Just then, a strong, warm hand grasped her shoulder and she felt the cat’s claws yanked free of her arm. She knew it had to be her brother! She reached out to him and felt his hand grab hers, lift her to her feet, and pull her into a hug that was as warm and beautiful as the summer sun. She had never felt so happy and so loved as she did right then.
For a while, her brother carried her over the rockiest and most difficult part of the path through the cave. When they finally reached the outside, he set her down and she felt his fingers on her lips. He gently urged her to open her mouth. Tears of shame poured from her empty sockets. She did not want him to see what she had done, but she opened her mouth. She felt her brother wipe the tears from her face and then she felt something pushed into her mouth and, suddenly, her tongue was back in its proper place! She did not know how it was possible, but she wasted no time in using her newly replaced tongue to express her gratitude to her brother again and again.
After she had rested a little while, her brother took her by her hand and led her along the path away from the cave. The path was much longer and steeper than she would ever have thought, but, with her brother’s help, she continued steadily on. Her heart broke every time she thought of her father hearing about what she had done and seeing how horrible she looked without eyes and ears. What would he think of her? Could he ever love her again?
Just as she felt she could go no further, they stopped. Her brother sat her down and had her rest her head in his lap. She felt his gentle fingers on the sides of her head where her ears should have been. “I’m so sorry, Brother. I was following the cat and I…I…” She began to sob so hard that she could no longer speak.
She felt her brother wipe the tears from her cheeks. Then he said, “It’s okay, Truenda, with your tears, I have mended your ears.” She could hear! She reached up with her hands and felt that her ears had been returned to their proper place! Immediately, she fell to the ground thanking her brother again and again. Her brother said, “Now that you have ears to hear, follow my voice.” He got to his feet and began to lead her up the path. He did not take her hand this time, but she was not afraid, because she could hear his words and follow them.
They walked for a long time. The path climbed ever upward and Truenda’s legs ached from the effort. The pain she felt inside, however, was far worse. She thought only of her father who had never shown anything but the purist love for her and she had disobeyed him again and again. She deserved this guilty pain in her heart. She deserved her horrible eyeless face. Her father could not possibly love such a disobedient daughter. If it were not for the kind and hopeful words of her brother beckoning her on, she could not have taken another step.
Just as she felt she could go no further, they stopped again. Her brother sat down and told her to rest her head on his lap. Immediately, she began to sob. Her brother stroked her hair and wiped the tears from her cheeks as she poured out her heart to him. “How can you be so kind when I have been so horrible? How could you have descended into the awful depths of that dark cave for someone like me? I do not deserve it. You and father must be so disappointed in me!”
“Father sent me into the depths to fetch you because he loves you. I went because I love you. We will always love you no matter the choices you make. We want only your happiness and for you to return to us. And, if you trust in me, I will make you whole again.” With that he pressed his fingers against the empty sockets of Truenda’s eyes and, when he pulled them away again, she could see his beautiful face smiling down at her. Dawn was coming and, in the early morning light, her brother seemed to glow with goodness. “Now that you are whole again,” he said, “follow me home to father.” This she did with happiness filling all the empty spaces in her chest where only the aching darkness had been before.
And she lived happily ever after.
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| A page from my journal about the origin of the "Truenda" story. |
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