Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

13

The old hunter nodded every time the little girl answered with the correct name and use of the herbs he showed her. The little girl paused and looked up from the herbs, straight into his eyes.

"Why are you teaching me all this, Grandpa?" she asked.

The old hunter held her eyes for a moment before replying, softer than the way he used to talk. "Because you have it in you, squirrel."

"Have what?"

The old hunter raised his thick white eyebrows, looking for the words the little girl would understand.

"You can think of it as a door, or a window, hidden deep inside of you," he said. "You may need to open it someday. If that day ever comes, you'll need to know how to open that door to do good. Else, you can hurt yourself and those around you."

The little girl blinked, as if still waiting for an answer. The old hunter huffed, recalling why he'd never had any children of his own.

"Show me your hands."

The girl stretched out her hands, palms up. He took them.

"Some people can do amazing things with their hands. They can mold wood and steel. They build, craft, fix a whole lotta things." He waited until the little girl nodded to go on. "And there's a very few people who can mold other things. Things your eyes cannot see but are there anyway. When they learn how to do it, they become sort of... highways."

"What's a highway?"

The old hunter scoffed. "Jesus! I need to show you a little world, child! A highway is a broad road. Very broad. Enough for several freights to drive side by side at the same time."

"And some people are like that."

"Yes."

"So they're... highway people."

"Yeah, let's call them that. But the cars and freights running down these human highways-the highway people-are made of energies we can't see or touch. Things like sunlight: you can see what it shines down on, but you can't see the light itself, right?"

"So the highway people can see the light? Can they see in the dark too?"

"Yeah, some of them can. But what's more important, they can guide these energies-channel them-to make them work on what they need."

The little girl stared at him blankly. Plain to see she hadn't understood a single word he'd just said. The old hunter chuckled, let go of her hand and pointed at the open herbs catalog on the worktable. The little girl smiled, sitting up, happy to be back on known ground.

"This is speedwell. It's good to help people calm down."

"Good." The old hunter turned the page. "And this one?"

"Stonecrop. It's good to help wounds heal faster."

"Good. This one?"

"Why are you teaching me all this, Grandpa?"

"Because of the highway people."

"They like herbs?"

"You tell me, squirrel. You're one of them."