The Visit To Ascetinia
A short story by Paul McCann
For most of his life Mackbah Cahoun had tried to help others but when he was in real need of help he found there was no one willing to reach out and give him a hand . He felt disappointed with people and disillusioned with the things he believed in and he needed some time out away from everything and everyone he knew . In need of inner healing and answers to his many questions he went to Egypt and abandoned himself to the desert in search of enlightenment .
Out there the desert sun shone down brightly upon the ripples of sand that covered the canvas of a forgotten place in time . Void of life and empty of sound he wandered through the wilderness in search of a group of hermit monks known as the desert fathers . It was said that they were enlightened and were able to provide deep knowledge about this life and the next .
Mackbah had come to a place in his life where he felt lost and empty of emotions . Because of this he self imposed this act of discipline on a journey to discover enlightenment .
Each day Mackbah searched the desert until the evening stars appeared and then he prayed for guidance and direction to find what he was looking for . As the weeks passed his food and water supply was almost gone . He felt dirty and thirsty and felt like he could not carry on any further . It was at this point when he arrived at ancient temple .
A statue of a lion guarded the entrance to the temple . As Mackbah approached the statue spoke .
“Welcome to Ascetinia “
Mackbah fell to the ground and started to cry and talk in a gibberish way.
“How on earth can this ever be happening to me . Am I really mad ? “
The echoes of the lions voice in the wilderness rebounded on every wall inside the temple .
“Tell me man of despair after coming so far , why do you doubt where you are ?”
Mackbah looked up at the talking lion and asked .
“Who are you and where am I ? ”
“I am the wild flower that was scattered wildly in the desert for you to find I am the colours of every sunset in the desert sky . I am the shades of night that creep in to keep you company until the dawn , I am the last leaf of the last tree that ever grew in this desolate place , I am the statue that no one can see, I am the answer that you seek to find and you have come to the Temple of Ascetinia where your destiny awaits .“
Mackbah got to his feet and stood in front of the talking statue and said ,
“I feel like a desert and my thirst is burning in my throat with a fire I cannot quench .“
The lion’s mouth opened and a fountain of water began to pour out .
The water was the coolest sweetest liquid Mackbah had ever tasted.
After he drank he washed all of the dust from his body .
Suddenly the walls of the temple began to move and two large doors began to open up .
“A long long time ago just after the first snow had fallen here in the desert your great great great grandfather King Michbah was riler of the Kingdom of Ascetinia . You were destined to come here to this place .
Go now and find what you are searching for “
Mackbah walked inside the temple and as the doors closed behind him he found himself on a pathway with flowers in bloom on each side .
There were fruit trees on the banks of a stream that flowed gently along past a tall stone building with many windows of coloured glass crystal that shone with a dazzling display of multicoloured reflections all around this kingdom .
The people who sat on the river bank called to Mackbah and welcomed him to Ascetinia . In a state of peace and love Mackbah went over to the river where people swam with swans and on the grassy river bank children played with foxes and rabbits that had no fear of people .
Bees were humming and making honey in their hives . Sheep danced to
the music played on harps by musicians .
A King wearing a crown , dressed up in royal robes approached and spoke with a kind lilt in his voice .
“You are very welcome here Mackbah , I am King Michbah ruler of the Kingdom of Ascetinia ‘“
“Is this place real or am I dreaming ?“
Mackbah said .
The King replied
“This Kingdom is a real place that lies between realms of this life and the next . The doorway you have found cannot be accessed by most people only those who have been destined to come here can ever make their way to Ascetinia . So after your brief visit is over Mackbah you must return back to your world, but one day you will return here to remain forever with us in Ascetinia.”
Mackbah was given royal robes to wear and shown around the Kingdom and somehow in another sometime Mackbah knew he had been there before and h spoke to people he had known before . It was as if he had returned back home where he belonged .
What a beautiful place it was but suddenly a white horse came galloping across a carpet of emerald green grass and stood by Mackbahs side and said .
“Its time for you to leave now Mackbah . I shall bring you back to where you had come from . Get up on my back now for its time to go “
Through the trees and across the stream the white horse galloped . Past honeysuckles and privet hedges , down the gentle rolling hills and acosrr the bridge where a trumpet sounded and two large doors opened up in the side of a mountain . The ground trembled and the wind blew and the horse flew up in to the sky over the deserts of rippled sand and through the clouds of a blue sky and down into the streets of grey concrete right outside Mackbah’s house .
“Back safe and sound Mackbah to your little home on the outskirts of London . How do you feel ? “
“I have never felt happier and at peace in my life than I do now “
Mackbah replied .
The horse said ,
“Then you have found your destiny . Stay happy until we meet again. “
The horse flew away and Mackbah went inside his house and looked out his window . The snow started to fall and soon the entire street was covered in a carpet of white . The memory of where he had been was white washed from his mind .
His journey to Egypt was like a dream and all of life’s bad experiences had somehow never happened and he now had a new life with a new purpose .
From that day on he found new friends and people who cared for him ,
His life had taken a turn and Mackbah was chosen to be the leader of a project to restore life to a desert . He was give resources to pump water from the sea and desalinate that for regrowth in a desert where flowers and trees grew in a park where a stream flowed around a children’s play area with wild life all around .
This picture of life in a desert was the first in a brave plan to restore life to the earths barren places .
You stated it yourself that it seemed like a strange dream where the protagonist, Mackbah, who had so far seem to have wasted his life, was suddenly taken back centuries to the desert location of his origin and the beautiful place it was then.
Such stories usually have a moral. In your case the borrower is that Mackbah is transformed by this dream from a man with no purpose to a man who wishes to bring back the grandour of his ancestry by returning green to the desert.
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