Living beings exist and breathe, they live, their mere presence tells you a tale by simply being near them.
Anything that tells a tale is a living being?
It’s a difficult question… However, it’s important to treasure those stories.
Living beings are organisms, they live and exist. Or well, that’s what my father told me… I want to be a researcher of the kingdom! Someone that classifies different things — or in my case living beings — and discovers new things!
However… The path of a researcher is extremely difficult!
Due to this difficulty I asked my father for a dog, I needed a starting point! A living being of four legs that was easy to study. However, he rejected my request without a second thought.
How am I supposed to research living beings if I don’t have anything to research?
Motivation is something hard to come by, and even harder to maintain, therefore… I want to be a researcher! I want to discover new things, new species; name them and classify them! But...
“Hmph! Forget about it!” I scoffed in annoyance. “How could he understand my dreams?!” It was too early to give up!
“I, Emily Renhardt, will not allow such things!” I wasn’t going to give up on my dreams simply like that. I stomped on the ground.
Hmm? With my anger long gone, I realized the ground was rock, no longer the moss of the forest. Wait… Where am I? Before I realized it, I had walked into a cave, it was cold and moist, but looking ahead there was an opening with light.
The sunlight went through the roof, illuminating the cavity of rock that was inside the mountain, little to no vegetation and a big empty space! Or so I thought.
There I saw it… Big like a house, and an overwhelming presence that sent shivers down my spine. Its grandeur had no rival. That must be it… I heard from my father once… It was a… Sage! It’s appearance, akin to a mountain with the humility of earth!
My father told me about it! Sages could come in all forms and sizes, however, they all had something in common. Wisdom! Wisdom that surpassed mortals by leaps and bounds, and moreover. Every one of them had an overwhelming mystical presence!
I swallowed my saliva. As big as a house, its aura gave the feeling of immovable, it seemed to have sanctity by how it was illuminated by the light. It was my chance. If…
If there was someone or something that could help me make my dream come true, it had to be this sage. I had to ask.
It was the only opportunity in my life so… I postrated in front of it and asked my question. But I couldn’t hide the quivering of my small voice.
“O, great sage. What should I do? I search for a living being that I can research to become a researcher! It’s my dream…” My voice was a mix of high and lows, but… I had to try…
However, even after minutes of lowering my head, nothing happened. Time continued flowing without an answer. I felt ridiculous. Why would a Sage help a little girl?
Maybe it was too early for everything… Maybe it was too early to become a researcher… Maybe…
I could feel my tears streaming down my cheeks, it was the end of everything. Why should I keep trying? It was the end of everything… There was no point in trying anymore. If a Sage couldn’t help me then… no one could.
I shakily stood up to leave, and then I heard it. A hollow sound hitting the ground. I turned around and, there it was. It was a rock. Could rocks be living beings?
While I was wondering about it I realized, it was the answer to my request. The Sage had agreed. It was all in the rock, that was the answer to my desperate cry for help.
The sage’s rock... No, no it wasn’t the Sage’s rock, It was part of the Sage itself! It lost part of itself to give me an opportunity… However…
Was it really a living being?
I couldn’t help but ask that question every time I looked at the rock. It just looked… dead, for lack of a better word. I couldn’t help but keep asking myself that question every time I saw it on my wooden table. I had come back home with a new research specimen, however, it hadn’t moved since I arrived here.
If it doesn’t move then, how could it be a living being? No. That was wrong. Plants didn’t move much and still live. Hmm, this had to be it! It was the test of a Sage!
... Maybe right now, I might not have the knowledge, but with time, I am sure I will understand something...
