The Widow Who Perched Upon a Chimney, a fairy tale for enlightenment

The day grows short and cider steams from mugs on a table outside. Take one, and take also the hand of someone you love. The crone sits beneath a full moon, ready to tell her tiny tale. Wind blows white hair about her beautiful, aged face. She catches your gaze and speaks. Open your mind and heart and find what meaning you will.

A widow of less than a year sipped a medicinal tea to calm her nerves.

Her home was silent but for the ticking clock. She looked in the mirror and prayed to see the Reaper behind her, but was disappointed. When her stomach grumbled, she put on her shoes and clutched her coin purse tight against her waist.   

The widow hurried down the road of the quaint village in which she lived. There were flowers, open windows, and peeling shingles lying upon steep-pitched roofs. Children played nearby. She heard their voices singing in a game. And yet, the widow felt her breath was being stolen.

Glancing back over her hunched shoulder, she had the strange feeling she was being watched.

No. Her body trembled because she feared she was NOT being watched. The Reaper was not there. Her husband had watched over her. Who now? No one. She wished only to be with him in heaven.

Despair and great fear overcame her. In panic, she dropped the coin purse and ran. Pain blossomed in her chest. The same moment, it seemed, she found herself perched upon a chimney, as if she were a bird. Perhaps an owl. She did see in every direction. Wind rustled leaves, sunlight shifted shadows, and a body lay crumpled on the cobbled road below her.   

She felt a great push toward this body. And so, she did rise again.

“Oh,” she realized upon sitting upright. “I am not entirely what I thought!” She peered up at the chimney where she had known herself to be. To her surprise, she saw herself still there, crouched and watching with bright eyes. Her spirit!

After this, the widow walked the village with an open heart. She enjoyed the world with bright eyes that were her own. When anyone spoke of a desire to leave this world for another, she could not help breaking into sweet laughter.

Heaven on earth is like this.