Woven Lines

There is a peculiar feeling when one has hit rock bottom. They do things they normally wouldn’t do, which is why David found himself wandering in the middle of nowhere, scuffing his pristine leather Bontoni shoes on a forgotten dirt path. It was all to find some strange woman named Opal.

Truly, David was having a crisis. He was making the most money he had ever made in his entire life. He had everything he wanted, except something did not feel right. Wasn’t he supposed to feel happy? He had finally achieved everything he worked so hard for. Late nights at the office. No vacation time. He never took a sick day. He was focussed and driven, which is exactly what his boss told him when he was promoted. Why did he still feel this aching emptiness?

David had been experiencing anxiety and depression for several years and had tried everything he could think of to help himself. He was in a deep depression when an old friend called him out of the blue to check in on him. As his friend heard the despair in David’s voice, he offered that David come to Birch Lake, a small community in the Northern Plains that David had never bothered to visit before.

“There is a woman,” his friend said, “who is thought to be a witch by some. By others she is just an old lady that sticks to herself. Some people say she performs miracles.”

David scoffed. Sitting in his high-rise apartment, he could barely believe what he was hearing. Was his friend actually telling him to come to the middle of nowhere and seek out an elderly woman to cure him of his ills?

However, when David got off the phone, instantly his familiar anxieties took hold of his mind. He knew he would not be able to live if he continued on this path. Before he had time to change his mind, he booked a flight.

Mere days later, David was wandering down an unpaved pathway, sweating in his suit.

Suddenly, a small cabin, surrounded by trees and greenery appeared. He saw a woman working in the garden, but she didn’t look that old. David thought he must have the wrong place, but he could see no other dwellings around him, so he walked up the path towards her.

As he started to approach her, she did not turn around. Once he was in earshot, she spoke softly, “If you have come here for healing, I cannot help you.”

David, who was not used to being told no, was taken aback. He thought, “If she was a healer of some sort, what kind of cold, abrasiveness was this? She did not even turn to look at me!”

David stopped in his tracks, fumbling his words. However, the will of the heart can be much stronger than the mind, and he had travelled all this way. He persisted, “I haven’t even told you why I am here or what I need healing for. Are you even Opal?”

The woman, who had been tending to her plants throughout this interaction, finally turned and faced David. When their eyes met, she smirked. It was as though her eyes were laughing. David misunderstood her demeanor and felt as if she was taunting him. Having rarely been mocked in his adult life, he could feel the ferocity bubbling up towards his face.

“I see you are nothing more than a shrewd old woman. Of course, you cannot help me. You don’t know how.”

Opal held his gaze, silently, until he turned around and started walking back towards the road.

He was still in earshot when he heard, “I will help you, for twenty-thousand dollars.”

David scoffed and continued walking, “I have heard you do this work for a measly bag of rice, or even for free. How dare you ask me for that incredible sum of money!”

“So be it.” She smiled, and turned back to her vegetables as if he hadn’t been there at all.

His fury was unmanageable as he stalked away.

“Who does this woman think she is? Challenging me like that? Asking for twenty-thousand dollars? She truly is mad.” His thoughts violently swept through his mind.

Days passed. David remained in a rage. He was not the warmest person before this interaction, but he had turned ice cold while ruminating over the moments shared with Opal.

That night he had a dream that shook him to his core. He was elderly and alone. He had no one around him that loved him for who he truly was. He woke with the feeling of loneliness rotting in his chest.

By mysteries he could not understand, David found himself walking back to Opal’s property that morning. He could not see her in the garden. As he walked up the old, creaky stairs, her front door opened.

Opal stood, adorned in the most beautiful of robes. He had to admit, even in her firmness, there was a warmth to her. She had an inviting, welcoming energy surrounding her on this day. David himself felt more open to her help than he did just days ago.

“Come in.” She said, easily.

They quietly made their way to a small, wooden table, where he placed the stack of money. Yet even though he wanted her help, parts of him still had the defiance of a child.

“I assumed you were not a greedy person. I thought you did not ask for this type of payment from people who come to you seeking help.” David grimaced.

“So, you admit, you want my help?” Opal mused.

David was silent.

Opal took an audible breath out. “I have people who would give me the shirt off their backs to heal themselves or a loved one. You come here, with more wealth than this entire community has, and you resist giving any of it away. Twenty-thousand dollars is like pennies in your pocket. Go now into the forest, and give the money away.”

“What?” He asked incredulously. “I am not just giving this money away to some stranger. Besides, who in the forest would accept this from me? I just can’t walk up to people and do this. This money is mine, and I’ll decide what to do with it.”

“You were willing to give me all of this money. It is sitting here on my table. If you want to be technical, technically it is mine. And I am asking you to give it away. You cling to your wealth and status, like it is who you are, but it is not who you are.”

“Well, who am I, then?” David challenged.

He did not like how his questions went unanswered by Opal. Isn’t that why he was there? Couldn’t she just tell him what was wrong and heal him?

As if she was reading his mind, she said, “Did you think I would light some candles, chant a spell, and then you would be on your way? We all need something different to heal. Everyone has their own stories that lead them to me, but ultimately, everyone wants the same thing.”

“And what is that?” He questioned.

She stared deep into his eyes, and David blushed. He felt vulnerable around Opal, that she somehow understood his deepest desires without speaking them aloud.

“We all just want to belong to something, or someone. To live with love around us. After that, things are simple because you know, no matter what happens to you in your life, you will not be going through it alone.”

Then, she glanced at the money, as if to say, “Go, before I change my mind and we don’t do this at all.”

“But how will I know who to give it to?” He asked.

“You will know, if you listen.”

“Listen to what?” David was growing frustrated.

He held Opal’s stare, and he saw that she had no judgment behind her eyes. She reflected only something clear.

Opal got up and started tinkering with jars of herbs, to gently signal to David that it was time to go. David grabbed the cash, and walked out of her home.

In the fresh air, he was deeply perplexed by how he would do this task. He felt himself wanting to keep the money, even though he knew Opal would know if he had given it away or not.

She was right though. These bills were like pennies in his pocket. As he was about to walk down the road, she opened her door and spoke so gently he thought he imagined it, “Take the path through the forest.” Opal closed her door abruptly without another word.

He was still under the impression that this was all madness, but the pull was within him. The intense longing to rid himself of his crippling loneliness was strong. He was willing to do anything.

As David turned towards the brush, some nervous excitement prickled through his skin. He had not walked among the trees since he was a child, and something about it made him weary of the uncertain territory.

He had only been walking for twenty minutes, when he could see cabins, much like Opal’s, in the distance. As he rounded a bend, he saw a small cabin, with an elderly woman sitting on the porch. She reminded him of Opal in some way. David paused, and started to walk towards her.

His anxieties were playing out in full force with each step. “What am I doing? This woman is not going to accept a large sum of money from a stranger. Why am I even giving it to her, when Opal has not done any sort of healing, anyway?”

Still, his feet had a mind of their own, and before he knew it, he was right in front of her.

David was silent, as he had no idea how to begin this kind of conversation.

Luckily, the warmth of this woman was palpable. She smiled, and did not seem surprised by David’s presence. As if she was reading his confusion, she spoke sweetly, “Opal sent word, a few weeks back, that a strange man with fancy shoes would arrive with a gift, and I was to accept this gift, no questions asked.”

David was struck by the mystery. How could Opal possibly have known that he would show up? Why did it suddenly feel right to give the money away now? It was as if the money would burn his skin if he did not place it in this woman’s hands. He felt something shift inside of him when he gave it to her.

The woman went into her cabin and brought out a small black notebook.

“Opal told me to give this to you, should you ever arrive. I wasn’t expecting this sort of gift, but I am so grateful you showed up. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I will be able to keep my home now.”

David stood in awe. Having seen The Grinch as a child, David understood the proverbial swelling of the heart, but he did not realize that it would feel so all encompassing. He had not felt this sort of lightness in his body before.

He stood under the trees for what felt like a lifetime, and then opened the notebook. On the front page were a few simple lines that said:

You do not need me to heal the aches in your heart.

Everything you need already lives inside of you.

All my love is yours,

Opal

With that, David turned back towards the cabin, in hopes that he would be able to share his transformation with Opal. However, as he approached the end of the brush, he looked to where Opal’s property was, and saw nothing there.