The Wanderer

The place called earth, filled by a species called the wanderer. Each of them was originally created with a gem inside their soul. But their ancestors broke the rules of life, therefore the gem became separated, treasured somewhere. Wanderer without a gem, only able to see in black and white, earth wasn’t as beautiful as the myth. 

All of them tried to fill the void in their hearts by collecting the star’s point. The golden one called prosperity, the blue one called fame, the green one called pride, the red one called power, and the black one called fake freedom. It is the age of technology, their data stored in a cloud, you can search and click their profile and see how many stars they have. 

If you want to dig in with the longer journey, there’s a button to check their contentment or peace bar. But some might set it in private to fake their unhappiness. I do some research, by checking wanderers in these bars. And I can conclude that there’s no correlation between stars and their peace bars. They think, in order to fill it they need to collect as many stars as possible. But long research and theory didn’t prove that.

Firstly because each wanderer is haunted by the ghost called shadow. The more stars they get, the shadow manifests bigger. Only those, who found the gem and put it back in their heart, have a contentment no matter how many stars they collect. Because their vision is restored, they see in colour and know that the shadow is just shadow, it wouldn’t be able to kill them because the gem radiates greatest protection.

Once the wanderer found their gem, they understood that the earthly star didn’t matter. Because they know their real quest for earth. They know the purpose of life. In order to finish the quest, somehow they need to sacrifice a star, and most wanderers will call them unlogic or naive. But, it didn’t matter even if heaven and hell were just a myth, they were living with a full contentment bar. 

“You found your gem?”, he asked

“Yes, and everything changed afterward. From the outside, nothing seems to change. But, after I found my gem, I feel content and peaceful.” 

“You are not haunted by shadow anymore?”

“Due to the broken promise made by our ancestors, each wanderer will always be haunted by shadow. But my vision is richer, The Gem is my unshaken rock. I couldn’t run from the shadow, sometimes wind will make it bigger, but I know I am saved.”

“So you are not scared, not sad, not mad, not lonely, not….”

“No, I am still a wanderer, I have feelings. But feelings change, and as long as you’re content, you know that eventually it will be fine.”

I found my gem not a long time ago. I was a normal wanderer before, I jump, I climb, I run, I do whatever I can to fill the void, and I was obsessed with stars. But I never feel enough, so I climb higher and higher mountains. Until I fall, I fall hard. I hit a sharp rock, fell into the deep river. I thought I would drown and die. But when I saw a light, I grabbed it. Suddenly, my consciousness came back, so I swam and was saved. It is bloody painful, I need to be hospitalized, and scars will never disappear. But it was all worth it, I am grateful, I found the most important thing all wanderer want, their stolen gem.

“Can you tell me how to find the gem?”

“I can’t. Each wanderer has a different gem, it requires a different journey to be found. And gem it’s not an item, not superficial. Even if I tell you mine, you will not believe until you find yours. Nothing I can do but constantly pray for you”  

“So what should I do?” he keep wondering

“Jump, clim, run, fly, go wherever you think your gem might be.”

“Then go with me!”

“Oh I would love to. But I can’t if I go with you I will slow your pace, I will limit your experiences. And I have my quest, it requires me to stay here a bit longer.”

“Why don’t you ask me to stay? We were happy, weren’t we?”

“You couldn’t imagine how hard it is to let you go. How I need to drag myself to be so busy to just avoid the tears of missing you. In my hard time, how hard I force myself not to bother you. How sad it is to just imagine you found another woman.”

“……”

“But love is a commitment to put others happiness beyond yours, it requires a scarification of ego and being selfless. Even if it hurts me, I want you to be happy.” the tears start to fall down on my check.

“You make me happy” 

“No, I couldn’t do anything to make you content, even when I give you all the stars I have. Because only by finding your gem, you’ll see the earth in colour and be haunted by the shadow no more.”

“This is it, you let me go?”

“I let you go. Be happy, follow your heart, go wherever you think your gem might be treasured. One day you’ll find it, and you know what really matters in life. When you see how beautiful it is in colour, you’ll know that wherever you are it is just beautiful. You feel enough, then you go back home. And I hope you find home in me, and we still have time to live fully alive together.”

Jakarta, November 29th, 2021

I hope your meaning of the metaphor, wish you find the gem that filled your heart.