It all began with…
I consider myself a very open-minded person. There are lots of things that, when told to me, I believe. Occasionally I get fooled by those things spoken to me. For example, I’ll believe a technology piece of equipment can do all these wonderful things that, in fact, it can’t; I believe the person trying to sell me a car or some health plan will work without any hitches; I try to believe in a politician who promises me the world. I get very disappointed when these promises and product endorsements fail to meet my expectations.
There is one thing that I have never been disappointed in, and when said, leads me to great expectations, which mostly are always fulfilled. And that is the word “Once,” when it is followed by the words “upon a time.”
I am a storyteller and a firm believer that stories are the foundation of learning. When I hear the words, “Once upon a time…” I know that I will be taken on an adventure. I know that wherever I am taken to, I will come out of there with a better understanding of the world and of myself.
I may not like the story that I hear. But usually, there is always something within its contents that educates me. With each “Once upon a time,” I discover things. This is something I should look out for–This is someone I should become; This is somewhere I should go; This is a behavior that I should emulate; This is why there should always be a “Happily ever after.”
Knowing all that, let me leave you with this:
Once upon a time, there was a group of many writers. They always got together to share their thoughts, experiences, and imaginations with each other. There came a time when a great pestilence ravaged the world, and they were told that they could no longer meet for fear of infecting each other. This made them sad.
Time passed without a solution to their dilemma as more and more people were infected. And then came Zoom. Zoom was a magical creature. It had figured out how to capture the spirits of all these writers and put them in little boxes. Safe within those boxes, Zoom made it so that the boxes could connect with each other without any fear of transmitting this virulent disease. And so it was done. Those writers could again meet and share their thoughts.
It wasn’t a perfect solution, for Zoom could not capture all of the writers. Some were unable to join these groups. Compromises were made. Some groups started to meet on their own, in person, risking contamination. They had a helper of their own, too; she was called Vaccine. Though not everyone was willing to accept Vaccine’s help.
Another compromise was made with the aid of a third helper. He worked well with both Vaccine groups and Zoom’s boxes. His name was Hybrid.
And the world moved on. There was a lot of give and take. But eventually, more and more writers got to meet, write and share. And it continues to this day till the next, “Once upon a time” shares a new story.
