The Light's Calling

Jacob

Jacob came to the United States from Russia. He fled the oppression and the poverty that had stricken his town, as he refused to let that keep him from following his dreams. Jacob became blind at the age of 7 when the Minos found him, but through his blindness, he could still see the lights. He never forgot them, and even if he could not actually see them, he picked up the energy that then projected a light within his eyes.

He discovered his light a couple of months before he lost his vision. He was born to be a chef. He realized this as he was left home one day to fend for himself. He nervously made his way into the kitchen, which at first intimidated him, but as soon as he pulled out the pots and pans and made his way to the pantry, it came to him like a rush of emotion. Suddenly, he started to grab the spices and ingredients to put together the perfect meal.

His light was so bright that everyone in the town came to see, and as he threw in the ingredients, his hands glowed with delight. Every single ingredient was unique, and he could feel the flavor as it was mixed in with several other ingredients. As soon as he finished cooking the meal, his light slowly dimmed. One of his neighbors knocked on the door begging to try just a bit of the delicious meal that had attracted the entire town, and he quickly put a dish together for her.

She was so amazed by the way the dish tasted, and insisted on getting the recipe from him, but Jacob could not remember what he had done because to him it felt like someone took over when he was cooking, and he didn't have the awareness to capture anything that was happening in the moment.

As soon as his parents returned from work, they smelled the scent of the wonderful dish their son had created. His mom was overjoyed to find that her son had discovered his gift at such a young age, and she did everything to ensure that he would nurture this gift so that it would provide for him in the future, but most importantly bring him the joy that it did.

Jacob's mom let him prepare every meal and carefully took notes on all of the recipes to put them together in a book. His cooking was quickly discovered by world famous chefs and bakers, and before he knew it, Jacob was being flown to the United States to share his gift with the world. But, with fame, there is always the dark side that looms. Jacob was discovered by a Mino, and it did everything in its power to steal his light. Without warning, Jacob lost his light and his vision too. Fortunately, Jacob's mom had a collection of all of Jacob's recipes, and she traveled far and wide to find someone who would help Jacob create a cookbook.

Unfortunately, without his light, Jacob just was not the same. He went into a deep depression, and without his vision, he lost all hope. Slowly, he withdrew himself from all the things he loved, and when his mom burst into his room with a big smile on his face, she discovered him sitting in his room completely defeated.

His mom tried everything to get him out of this mental state, but there was nothing that she could say or do to change Jacob's mind. Jacob's mom reached out her hands and put her hands in Jacob's and told him to cook her just one meal, but he refused. She explained to him that his light was not completely gone and that he could reignite it, but that he had to fight the dark remnants left behind by the Mino.

Jacob got up and entered the kitchen in his home, the one that had once brought him so much joy, but no matter what he did, he felt nothing but doubt. The energy he once felt in this room had diminished, and although he could feel it holding on, it was not strong enough for him to reignite without more from him.

He cried, as he felt helpless in the room he so loved. The Mino took his light and his vision, but it also took more with it and left too much behind.

"Jacob" his mom called to him.

He put his hand out for her to hold it, and she did. They both sat in the kitchen, as the tears continued to stream down his face, but he felt, at that moment, that the tears would never stop flowing.

"I can't remember how to cook, mom" Jacob said to his mom.

"Jacob, your passion isn't about memory, it is about what you were meant to do. It is second nature. It is like the first fall from a bike; getting back on that bike after that first fall is very hard, but the more you get up to get back on that bike, the more you realize that you know how to ride the bike. A fall is nothing more than temporary state, but a fall is always followed by a rise. When you ride a bike, you don't constantly have to remind yourself what you're doing. You were meant to do this. Now, see what happened to you as the first fall: a fall doesn't erase the feeling of riding that bike. That freedom you felt when you first got onto that bike, the victory of realizing that this is something you could do, the moment to experience that again is now, after the fall." His mom said to him.

He looked at her as she smiled back at him, but he didn't know what to say. Then, he smelled something familiar, and he saw everything. Suddenly, it came to him.

His mom cooked a dish for him, and even though he couldn't see it, he recognized what was happening in that moment. She carefully added in the ingredients just as he had when he cooked, and the more she added to the pot, the more Jacob's light tried to break through. Then, suddenly, it came as a rush, so he got up from where he was sitting, and he started to make his way towards the stove where the food was cooking to toss in the final ingredient.

At that moment, his mom knew.

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