The Truth and the Lie cross paths one day. The Lie says to the Truth: “It’s a lovely day today!” The Truth looks around at all of nature rejoicing in the beautiful weather and sees that it is a truly lovely day. The Lie invites the Truth to spend the day together. The Truth is tentative at first, but accepts after witnessing the Lie express such joy and genuineness in the glory of the day. They spend hours together laughing, talking and exploring until they reach the shores of a placid lake. The Lie exclaims: “The water in the lake is delightful, let’s jump into it together!”
The Truth tests the water and discovers that it is indeed delightful. After a full and active day together in the sun, the Truth and the Lie both undress and jump in to enjoy the refreshing water of the lake. The Truth floats in the lake with her eyes closed, lulled into happiness by the unexpected pleasantness of the day.
Suddenly, the Lie jumps out of the water, dresses in the Truth’s clothing, grabs his own, and runs away. In shock and dismay, the Truth swims to the shore as fast as she can and runs after the Lie. Everywhere the Truth runs in pursuit of the Lie, the World turns its gaze away and shuns her, filled with contempt and rage.
The poor Truth returns to the lake and disappears, hiding in the deep water where she fears she will spend all the rest of her days. Meanwhile, the Lie, clothed as the Truth, lives a smug and satisfied life embraced by a society that has no wish at all to meet the naked Truth or give the naked Truth a chance to live without shame.
Adaptation of a 19th century legend(original author unknown). The genders are a literally device that can be reversed by anyone reading the story.
Deep in the heart of a northern forest, there lived a woman known as Grandmother Wintermoon. She was a fierce protector of the land and a beloved friend to the woodland creatures.
As the cold of winter set in, Grandmother Wintermoon would travel to the woodland villages, sharing her warmth with all who welcomed her. Every year, as late autumn approached, the villagers would gather to receive the warmth that would carry them through the winter season.
The villagers lived in harmony with one another, tending community gardens vibrant with rows of seasonal produce and botanicals. Villagers of every skill set contributed to the overall wellbeing of the whole, mostly bartering for goods and services.
The villagers called their village life “the house of goodness” as a reminder of all they had built together and wished to pass forth from generation to generation.
One fateful day, voices wormed their way into a small and indiscernible crack, implying that something ominous may be happening in their midst. The voices murmured that Grandmother Wintermoon had been spotted in the thick of the inky forest, gathering with a group of strange and mysterious creatures.
Most dismissed the whispers, but a group of villagers grew curious and decided to investigate. On the agreed upon day, the group followed Grandmother Wintermoon deep into the heartbeat of the forest to find out what she was up to while the villagers slept.
The group entered the forest at the break of dawn, hoping to find the answers they sought, before the forest was blanketed by the veil of night. Once they entered the forest depths, the towering spruce trees, who were guardians of the earth, watched them warily, unsure of their intent. Eventually the group of villagers came upon a hidden valley where Grandmother Wintermoon was living with her family of strange and mysterious creatures.
To their shock, they found out the creatures were using their magical abilities to maintain peace and harmony in the woodland villages. Without their protective powers, wicked forces would turn the villagers against each other, using all the trickery they possessed.
Grandmother Wintermoon greeted the group warmly and invited them to join the magical army. Once they joined, she assured them, each had a magical power that would be revealed. They readily agreed, for each man was intrigued and eager to discover what unknown magic he possessed.
The thrill of this promise soon attracted all the villagers, women and men, keen to uncover their own magical abilities.
In line to uncover his magical power, was the oldest man among the villagers, known simply as The Elder. Although The Elder was beloved by all, a secret sadness had befallen him, for he felt his usefulness to the village was greatly diminished by the limitations of advanced age.
After he joined the magical army, The Elder was honored as the first to receive his magical power. On that very same day, he called all the villagers to an important meeting in the village square, something he had not done in many moons, since retiring as the village father and alderman.
Slowly, starting from oldest to youngest, all the villagers at the meeting spoke from their hearts, while the others listened. Time stood still and flew by simultaneously, as they talked wholeheartedly, laughed and ate together, simply enjoying each other’s company.
For you see, each villager discovered a power within that was not magical in the supernatural sense, but simply their own inner-magic in the form of a sacred soul-need brought to the surface and given space to manifest.
From that day forward, the tiny crack in “the house of goodness” was sealed and the tricksters never again found room to return.
Mother Wintermoon 