him alive. The young man loved his father very much and was helping him to do everything around the house. He cooked, washed, fed the animals and took care of his old father. He was very happy here with his father.

One day the young man was walking through the forest behind his house. He was looking for some wild plants to make some tee for his father which was very sick. The sun was shinning through the leafs of the trees and sparkles of light were dancing on the ground. The young man looked at them and said out loud: "What a marvelous spectacle the lights have put on today. I am such a lucky man to see this. Ah, if only my father was healthy. I'm so sad that he is so ill. If only I could do something about this, but even the doctors said that he is very old and he won't make it through this winter".

Tears were rolling down his checks, but he soon wiped them out with his hand "But I'm not going to stay still and do nothing about this. I've heard from an old lady that in this forest there are some magic plants that could cure my father's illness. The only problem is that after I get this plant I have to run home, because this plant is only effective for a couple of hours after it's been picked up."

He walked for a long time, deep into the forest, until he found the plants he was looking for. They were exactly as the old lady described them. He reached down and he picked all the plants he could get and put them into his bag. It was getting dark and so he hurried back home. The sun was setting and a spectacular, burning red sky was smiling at the young man. On his way back, the young man noticed a light in the distance.

He stopped and wondered what it could be. The light was somewhere off his path and he was already late, but he couldn't wonder what was behind those bushes, from where the light was coming, so he went to see what it was. He ran towards the light, jumping over all the obstacles in his path. After a while he reached the bush where the light was coming from. His palms were sweaty of emotion and curiosity of what was making that light.

He reached his right hand and then his left one and made a clear through into the bush to see the light. He stood there, amazed at what he saw. A beautiful plant, which also seem to resemble the ones he had already got, was reaching towards a magical ray of light that was coming through the trees. But this wasn't all. The plant was growing from within a giant rock! The boy didn't know what to say. He had never seen such a plant that could grow from a rock. He just stood there for a couple of minutes, admiring the way that the plant seemed to take the rays of light into its entity.

"This must be something special!" he said. "I must take this plant to the village. Who knows what it can do, if it can grow from a rock?" And so, the boy took the plant and put it carefully, in his bag. He stepped out of the bush, not noticing that the light had disappeared after he took the plant from the rock. He remembered he was late and started running towards his home. He was running so fast, hopping that the effects of the plants he gathered earlier wouldn't wear out. He was thinking of the moment his father would get out of bed and walk. He was so happy he found the plants.

All of a sudden, he heard something coming from behind. He looked while he was running, but didn't see anything. "Ah, maybe it's nothing" the young man said and continued his run. But the sound got louder and louder and when the boy looked again, he froze with fear. A giant, black bear was chasing him. For a moment he just stopped, without knowing what to do. If he would have screamed no one could have heard him because he was so far away from the village. If he continued to run, the bear would surely catch him. He knew that a bear could outrun a man anytime.

Then, an idea popped up in his head. He heard from his father that when you meet a hungry bear, the only way you will have a chance of living is by playing dead. "to live you must first be dead" his father said. He didn't understand his father's words completely, but now he hadn't time for that, time was running out. So he laid on the ground, hold his breath and waited.

The bear soon caught up with him and started roaring. The sound was so loud that the trees seemed to choke of fear. The boy was petrified. He couldn't move a bone of his body. He was too afraid and his body was not responding to his commands. He realized he could only do one thing: pray. So, he started praying:

"God, please help me! I need your help. Forgive me, God! I never knew I could be this powerless. I always thought that whatever I did was my accomplishment and I was so proud I did everything by myself. But, now, as I'm so close to death, I realize that I didn't do anything at all. If it weren't for You to help me all the time, to pick me up when I fall down, to hold my hand when I was alone, to get me out of all the messes I put myself in every time. I never stopped to think of what my life would be without You. I am nothing without You, God!

Forgive me, God, for being so stupid. I always take everything for granted, and I didn't realize that the greatest thing that gives my life meaning, my father, is in Your hands. I was looking for some stupid plants, trying to help him, when I should have praying to You, the One that can cure any human being in a second. How could I been so blind? Oh, God, I'm sorry for everything. I only wanted to help my father. I'm sorry I always blamed you whenever something would go wrong, and I only congratulated myself whenever I did something good! I didn't want to admit that You were helping me all along and that without You I wouldn't be able to do anything.

Whenever I did something bad or things didn't go my way, I used to blame You, when in fact I was too proud or scared to blamed myself. I'm sorry. I know now the errors of my ways. I wished I've listen to my father. He was always telling me that we, humans, are nothing without out Father, that lives in heaven. "Everything is God, and God is everything. Until we realize that we are one with Him because we are made by His Hand, we will never be truly complete ", he used to tell me. I know now what he meant. If only I've would have realized this sooner. But now it's too late."

While the boy was praying, the giant bear was right beside him. The bear stood on two legs and let out a terrifying sound. It was ready to kill it's pray. But the boy continued to pray: "God, these are my final moments on this earth. Please, forgive me and take care of my father. I leave my life in Your Hands!" Suddenly, while has was praying, the boy started to see flashes of his life pass by, one by one. He remembered the first time his father hold him in his arms. He had forgotten this image. It seemed so far ago. His father was young just like he was right now. He was holding his boy up, towards the sky, thanking God for the gift he had received.

Then he left the child down on a bed and started crying. "Why is he crying?" the boy asked himself. Then he saw that there was someone on that bed holding the little child close. It was a beautiful women and she was smiling. It was the boy's mother. He had never seen his mother before, but he could see her so clear now: she had beautiful black hair and her eyes were of a blue that could match the sky anyway. She took the small child and kissed it three times. Then she gave the boy to his father and told him slowly: "Take good care of our jewel.". Then she closed her eyes and died.

The boy started crying. He felt so good that he got to see his mother at least once, but he was sad because she didn't live to see him grow. Then, while he was crying inside, a blurry image appeared. The only thing the boy could see was a small figure, but he couldn't tell who it was. The figure got closer and closer, until he could see who it was: it was the old lady. The boy could recognize her from a  thousand persons. She had the bluest eyes, that could match the sky any day. She took her voal of and the young man finally saw who she really was. She was his mother.

The boy couldn't believe his eyes. "Why is this happening right now? Why are all these things happening all together now? Am I dead?" the boy asked. His mother reached her hand and touched the boy. Smilling, she said: "You are not dead. You are more alive than you have ever been. Rise my son, the danger has passed. Your faith was stronger." The boy didn't understand what his mother was trying to say and still didn't make a move.

His mother continued: "Do not be afraid. Your prayer has saved you. God has speared your life. He doesn't want the death of the sinner, He wants the sinner to see the truth and return to Him. I love you my son and I always will. I was always by your side. Every step you made, I was there, praying that you would see and understand God and the things He does. And my prayer has finally been answered.
Now, rise and go home. Oh, and son..." "Yes mother." "God told me to tell you that He is there for you, no matter what you go through. He will always be there until the end of days."

Then, his mother vanished. "I love you too, mother" the boy said crying. "And I love you too, God" . The young boy knew he wasn't dead but he still couldn't move any part of his body. He tried and tried but nothing happened. Suddenly, his body started responding and he could move the fingers from his right arm. Then the other hand was moving, then his left leg and so on, until he felt he could move his entire body. It was time to open his eyes. Although he was still afraid, he couldn't hear the bear anymore and this gave him confidence. He opened his left eye and then his right one. He looked around, but he couldn't see very clear. It was all a blur.

He wiped his eyes and tried to sit up. He looked around him again. He reached for his bag with his right hand, so that he could get it and run as fast as he could, until the bear came back. Suddenly he touched something that scared him terribly. He jumped 2 feet about his right while he screamed as hard as he could. The giant bear was right beside him, dead. Only after he screamed, he realized that the bear was dead. "But how?" the boy asked. He got a little closer, fearing that the animal would be asleep. Then he saw a leaf of the plants he had in his bag in the bears mouth. He then realized that the plants in his bag must have been some kind of poison and killed the bear.

He couldn't believe it. He was going to go home and make a tee for his father that would had surely killed him. He felt so relieved that he didn't got to do it. But what would he do now? The plants were poisoned so how would he save his father?
As he was thinking this, his mother appeared once more and said to him: "Look into the bag and hurry. I'm dying again." and then she disappeared into the darkness, once again. "What did she mean? She was already dead. How could she die again?"

He didn't get any answers so he grabbed the bag from under the paw of the bear. He reached inside and the magical plant was there just as his mother told him. He took the plant, made 2 steps and turned around. "Thank you God, for giving me another chance! I feel You now" he said and started running for home.

After a while, he finally reached his home. He entered his house and found his father sitting on his bed, smiling. "Ah, you've made it" his father said. The boy stood there in amazement. This day was just too much for him. He said "Father, why aren't you in bed?" "Why should I be in bed, my son. Only the sick should stay in bed." "But ..." the boy didn't get to finish his sentence as his father took his arm and said "There's no time now. There's someone who needs that" and he pointed towards the plant that the boy had in his hand. He couldn't understand what was it all about, but he followed his father to a nearby house.

They entered the humble home and a man led them into a tiny room. They stepped into the room. There, on a bed was a women who just gave birth to a boy. She was holding the boy tight into her arms and kissing him. The boy realized that the women was saying good bye, just like his mother was more than 20 years ago. She was dying. He rapidly took a leaf from the plant and gave it to the women. She took it and eat it without saying a word. Their eyes met and it was like she was saying "Thank you for saving my life. Your mother would be proud of you." She ate the leaf and she fell asleep.

"Let's go" said his father. When they got back in their house, the boy told his father: "Father, you will never believe what I've been through today!" "I know all about it" his father said. "But how, father?" "Your mother was here. She told me that today was going to be a great challenge for you. This is why I started praying for you. I knew that if you would have failed we would both have died. Because you believed, we are both alive. My time had come, but because you returned to God as His lost son, God has given me more time with you. It looks like your mother will have to wait a little longer for me." "But what exactly happened, father? Did mother tell you this?"

"You see, my son, it seems that you have made some mistakes in the past and God was always merciful with you and gave you another chance and another and another. But you kept doing wrong things again and again. You didn't learn anything from the wrong things that you did. Today was your last chance to regain your life. If you would have failed, a punishment far worst than death was expecting you. God is millions of times more merciful than a human, but even He has his limits to how much He can forgive. But because your mother was such a good person, God decided you will get a last chance. And you passed the test, my son. You have finally found God and realized that He has always been there for you."

"But what about the plant and the women who just gave birth?" the boy asked. "That woman was going to die, because of her sins, but your mother prayed for her and God gave her a last chance as well. So you could say that you saved her life and she saved yours" The second day, the boy saw the woman that gave birth the other day. She was as alive as can be and she thanked the boy for saving her life. "Don't thank me. Thank God." "I know God saved my life. I know that now, but He chose you to do it." the women said.

The boy went back home, and embraced his father who was standing by the house. He looked up to the sky and, with tears in his eyes said: "I know You are here now. I feel Your Hand on my shoulder, God. Thank you for not abandoning  your son, Father".

I embrace you,
Razvan

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