That Lonely Night

That Lonely Night

Imagine yourself in the Sahara Desert. You look around you and all you see are hills of sand. A brush of cold wind sweeps over the desert; you feel it caress your cheek. And at this point of time, you happen to look up into the sky – a sky showered with millions of stars. You can see the constellations, the Big Dipper, the Dragon, the Lion and Orion the Hunter. You think of how cold and lonely you are. Just then, you see a shooting star. You make a wish and see it whiz past the night sky. You stretch out your hand, wanting to touch the sky. You reach and you reach, you try and you try, but you just can’t do it. Instead you fall onto soft ground. You realize that you are lying on the sand of the desert. You allow yourself to stretch out on the soft surface, with hands propped up behind your head. You again lament on your fate, on how lonely and deserted you feel. In the distance, you see the silhouette of a camel trotting by. Trotting on its own, with no destination, no rider you realize. You sit up, look far into the distance of the night and see a warm glow of light not far ahead of you. You start to walk towards it and see a fire glowing brightly. A pile of sticks was placed neatly near the fire but not a single soul was in sight. Who made this fire, you wonder. You feel warm by this fire and you sit close to it. You close your eyes and drift off to sleep.
Now you are in a whole other world – a world of your dreams. And in your dreams, you have every reason to smile, to laugh – because no longer do you feel alone. Because you know that wherever you go and wherever you are, Mother Nature and God are always watching over you, protecting you from this world. As you sleep, darkness engulfs you. The once glowing fire has now become a useless pile of ash. But nevertheless, you know that the stars and the fire have accompanied you through the night. They were gifts granted to you by God, they were the soul of your life, they have let you know what really lies behind the meaning of life – they were your soul companions for that lonely night..