THE BROKEN DOVE

Another strange dream occured to me last night. I found myself in a meadow filled with flowers of golden yellow and alabaster white, and the sky was a clear shade of blue. As the wind blew, thousands of white butterflies suddenly fluttered out of the long grasses in the meadow and flocked up high into the air. I looked above and saw that the butterflies looked like moving white clouds against the blue sky.

Not long after that, a group of locusts hovered towards where the butterflies were and like beastly predators they began devouring each butterfly that they could lay their feelers on. Soon the sky was darkened with the locusts' movement hovering to and fro, while white bodies of the butterflies slowly rained onto the meadow like snowflakes falling in the middle of summer.

Looking down, I saw several butterflies writhed among the grass broken and battered. I stooped down and gathered the butterflies I could find and carried them in my arms. As I walked further into the meadow, more butterflies fell from the sky and soon I found myself carrying hundreds of the battered creatures in my arms. I looked around to see if there was any one who could help me. But there was not a single person in the area, and so I continued my journey to the depth of the meadow.

Bright and beautiful flowers swayed along with the wind as if beckoning me to forget the cruel event that had happened before my eyes. But I cared not for the flowers; my mind was set on rescuing the injured butterflies that I carried in my arms. Suddenly, something white and feathery hopped on the ground towards me. I stopped to look at it and discovered that it was a white dove. Its left wing seemed to be broken.

The dove looked back at me with its tiny black eyes and spoke,"Help me, please."

I picked up the dove and gently placed him on my shoulder.

"Thank you," it said. "There were other humans passing by before you came, but they didn't see me. Why is that?"

I shrugged, thinking of an answer. "I suppose humans have lost their... humanity."

"But you haven't lost yours."

"Because I can't."

"Thank you, what you have not lost relieves my pain."

"What happened to the others before me? Where are they now?"

The dove pointed to a distance with its beak. "They're drowned in the flowers' beauty. They are too consumed with happiness that they do not see what is happening around them."

I found a tree stump and put the dove down. Showing the butterflies to the dove, I asked, "What can we do to save them?"

The dove looked sadly at the dying butterflies. Then it looked at me and said,"Child, you have a rare soul. But your soul cannot do anything for other souls. The weak will always be broken and battered. Forget about the world's cruelty, or else you will suffer more grief in your heart."

"I can't do that," I said. "I've told you, I cannot turn my back on humanity when injustice has been done. Even if I don't have the power to change History, at least I can do something to save it. I am not Timon of Athens, I will never be a traitor to Mankind."

The dove's broken wing twitched as it listened to my words.

"Child, may God watch over you."

I shook my head. "I don't think that is necessary. I only wished that God watches over those who need Him the most."

The dove spread out its wings and made an attempt to fly. I watched it in silence until it was able to fly. Slowly, the bodies of the butterflies in my arms began to feel warm. The butterflies glowed brighter and brighter as their bodies shrunk into specks of dust. My arms were now empty, and I found myself staring up into the sky and saw the glowing dust gently floated in the air... and when I woke up I could still feel the butterflies' warmth in my arms.

"DAREKA NO NEGAI GA KANAU KORO" BY UTADA HIKARU is playing in my mind today.