A man in front of a mirror

A man stood in front of a mirror and his eyes wandered across the reflection as if he was looking for something. He expected to see himself in the mirror, as we all do, when we step in front of one. But the man saw everything but himself. He saw his expensive cars and his beautiful house. Next to it he saw his office where he worked all day and earned a lot of money. When he stepped closer to get a better look, he noticed his wife with whom he had not talked to in a while. “I don’t have time for talking,” was his excuse when his wife wanted to spend a candlelit evening with him, “I have to work to earn a lot of money.” Next to his wife stood their six-year old son, to whom he would rather buy expensive toys than to spend time playing with him. This was all he saw. He moved his eyes across the reflection once again but with no luck. He still could not find himself in the reflection. “How is this possible?” puzzled the man.

He thought for a while and then concluded that the mirror must be faulty. “Yes, that must be the reason,” he said and went to find another mirror. He passed long hallways in his house and entered various rooms. Almost every room had a mirror. He stepped in front of each one in hope he would find himself in the reflection, but every time the reflection was the same. He saw his house, his office, his wife and son somewhere in the background, but he was nowhere to be found.

“I don’t understand! Really, I don’t!” he cried out in anger when he stood in front of the last mirror he had found in the house. He stepped in front of every mirror he could find, but none of them showed him. He was worn out and angry from walking around his huge house in vain and so decided to go out of the house. He walked to a lake that rested in front of his house and sat under a tree. Ever since he was a young boy, nature had the power to calm him down. For a few minutes he was still trying to find the answer but then he stopped and relaxed. He gazed across the lake and spent a few moments without thoughts. “This is the first time in a while that I am by myself.” he then thought. “Ever since I have become famous I haven’t had time for myself.” The man became famous when he built the city’s library which is now considered the most beautiful building in the city. After that, offers came from everywhere and he wanted to accept them all. Soon, the abundance of money misled him and he forgot his passion.

“I used to draw plans for houses, because I wanted to make the most beautiful, comfortable and useful house. Now I draw them just to make money.” he sighed. “As a young boy I really loved houses.” he said with a gentle smile when this childhood memory crept into his mind. “When parents allowed, I would walk around the city and watch houses. I would sit in front of the most beautiful ones for hours and admire them.” he remembered. “I looked at how the windows were designed and which material they used for the door. I was trying to guess how the rooms were distributed inside. I remembered all that so that one day I could make a beautiful house like that.”

All these memories woke him from a sleep which had been going on since he became famous. Slowly the memory of the young boy became more vivid. As if his body became younger as well, he rose to his feet and went for a walk around the lake. In his heart he felt the same spark he had felt as a young boy. With it he drew gorgeous houses in his dreams and dared to believe he could make his dreams come true.

Now the young boy settled completely into our man. He filled him with youth only love for one’s work can achieve and made him walk faster. Now he enjoyed trees, birds and grass as if he was that young boy, coming back home from a tour of the city full of energy and ideas. Soon he arrived at the other side of the lake and in front of himself he saw his house and expensive cars. His wife stood in the garden and watched their son play. “I forgot about myself and traded my wife and son, who I adore, for money,” he said to himself. Now he understood why he could not see himself in the mirror. “The mirror reflects what is in front of him and I was only a reflection of my wealth then. But from now on it will be different.” he said and smiled. “From now on I will take care of myself. I will never forget about myself and those who I love again,” he concluded and then he noticed his reflection in the lake.

The two brothers

Once upon a time there lived a family with two sons. The older one was almost an adult, and the other one was still growing up. One was strong and loud, the other one humble and quiet. One day the family, who lived on a lonely farm, almost ran out of their water supply. When one of the sons went to get water, the well, which was just a few meters away from the house, started to complain: “What, you have come to get water again? I have so little of it left. If it only started to rain, so I would be full again.” he added.

The family soon started to take the well’s complaints seriously. “What’s going to happen to us if the well runs dry?” said the mother with a trembling voice. “Don’t be hysterical!” said the father firmly. He knew he couldn’t just wait for rain. Something had to be done! “Boys” said the father to his sons, “from now on you have a different task. You will no longer help in the field. You will search for the underground water so we can fill up our well.”

And so it was. For the next few days the boys would leave home early and go to a nearby forest to search for an underground river that would save their family. Every time they would return home late in the evening and bring bad news. However, there was nothing else they could do but to go searching again next day.

After a week, when they had no more power to dig, just before going home, the younger son found a few drops of water. He started to shout and jump out of joy as if he had lost his mind. The older brother came running, thinking they have finally found water. But when he saw that there were only a few drops, all his happiness disappeared and he got so angry his face turned red. “You are happy because of these few drops? Do you think we can survive on this?!” he started screaming at his more and more ashamed brother. Angry and hopeless, because they still have not found water, he turned around and left for home.

That night the younger son kept tossing and turning in bed and tried to fall asleep but all his efforts were in vain. Although the bed creaked every time he moved, he did not wake his older brother who slept above him. The older brother was sleeping like a log because he was exahusted from the idle digging, while the younger brother had only one thing on his mind: “Could those few drops I found be a sign of water?” He wanted to continue digging in the same place the next day since “Where else would the water drops come from if not from water?” But he also knew that his brother was partly right. “If I keep digging and find no water, I will look like a fool. And waste precious time! After all I have only found a few drops and not a stream.” But something in his heart kept saying to try anyway.

While they were walking to the forest the next day they didn’t say a word. The older brother stared at a distance with his tired eyes, the younger one was excited despite the sleepless night. He was still wondering what to do. “Should I trust my heart that says there are no drops without water, or should I listen to my brother and rather dig somewhere else?” Although he wanted to listen to his brother he couldn’t betray his heart. So he sneaked away from his brother who was no longer aware of the surroundings because of his despair, and ran towards the drops.

When he arrived, he started digging right away. He dug and dug but he didn’t find any new drops. Slowly he began doubting his decision but he didn’t want to give up. As if he wanted to overcome his doubt by force, he dug in the shovel with all his strength. Then as a bolt from the blue a cold jet of water gushed from the ground and gently caressed the sweated cheeks of the younger son. He had been carrying a heavy burden and now he could put it off his chest.

After he had taken time to rest, he poured some water into a gourd and ran off to find his brother. He found him exhausted at the bottom of a hole that was twice as deep as his. Apart from moving he showed no signs of life. “Brother, I have found water!” he yelled. The older brother looked up and showed his tired red eyes. The little brother quickly helped him out of the hole and gave him the gourd to recover. The water refreshed the older son and soon his eyes relaxed. Life once again settled in his body and he looked at his brother with a relief. “Where have you found it?” he asked. “There where I found those drops of water yesterday.” That shocked the older brother. He became overcome by the harsh words he had said to his little brother the day before and tears started pouring down his face. “And I scolded you because of those drops!” he barely said through the tears and buried his face into his palms. The younger son stepped closer to his brother and hugged him. “Don’t cry. Everything is fine now. Let’s go tell our parents the good news.

And so they went. The younger brother became stronger and the older one more humble.

A story about a different squirrel

Once upon a time there lived a squirrel, who was different from the other squirrels. She lived on a tree in the woods where many other animals lived, but she did not have many friends. Her tail was not so bushy, so the other animals did not consider her a real squirrel. This is why she spent a lot of time on her own. Since she had no one to play with, she designed a game she could play on her own. She would pick hazelnuts from the hazel trees and then hide them in different bushes in the woods. After a week or so, when she has forgotten where she had hidden the hazelnuts, she would start to search for them.

One day, when she was searching for the hazelnuts, she met a small bear who she had never met before. Actually, she bumped into him when she was running towards a bush,  where she knew one of her hazelnuts was hidden. The bear was unusually small but was still bigger than her. “Oh, squirrel, are you alright? I am sorry I got in your way. I did not see you,” said the bear while the squirrel was getting on her feet and dusting her belly. She intended to get mad at the bear, but because he was so nice to her, she only said, “It is ok. I am fine,” and rushed forward. The bear wanted to say something else, but the squirrel was already gone.

The next morning the squirrel went hunting for her hidden hazelnuts again. She has  already searched all bushes in her neighbourhood, but half of her hazelnuts were still missing. Then all of a sudden, she saw that bear again, the same one she bumped into the other day. He was eating her hazelnuts! “Those hazelnuts are mine!” she cried out. The bear, who was just a few meters away, heard a scream and turned around to where it had come from. When he saw the squirrel, he started waving his hand and telling her to join him. Even though she was upset about her hazelnuts, she decided to join him.

“Would you like a hazelnut? They are really good. I found them today in that bush,” said the bear cheerfully and showed her the bush not far away from him. “These are my hazelnuts. I hid them in that bush.” said the irritated squirrel.  “Oh, they are yours? I am sorry. I did not know”, said the bear regretfully. The bear’s remorse surprised the squirrel and made her heart melt. “Well, if you like them so much, you can keep them,” said the squirrel as she smiled. “That is very nice of you. You know, I would not have taken them if I knew they were yours,” said the bear. He looked at her with his gentle eyes and she smiled to say she believed him.

“You know, if I did not have to eat so much, I would not have taken them,” continued the bear. “But I need to eat in order to grow and become as big as the other bears in the woods,” answered the bear, when the squirrel gave him a puzzled look. “I must become bigger for them to accept me,” he added with sadness in his voice. But then, as if he had tried to wipe away the sadness, he said in an excited voice: “Yesterday I wanted to tell you, you have a really beautiful tail, but you had already run away.” He waited for her to smile but she felt a mixture of pain and relief instead. “Other squirrels say my tail is not bushy enough and that is why I am not a real squirrel,” said the squirrel with the pain she has carried in her heart for a long time. The bear stopped smiling and gave her a gentle and understanding look. The squirrel’s loneliness disappeared and her mouth stretched into a smile. From then on they knew they were not alone anymore. The bear bent down and hugged the squirrel. He was just big enough to wrap his paws around the squirrel and the squirrel’s tail was just bushy enough not to tickle the bear on his belly.

A cat and his magical glasses

Once upon a time there lived a cat, who was very bitter. He was always complaining about something. When it was raining, he was annoyed at getting wet. When the sun was shining, he was irritated by the bright sunlight. When it was cold, he searched for his winter coat in anger and when it was hot, he hid in shade and grumbled that he was sweating.

One day the weather conditions were almost perfect for the cat. It was not hot, but also not cold. The clouds were hiding the sun, but it was not raining. Since he could not complain about the weather, he got out of his cat hole to see what was wrong with the world, because there was always something wrong! On his way he saw a young girl approaching him. “Look!” he said to himself. “That girl has no sense of style. A red shirt does not go with a pink cardigan!” said the cat as if he were an expert.

He walked on and saw a mother with a child. “Tut-tut,” thought the cat and shook his head. “Just look at her! She is not fit to raise a child. She could at least comb her hair,” said the cat and went forward. He arrived at a cafeteria and saw a boy enthusiastically writing something on a piece of paper. “There is no point in writing, boy! No one is interested in your novel!” shouted the cat and started laughing spitefully. “What an idiot,” the cat thought to himself and went forward.

A few cat meters on the cat saw unusual glasses lying on the floor. “The man, who lost them, can count himself lucky. They are horrible!” said the cat. But something about the glasses attracted the cat. He stepped closer and put them on. He intended to look at himself in a window of a nearby store and prove once again that the glasses were horrible. But something completely different happened.

The moment he put the glasses on the world suddenly became beautiful. The sun, which had come in view, was not annoyingly hot, but was rather pleasant. He felt some kind of lightness. As if all his bitterness has disappeared and made him weightless. He saw beauty everywhere he looked. The birds were not squealing but were singing beautiful songs. Children were not audacious when they came to stroke him, instead he felt their tenderness and love.

He became so fond of the glasses that he decided to take them home. On his way back he passed the cafeteria, where the boy was still writing. Now the cat saw the boy’s joy of writing and he was pleased for him. “Write, young boy, write,” thought the cat and went on. He then met the mother with the child, who he had despised before. Now he only saw love the mother felt for her child. He did not even notice her looks! In the end he saw the girl, whose red and pink combination of clothes was very becoming. “How could I have thought these two colours do not match?”

When he finally arrived at his cat hole, he heard a loud laughter from above. “Ha ha ha, look at it, a cat with glasses!” he heard. He looked up and saw a man pointing at him and laughing. “Is your eyesight going bad? Ha ha ha!” shouted the man. But our cat did not mind being laughed at. He did not resent the man. “If only he could have such glasses as I have,” wished the cat and disappeared into his cat hole.