Sees-Many-Mysteries and the Most-Flat Pool

I am the Saxhleel known as Sees-Many-Mysteries. Ever since I was a hatchling, my greatest desire was to explore ancient ruins, caves and things, and after my Naming Day I got that wish. And that is what I do.

One early morning, I set off to find one of these caves of mine, searching after what is called the legend of the Most-Flat Pool. According to these ancient legends, anyone who touches its surface will have the truth of his or her world revealed to them.

The cave was cut into a rock face near the ocean, with a beautiful view of the countryside and the coast. The cave’s wide opening got smaller and smaller until it turned into a squarish tunnel, made of cold, gray stone, cut in angular shapes, unintuitive to me. The end of the tunnel opened up then into a tall-ceilinged room with much more intricate detail than the tunnel had. Statues of old, dead men lining the walls, and scattered around the room. Some of them were broken, images, faces, lost forever to the wear and tear of time.

I spent a long time in this room, looking at each of the statues, reading the carefully curated, but now faded, nameplates with descriptions of their lives and accomplishments. Thousands of men, summed to a couple hundred words each, if they were lucky.

Eventually I got to the other end of the room, where another square corridor was cut into the wall. However after this corridor was a long, steep, spiraling staircase with opulent detail and upholstery on the carpet and the railing, unfortunately now ruined by dust and disrepair.

After what seemed like half my lifetime, my gaze detected the end of the staircase. This brought with it the final room on my journey, and it certainly fit the role.

The room appeared to have initially been constructed in the same design as the hall with the statues inside, however half of the room’s facade had been broken away to reveal a massive, cavernous, underground rock-bubble, the bottom covered in a near-perfect mirror.

In fact, I almost thought that the mirror was the real cave! But the slight imperfections led me to realize otherwise.

This is the Most-Flat Pool.

I touched the glassy surface of the pool, gently, briefly. Ripples spread out in perfect circles, leaving behind strange, incorrect reflections.

I saw words arguing over whether or not I exist. Strange, foolish creatures these were, whoever they might be. For do they not plainly see that I, and all of us, too, exist?

A mind is like the surface of this pool: naturally clear, undisturbed and accurate. But when the pool is agitated, embittered, it becomes cloudy, frustrated and unfathomable through naked perception alone. Therefore we all must allow ourselves to let our minds settle and clear so that we may observe the obvious and understand what is important.

For a moment I savoured the thought of diving into the pool, before realizing that that would most likely be very unpleasant and would probably lead to my death. I wonder how many of you would have jumped in.

So I went back up the long, winding staircase, back through the tall, dead halls, back out the mouth of the open cave and viewed with great pleasure the approaching morn. The sun fell with splendour on all the trees, the grass, the mountains, the swamp, the ocean, the lakes, the clouds.

THE WORLD.

IT IS OURS.

Have fun, my little children.