The River

How lonely felt the River when it finally reached the sea. It longed for the green of its jungle, it missed the rumor of the trees, and the sounds of the animals that needed its water to survive. The River had ruled since he had been born, in a cool spring up in the hills, and he had flowed down to water plains, villages and forests. Sometimes with a roar, sometimes with the gentleness of a caress, it had sheltered people’s fears and wishes. It had carried big boats and small boats, sometimes to the benefit of trade or travel, sometimes to their death. But one day, it started seeing that the scenery was changing. The land became flatter, the villages appeared more frequently, and the air had a different scent… Other rivers and streams joined it and it became wider and a little slower. Suddenly, it realized it was reaching its end. Before it could think about it, before it could say goodbye to its loved land, it found itself crashing against the salty waves of the immense Ocean.

How lonely did it feel! How lost! In the middle of the tides it found itself struggling, trying to get a glimpse of the coast so he could flow back into the land. It had once been the mighty master of all living things, the carver of earth and stone, and now it was nothing more than an insignificant drop of water amongst millions and millions of them. Just when the River was forgetting that its essence had once been fresh, it reached a river mouth. The river that came flowing into the Ocean didn’t seem troubled at all by being there. The River asked it what it did not to feel sad and not to long for its former home. The other river answered:
“I don’t worry about what I left behind, for I know it was my time to come into the great Ocean. Every time I flow into it, I’m reminded that I’m nothing more than a tiny molecule of water; no matter how important I can get to feel in the land. “
The River replied:
“But, what do I do to stop feeling so sad?”
“The only thing you have to do – the other river said – is to let it be. Be patient and look around. Just flow with the tide, open your eyes and learn from the Ocean.”
The River followed its friend’s advice. It started to notice the wonderful things that surrounded it. It started to feel the changes in the temperature, watch the patterns in which dolphins swam, look attentively at the sea gulls that flew up above…

As in a dream, one day it started feeling like it was soaring. It felt as if it was being lifted away from the surface of the Ocean, into the sky. Winds came and took it far into the West, and even farther away, and higher up above the Ocean. It started to see land beneath it. And on a cold night, it felt heavy again, and like an avalanche of little pebbles it precipitated into the land, over a small town in the hills. It kind of scattered, but the next morning, when the Sun shone again, it soared again.

And so the River traveled the World, falling over big cities and small towns; falling as snow, falling as ice, falling as fresh water… It heard many new languages, it learned about trade in floating markets, it washed away some tears and tossed with kids in puddles. One night, as it tried to float away to let a girl and a boy watch the stars from a rooftop, it felt a strong wind blowing towards the East. It got stronger and stronger, and it carried the River away so fast that it couldn’t really see where it was going. It only realized where it was when it was falling back into the land, past the leaves of the trees and back into its dear mountains. It gathered, in joy, to flow back to a place near the spring where it had been born. It was finally home; but it was a very different river, in a very different place. The trees it had known were older; there were younger ones, different ones. It saw more people, new kids, new boats, and new trade products. The River was so happy that it didn’t care about moving fast or slow, down cascades and rapids, always again towards the Ocean. The moment it reached it again, it would be the moment to do it, to be reminded again of its own insignificance, and its own ability let itself be carried away.