THE FIFTH REALM: TURQUOISE — Honest words

One afternoon, a silfi stayed with her as she practiced. Skyblue had spent a long time searching for a sentence that couldn’t cause harm. She examined it inwardly, changed a word, and began again. The more closely she guarded it, the more her body tensed.

“What would you really like to say?” the silfi asked.

Skyblue took a while to answer.

“I’m afraid of getting it wrong again.”

She said it slowly, acknowledging what she felt. The words took shape in the air and their energy spread around her. The dragon followed them carefully. Nothing broke. The creature beside her was able to come closer and listen.

“When I hide it, I’m still afraid,” Skyblue observed.

“And you have to keep hiding it as well.”

The dragon relaxed her wings. She had been so concerned with finding the right words that she had almost left her own truth out of them. She said how she felt again, this time without expecting the silfi to put it right. Then she listened to the whole reply.

Skyblue felt an immense relief. Doubts and worries could be spoken from the heart too. She didn’t need to dress them up as happiness to speak to others.

She remained in the realm a long time. Her inner conversation grew gentler, though it didn’t disappear forever. Some mornings were easy; on others, she had to begin patiently again. Helio reminded her of this whenever Skyblue tried to turn one good day into a lasting guarantee.

“It’s a process. Be clear about what you want, act in that direction, and let a force greater than yourself help you. Trying harder isn’t the answer to everything.”

Skyblue could do her part without trying to hold the universe in her claws.