One night, I was awakened by the sound of a distant thunder. As I opened my eyes, I found that I was in a dilapidated room which was built by straws and mud but not bricks. There was also a stranger who looked powerful in the room with me too.
The stranger found that I had woken up and spoke to me,” Dear miss, I think you are not our villager, am I right? Where do you come from, then? And why are you here?”
I looked at him. He was wearing national costume. His clothes were made of animals’ fur. He had a necklace and a special hat which I had not seen before. They were made of coloured stones.
I answered him,” Sorry. I do not know why I am here and I think that here is a village of the past. It is because there are no vechicles on the road and also no electricity. And your clothes are very strange too. I am from the future. Do you find it unbelievable?”
“From the future?” he asked surprisingly. “Are you here to save us? That’s great! Let me introduce myself first. I am the chief of this village. How about you, miss?”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Chief. My name is Beata,” I answered.
“Nice to meet you too, Miss Beata. I know you are here to help us. Please follow me and you will know how poor our village is,” said the chief.
Although I didn’t know the reason why I was in the village and I didn’t think of giving them a hand at first, I still followed him. Since I did not want the chief to feel disappointed, I agree with him.
When I got out of the room, I saw very horrible things. The houses were so torn. The land was too dry. And the field was empty. The villagers were very hungry and depressed. They were upset, just like a balloon which did not have air inside. I was very shocked and I asked the chief, “Mr. Chief, why is the village like this, so poor and dry?”
The chief answered, “Miss Beata, the real situation is poorer than you see. The villagers show their helplessness and sadness in their eyes. Scourges always happen in our village. Recently, our village had a drought. Therefore, the land was dry and we couldn’t grow any crops in the field. In the village, there will also be flooding and earthquakes. The other countries think that our village is dangerous so nobody is going to help us, except you.”
I was sorry about that and replied in a soft but confident voice. “Don’t worry, Mr. Chief. Let us think of a method together tonight. I am sure that we can solve the problem soon.”
At night, I went to the chief’s home. I sat down and the chief said, “Sorry, there is one more main problem in our village. Because of the poor situation of our village, many villagers become robbers to earn a living. This makes the village become harder to live in. It is a bad time for all of us.”
I was shocked to hear it. The situation of the village is just like playing the slides, always falling but no rising. I thought it was a very serious problem. So we started to discuss immediately. Although we both suggested a lot of solutions, none of them worked. We felt a bit down about it. We couldn’t think of any ideas anymore.
When we were trying our best to think of other solutions, suddenly we saw a strong and bright light. Then, we saw a pretty girl in our room but her feet were not landing. She had a pair of wings and wore a white and beautiful long dress. There was a gentle light around her. She was a pure angel! We were shocked to see it. We were also glad to get help from an angel! It was just like a miracle!
The angel with her sweet and marvelous voice, said, “I can help you two. Please listen to me. Chief, you should go to the end of the world to find the pure spring with the robbers. After drinking that spring, they will behave themselves forever and also become willing to help others. Don’t be afraid of the robbers. I will be with you. And Beata, I give you more wisdom to teach the villagers some living technology, such as building a well. You two should take action tomorrow. Hope you can complete the missions. I will take care of you guys and also bless you.” Then, she disappeared. Both the chief and I were surprised. We could get help from such a beautiful and wise angel! That night we were busy preparing. After that, we slept at once.
Early in the next morning, the chief woke me up and asked me to follow him. I went together with him and reached a stage in the centre of the village. There I saw many people standing downstage. The chief announced, “Everybody, please listen to me. I know it is a very difficult time for us due to the drought which has just happened. However, a gentle angel has given us a solution last night. The girl next to me is Beata. The angel has given her more wisdom. She will teach you lots of living techniques and you guys should follow her guidance. And I will go to the end of the Earth with the robbers to find the pure spring. But you don’t need to worry about me. The kind and pure angel will take care of me. We must trust her. And now, I will set off and you guys should start your work.”
The villagers said goodbye to the chief and sat down to get ready for my instructions. After giving my blessing to the chief, I started talking about what I was going to teach them and how they should work on it.
On the other side, the chief went to the prison and asked the jailer to release the robbers. The robbers were mystified by what the chief did. They couldn’t think of any possibility about it. Then, the chief said, “My dear, I know you guys are too hungry and have many shortages to become robbers. Last night, a pure angel asked me to find the pure spring at the end of the Earth with all of you. And the spring can solve many problems, such as diseases. I will treat this mission as your punishment. That means you won’t be a prisoner after that anymore. But please behave yourselves in the process. And I have nothing for you to rob, you know. Any problems?” No one whispered. “Okay, than. Let’s set off now,” suggested the chief.
At first, the team was very silent. The robbers did not have any communication with each other and even with the chief. In the afternoon, the chief decided to take a rest and have lunch. He distributed some bread to them. Most of the robbers were not full enough and they began to fight with each other since they wanted to grab others’ bread. They were as hungry as a lion which had not eaten for a long time.
“Stop!” yelled the chief, “Can you guys just behave yourself? For your punishment, I won’t give you extra food to eat!” The robbers felt embarrassed. Therefore, they stopped at the moment and just looked at him without complaint. (Maybe it was the blessing of the angel!)
Later, they continued with their journey. Soon, there was a deep and wide river in front of them. This time the robbers did not fight for materials of making a raft to cross the river. However, they did not have good cooperation and only thought of themselves. Therefore, it took a long time to cross the river.
The chief said, “Hey! Why didn’t you guys help each other or use a raft together? That will save a lot of time! You should learn about it.” The robbers nodded in silence.
On the other side, I was teaching the villagers and they were doing their work. Although it was hard work, they didn’t complain at all. They even had a smile on their faces and always helped others. Therefore, the progress of improving the living condition of the village was ideal. There were already a few wells and a dam to prevent flooding.
On the other hand, the team was facing another big problem. It was night and everywhere was so dark. But now, they still couldn’t find a place to take a rest. The team was worried about it. Suddenly, it started to rain. One of the robbers found a cave. However, the cave was too small to accommodate all the people. But this time they did not quarrel anymore.
One of the robbers suggested, “Let some of us take a rest first and the others just stand outside the cave to prevent some beast coming and attacking us. After a few hours, we may take turns.”
The chief was pleased to hear these few words. He thought that the robbers finally knew what love was and how to love others. By using this idea, the team had a quiet time to rest.
The next day, the team also met a lot of problems. But everytime they could overcome the difficulties by working together. Once when they were going to walk through a forest, they met some tigers. The tigers were so fierce and they tried to attack the chief! They were around the chief and he was in danger! However, the robbers were brave to hit the tigers with wood sticks. At last, the tigers were afraid and ran away. The chief was safe! After some more days, when they went to a forest, they met a gentle light. The chief recognized that it was the angel!
He said, “My honorable angel, what are you going to teach us?”
The angel replied, “Nothing. But I just want to tell you that none of you need to find the spring anymore. It is just a lie.”
Everyone was confused. The chief asked, “My graceful angel, you mean that there is no pure spring at all?”
“Yes.” She said. “I just want you all to grow during the process of looking for the spring. See, you guys have improved a lot. You are not robbers anymore. You all are angels from now on. You know what love is and how to love others, right? So now, go back to the village. The villagers need your love.”
Everyone understood. They said thank you to the angel and went back to the village.
When they were back to the village, it was really different. It was better than before. The field was not dry and there were many crops in the field. There was a lot of grass around the field. And the villagers were grinning when they looked at their field. The chief and the robbers were glad to see this. The villagers and I were also glad to see the robbers become good and know what love was.
We were very thankful to the angel. When we looked up the sky, we saw that she was smiling and looking at us. The chief stood on the stage and said, “Everybody, I know the credit of the angel is huge but we should not forget Beata. She teaches us much knowledge to improve our living conditions. Therefore, our village is more modern now. Let me give her a beautiful flower as a souvenir.
I went on the stage and received the flower. It was purple and white in colour. It was not too large in size. The size of it was suitable for being a head wear. It was very aromatic too! When I was appreciating the flower, the distant thunder came again. And in front of my eyes, it was totally black. Soon, I felt dizzy and fainted.
When I opened my eyes, I was in my own bedroom again. But there was one thing special. I saw the beautiful flower was by my side. I loved it and I would treasure it forever.
From the story, I learnt that team spirit is very important. Cooperation can turn bad things to good. Therefore, I should not ignore any of my companions. I also need to be determined and not just rely on others. Moreover, I must give chances to those who did something wrong. There is nobody who is prefect in all ways in the world.