Willow

Did you see her? Oh, probably not. What was I thinking? For even by faerie standards she is petite, lithe, lively, quick. Willowy! Hence she got her name, Willow. For she is one of the very quickest fairies there is. Very fast moving. She is also a dreamer of dreams. But she’s so fast, so quick, that she never stops long enough to allow her dreams to solidify. Poor little Willow, moving about in tune with nature, yet unhappy. Her unhappiness is not because she doesn’t appreciate and love the joys and beauty of nature and her interactions with them; it’s because she feels that she has no purpose.

One day, as Willow was flitting about, she took notice that the communication from one place to the next was ever so slow. She had great trouble with that, for she knew she was quite fast. How could this be fixed? Why, she could carry their messages for them. That would give her purpose, which would result in a sense of fulfillment. So she decided to be a message carrier. She would take messages from here to there and hither to yon. Unfortunately, Willow found this to be draining her energy, for there were so many messages and so many distances to travel. Even though tired, she felt obliged to continue. What was she to do? Now, because she has been working so very hard, she actually needed to stop and rest. Where else would Willow go to stop and rest but in a field of flowers by a pond! As she paused, she began to ponder. Willow mused, if they hold history, the words and deed of what has already been done, and if they send this news forth, could they also help her? Would they, the holders of all history, help? She was overjoyed! Yes! The roots are excellent communicators, so they could carry these words to make communication more effective. She asked the root system, would they be willing to help her by taking messages from one place to the next? The roots loved little Willow, so of course they agreed. She was pleased and helped them set up a message and information relay system. But soon she found that people needed to get down to the ground to give the messages to the roots. Unfortunately, the taller creatures had great difficulty getting their messages passed along this way; it was very cumbersome and awkward. The roots also would then willingly, of course, take those messages along their twisty, turny route system before getting to the intended receiver. Willow sadly realized that this was not enough. And she noticed that by these twisty, turny ways, sometimes it took a little too long for the messages to be transmitted. Often a message would come late, and would no longer be meaningful or significant. So she thanked the root system for all the good that they had done and told them of her concern, but asked for them to continue to work with her for longer-term messages and to more importantly to continue to record history. Of course they agreed. It was their pleasure and joy. History-holding is a responsibility they consider very dear.

Willow knew she needed to consider something new. In her dismay, she began to ponder by a pond, wondering as she wandered, what indeed, would she do. She felt out of sorts. So to help bring more peace to her, she picked up a stick and carried it, as nature is her constant companion. She walked and thought, for now in her dismay, she still had too little energy to flit about. But at one point in her walk, she paused. She noticed that some of her tears had fallen onto the stick. Willow touched them with her finger. Little puffs of kindness appeared at each place that her tear touched. Willow felt a sense of relief. Now she had the answer. For she knew, as she put this stick into the ground, these puffs of kindness would receive the taller creatures' messages and bring it down to the root system, thus moving information in rapid speed . So she did. Placing the stick in the ground brought a smile to her face. From then on they called this stick "Willow Put." Over time, the name was changed and turned and twisted, just every so slightly. To this day this stick bears her name, ever so slightly changed to a "Pussy Willow." This is but the beginning of Willow's purpose, her self-declared mission to create a better communication system. What more is there for Willow to do to help messages be sent and received in a timely time, thus deserving her title of the "guardian of Communication?" Copyright © Michele Jacobson, 2003