The Tale of Sable and the Power of Words

The Tale of Sable and the Power of Words

Swoosh!“La--la--last one to get to the cave is a ro--tten egg!” panted Sable, as he swooped through the air in a clumsy spiral, flapping his black velvety wings as fast as they would go. The other dragon kits raced to keep up, but Sable was stronger and faster than they were, and they were no match.

“Sa--Sa--SABLE! Wait up!” Roan begged, purple eyes ablaze.

“No chance!” Sable cackled, his orange eyes fiery, “You're just a wuss, Roan!”

“Hey! Re--mem--ber the code, Sable!” urged Amberly, a bright gold dragon with green eyes.

“Code-smode...I don't care about no code!” Sable sneered.

The code Sable did not like was how the dragons choose to live and it said:

Words have Power,

Yes, they do.

Speak what you will,

And watch them come true.

Words have Power,

Be aware of what you say.

For what you utter,

Can Make or Break

Someone’s Day.

Words have Power,

Even if you cannot see,

All You Say,

Comes back to thee

Words have Power,

Believe me, once more.

For even what you think,

Will knock at your door.

As Sable's mother and father had told him, “The code is the dragon's way of life. Words have power—even thoughts—you can choose to be positive or negative and whatever you choose will go out into the Universe and be given back to the 'thinker' or 'sayer'. “Think of it like this Sable,” they said in earnest, “The Universe is a mirror”. Sable, being the stubborn little dragon he was, however, would shrug off their words and go about his day being negative and mean.

As Sable continued to taunt and tease the other dragons, the cave entrance came into view. Sable, showing off, dived towards the cave with a flourish—or what he thought was a flourish—instead he over-corrected, somersaulted, and came barreling into the direction of the vulnerable, unborn kit eggs. Roan and Amberly gasped in fear, because Sable would not be able to stop on time!

BOOM!

Sable, sprawled on his back, was looking up into the glowing, emerald eyes of the most fierce and respected dragon of all—Drogan—his father. His father had stepped in front of the unborn kits just in time, “What a relief,” Sable thought. But his father did not look happy.

“Son,” he sighed, “You must learn to be more careful. For this, you will be given the job of protecting the kits for three sunrises”.

Sable, angry, went flying off into the clouds. Through the darkening skies he sped. A storm was brewing, but he did not care. He just did not know why his world was so gloomy. Suddenly a flash of lightening crackled across the heavens and startled Sable so much that he lost control over his body and came spiraling towards the Earth.

Sable thought for certain that this was the end to him. Many thoughts raced through his mind about how he never really got to say good bye and how the only memories he had left were negative ones. However, suddenly, the wind picked up and enveloped him into a whirlwind of rubble. He spun, and spun, and spun and suddenly he saw a bright flash of light and then nothing.

Moments, or hours later, he was not sure, Sable awoke to a pounding in his scaly head. THUD. THUD. THUD. He thought to himself, “This headache sure is making me feel sick” ...Quite suddenly, Sable felt nauseated and green at the gills. He swallowed hard, trying not to empty his stomach. “What is going on?” he muttered. “I feel like I've been hit by a boulder!” CRUNCH. Sable's legs gave way and he toppled over, aching from horn to tail. “Oh boy,” he gasped, “I need to find mother and father!”

Sable looked cautiously around him and discovered he was in a cave of brilliant, violet stalagmites and crystal, clear waters. “Whoa! Where am I?” Sable thought to himself. Sable trudged over to the beautiful waters and peered within. He gasped quite suddenly with what he saw.

It was him, from the time he was a kit to the age he was now, playing out on multiple screens below. “This is peculiar…” he whispered with awe. Sable recognized all these days from his past. Why, there he was just learning to fly with Roan! Sable concentrated on this one scene as it was one of his favorite memories—learning to fly. The only thing different was that Sable saw how all the dragons, including himself, were enveloped in what appeared to be a light globe around them. “C’mon Sable, let’s learn to fly!” Roan yelled with excitement, “We got this!” he said with encouragement. Sable witnessed a peculiar light come from Roan’s words that joined with his and Roan’s globe of light and made it brighter, still. Before Sable could wonder what this could mean he saw how Roan jumped in the air and feebly flapped his red leathered wings. Barely getting off the ground the young dragon, in his excitement, tripped over his clawed feet and came crashing into a dust cloud of rock and debris. Sable, watching from the cave, chuckled to himself, but before he could form a not-so-nice thought, he witnessed himself thinking in the mirrored pool below, “How slow he is to learn to fly…what a git!”—the very thought he had thought so long ago, and he saw, with surprise, how it transformed into a tiny, black light dagger that rushed towards Roan and dissolved into the light globe around him. Roan did not appear to notice, but his once determined expression became more somber and defeated. Not only that, but Sable saw a tiny slash in the light globe surrounding Roan where the light dagger at entered. “What in the world?” Sable breathed with agitation. He continued watching the scene below with airless wonder and trepidation. So transfixed on the scene, Sable could not look away and he witnessed how the black light dagger rebounded and hit his light globe, too. He could clearly see a tear in his own globe of light. Feeling quite unnerved now, Sable attempted to back away from the pool but in his rush to move backwards he slipped on moss and fell into the crystal-clear waters with a

SPLASH!

Sable was, again, hurling and twirling downward towards he did not know where. He curled himself up into a ball and prepared for a harsh landing, but it never came. Quite gently, the falling stopped, and he was floating steadily to the ground below.

Sable peered around and saw how he was in the same cave but underwater, except there was no water. Instead swirling mists gently tickled his hide and nostrils as it danced through the “underwater” cave.

“Welcome, Sable,” a confident, wise voice announced.

“WHOA!” Sable jumped from fright but thinking he should be brave and not a wuss like Roan, he stood up taller and bolder. He peered into the mist and saw a large, shadowy silhouette of the largest dragon he had ever seen moving toward him. “Who are you!? Where am I?”

“Those are wonderful questions and not so easy to answer.” The dragon’s deep voice purred. “I am the all of the all, and you are in the place of the all—where all is seen, and all is understood if one has a willing heart.”

“What do you mean, the ‘all of the all’ and the ‘place of all’? I am confused.” Sable panted.

“You will soon, see, young one…first things first…what did you notice as you watched the scene from above at the flying grounds with your younger self?”

“Wait, how do you know that?!” Sable queried with surprise.

“Would you believe me if I told you I am your higher self—your most perfect and all-knowing self? I am here to guide you in the world, and I see you have gotten lost, so I arranged this meeting of our souls.”

“Whoa…so you are me? I am you?” Sable said, bright orange eyes, wide with surprise.

“Yes, in the sense of that concept, yes. I am the ALL of you…the ALL of you that is in the full, resplendent dawn of infinite knowing. You are the all of me, the all of me that is in shadows, learning and finding your way to the dawn. We are one in the same, yet one is awake to the full day and one is asleep in the night, experiencing and living with both the shadows and the sun. This is our journey, together, to bring the all of you home. But,” chuckled the large dragon, “that will take many more lifetimes than this. I am just here to guide you with this small truth that you’ve somehow overlooked despite earthly teachers showing you the way. So, let’s get back to what you saw in the pools of truth. What did you see?” The large dragon questioned gently.

“I don’t know… I don’t understand why there were globes of light around us all and when I spoke that thought about Roan a black light dagger came from me and hit Roan and then me.”

“Yes, yes, that is truly what is happening with our thoughts and words. Naturally, we do not see these things, at least a lot of us don’t, but they are truer than true. The light globes are called auras and are sort of an energetic shield that surrounds all living things. The not-so-nice thought you thought has power and, therefore you saw how it turned into an energetic dagger and hurt your friend and you. Auras, naturally, can be torn or fortified depending on our own thoughts, words, actions, feelings, and deeds, but we will just focus on thoughts and words right now. Do you now remember the code your parent’s and tribe have passed down from generation to generation?”

“Yes, but I never gave it much thought…” Sable began.

The large dragon interjected, “It all applies, but recite the second and third passage for me please.”

“Ok…uhh...

Words have Power,

Be aware of what you say.

For what you utter,

Can Make or Break

Someone’s Day.

Words have Power,

Even if you cannot see,

All You Say,

Comes back to thee

Comprehension suddenly dawned on Sable’s face and he exclaimed, “That is why my not-so-nice thought went out and hit Roan and tore his auron---

“Aura” corrected the wise dragon.

“Yes, that aura thing…and that is why it came back to me…because I wielded that thought that hurt Roan.”

The wise dragon beamed with love, “Yes, your negative intention, had an effect, both on you, and your friend. You build your life on your intentions, and lately, it appears you have intended many negative things through your thoughts and words. Your willful intentions can also be called Karma. You are the creator of your reality and you are weaving your karma every moment of your life.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think of it this way. We all have within us, good and bad seeds. When a dragon produces many unaddressed negative thoughts, feelings, words, or deeds than he is planting and watering those “bad” seeds to where they grow stronger and stronger each day. Eventually these seeds sprout and if one continues to water them with negative thoughts they turn into saplings or trees that affect our life in so many ways. Fruit from these seeds are not so sweet and, thus, life experiences are not so fun. What do you think happened when you were taunting your friends and trying to show off? The seeds you were watering produced the fruit of an experience that brought you much gloom, but it was meant to be a mirror to show you the effect of your words and steer you to be more kind. If you continue to water your seeds with negativity, Sable, you will, indeed, become a not so happy dragon. In each moment we choose to water the bad seeds with negativity, we lose the opportunity to plant and water the good seeds within us that will bring better tasting and more loving fruits.”

“Hmm…” Sable pondered, his mind mulling over all the times in his life that he has watered the “bad” seeds by calling other dragon’s names, thinking negative thoughts about his day, and making all the other dragons do the chores while he got to play. “But…I’ve watered these seeds, as you call them, so much! I can never make it up! I’m a mess up”.

“No, my young one, you merely attracted to you the things and lessons to further bring you opportunities to show you your true self. That’s how karma works. It is a moment by moment choice. You can easily choose to be kinder and more loving at every opportunity and, thus, water the “good” seeds more and more. Karma is like an energy and we create it with all our thoughts, words, and deeds and, of course, it affects us, but we have a choice with what to create. The power is in every “now” moment. But I’d like you to see that we, also, are not all “good” and “bad”. Here, look at this memory where you showed kindness and watch what happens”. The wise dragon turned his head towards a wall of mist that began to transform into a scene Sable remembered well.

All the kits had been playing at the flying grounds again, but this time, they were in a race with one another. Soaring through the obstacle course, Sable and Amberly were neck and neck for the finish line. There was one more hoop to pass through. Sable, determined and full of zest, flew harder than ever towards the hoop, but Amberly was faster. She soared through the hoop, but with a startled YELP, crashed onto the hard ground. Sable rushed to her side and saw that the hoop had a sharp piece of wood protruding from the circle of intertwined sticks. Tears were streaming from Amberly’s bright green eyes as she nuzzled her hurt wing. Sable watched himself swoop over to Amberly and embrace her in a dragon hug. He said to her, “Hey, it’s ok Amberly. You should have won this race. Here, wait a minute,” and he sprinted over to grab the makeshift trophy the kits had made to give to the winner. He trotted over with it between his teeth. “Here Amberly, take this, you deserve it. You really are a great flyer!” Sable, from the misty cave underneath the pools of truth, saw, with awe, how a beautiful pink energy was flowing from his heart to Amberly’s. It fortified their auras and made their auras shine brighter than ever. “Aw thanks, Sable. You really are a nice dragon underneath all that hard exterior!” Amberly chided and the energy between them and around them grew brighter still. Sable watched as he helped Amberly stand up, as they giggled, and made their way back to the caves.

Sable was still staring at the scene even after it had misted away. He remembered that day and how he felt so much lighter and full of life and love than he had ever felt before. Tears were streaming from his glowing orange eyes. “I have to do better!” he thought to himself. “Words and thoughts really do have power.”

“I see you’ve got the message, young one. Now it is time for you to return home.”

“But will I ever see you again!? I still have so many questions!”

“All in the right time, all in the right time. Remember, it is you that must awaken from the night into the dawn and this can only be done one step at a time. All you must do every day and in every moment is choose to be the best you that you can be. And if you fall short somedays, remember it is ok, as you can recreate yourself in every moment—just notice it and come back to being kinder and more loving. Now it is time for you to go. But, here, take this.” The wise dragon handed Sable a string with an engraved stone attached. The stone simply had what looked like a sideways eight emblazoned on it. And with that the wise dragon disappeared in a swirling mist that soon was swirling and twirling around Sable. Sable closed his eyes as he spun, spun and spun upward, upward, upward and with a

PLOP

He opened his eyes to hushed and worried voices surround him. “My son, so glad to see you back with us. You experienced quite a knock on your head!” Drogan, his father, chided. “Oh, my Sable, I am so glad you are alright!” He felt a huge lick on his cheek which could only be from his loving mother, Nya.

“Mom, no, mom! Stop!” Laughter filled the cave room as Sable pushed and strained against his mother’s affections.

“Do you remember anything son?” His father asked. “We found you in the fields miles from here and you were knocked out, but this was around your neck. It is the infinity symbol and is a symbol that has great meaning in our culture. It means, “He who has glimpsed the infinite truth”.

Sable reared up in excitement and began talking about his journey where he met his wise, all-knowing self. Sable talked excitedly about what he learned. Breathless and finally finished with his recount, Sable stared at his parent’s with anticipation.

His parent’s eyes twinkled with knowing and after what seemed like an eternity for Sable, his father said mischievously, “Well, its nearly time for bed, my son. All you’ve learned will come in handy for protecting those kits for three sunrises, won’t it?” His father gave Sable a squeeze to the shoulder, his eyes twinkling with glee.

Sable feigned protest but couldn’t hide the smile forming at the prospect of starting a new day with an entirely new perspective. He said quietly to himself as he dozed off to sleep:

Words have power,

This now I know.

I will be more careful

As I’ll reap what I sow.

Words have power,

This is true.

So, I will sow Love,

In everything, I think, say, or do.

The End

-J.S. Drake-