Strength, the dragon, and the Fool walked down the misty spit jutting out into the wild sea. The ocean was grey and choppy. The Fool could see the water passing by fast in the treacherous currents. A drop of water fell on the Fool’s nose, and it was cold.
The dragon swooped over the choppy surf, hitting the tops off of the waves and creating spray. Then he would stretch his wings out and let the wind carry him backward. The dragon was playful when flying free.
The biggest strength you can get, Strength said in the howling wind, is to know your direction. Without goals, we are directionless.
She started turning inland. The Fool followed her and felt the wind pushing him from behind. There were more drops of rain smacking him on the face. Strength climbed and stepped over the logs with ease while the Fool scrambled over the bleached wood.
They got to the inside of the spit where the wind wasn’t strong and the water was calmer. The Fool could see a mountain range off in the distance. Tall pointy snow-capped mountains. While the water was calmer there, it still swirled around.
A group of men were at the shore, carving large pieces of driftwood. They were making totems. Some of the totems were posted up and painted brightly, symbolizing different animals with wide eyes and toothy grins.
Any animal can be in your totem, Strength explained. We can find meaning in anything, but it is when we decide to acknowledge that meaning that it is made important. We walk by birds all the time, but when we see a bird in a totem, we realize the lessons that birds teach us.
The water began to swirl and boil. Something big was breaking the surface of the water. Several points stuck out of the water and soon the Fool could see it was the crown of a king. Lifting the crown out of the sea was a decorative sword. Hanging from the crown was a garland of laurel. It all floated above the ocean like a beacon.
Someday, Strength said, you will wear that crown and hoist that sword as your own. You will be a warrior of knowledge. You just need to know how to harness that kind of power. This is that journey.
Strength led the Fool back over the driftwood pile, back down the long beach that stretched out into the dense fog.
The Fool couldn’t imagine himself being a king with a sword. He wore a threadbare hood on his head and carried a staff with his belongings tied to the end, after all. Was it his own goal, or the universes’? He’d just keep following Strength down that spit until the next right thing became apparent.