Tales Gabrielle on 27 Aug 2008
Tale the Forty-Ninth
I’m standing in the courtyard preparing to go in to see the King of All. I’ve put on all my best clothes and brushed my hair til it shines. There are dozens of people in the courtyard with me, but I feel all alone in my nervousness. All alone but for the butterflies that have crowded into my stomach.
I know that when I enter the throne room the King of All will be sitting on his throne. This is what I’ve been told by all who I’ve asked. He will sit on his throne of mastery that rises from highest peak of the tallest mountain. The throne is seven stories high and made from a single stone that had been found buried at the bottom of the ocean. There is a platform at his feet where I will stand to make my petition.
I won’t look at him while I speak. I am to look at the floor and speak my piece. I have been told that if one stares at the floor long enough the pattern will reflect the face of the mighty King seated above you, but only two people have stood before the King of All long enough to see the reflection. Their petitions must have been very impressive to stand so long before such a mighty King. Some say a minute of his time is more precious than most people’s lives.
I have memorized my petition down to the syllable. I know exactly what I will say and how I will say it. I do not hope to impress the King; that would certainly never happen. But I do want to speak my whole piece. If I hadn’t memorized it I’m sure I would forget large parts of it. And how will the King grant what I ask if he doesn’t know all that I’m asking?
Not that I expect him to grant my petition, of course. I have been told that very few of the requests that are brought to the King are ever answered. Surely he should not trouble himself with all these little petitions. The King is busy with matters of the Universe; he is far too important for my request.
The doors before me open and I am ushered forward. I feel the press of the people behind me who are still waiting. They are pushing forward to see what is inside. I walk through the doors into a hall as tall as the sky and as grand as sunshine on the ocean. I am repeating my petition as I walk to the door I am ushered to. The beauty and grandeur is close to taking all my words away. I step to the door, a very simple door, and prepare to stand before the King of All.
The door opens on a room that takes my breath away. It is simple. It is cozy and warm. It’s a room where I would sit at my ease with a book and a cup of coffee. Surely this isn’t the King’s throne room. Surely this is the room I’m to wait in until the King’s pleasure. I walk into the room and sit down on a chair that seems made for me.
Sitting across from me is a man. He looks up when I sit down and my generic greeting flies from my lips. His eyes, his eyes are twinkling at me with wisdom, power, strength, warmth and laughter. Those eyes in that face. And he’s letting me sit in his presence.
I am too frozen to even tumble out of my chair to the floor where I belong. The King of All pushes a steaming mug across the table toward me.
“Coffee?”, he asks.