Meaning

If you seek the truth, you will always find it.

The room was so dark. I decided to go out. I was bored. You hadn’t come back yet. I got in the elevator. I arrived on the ground floor in what seemed like seconds. It happened so fast that my heart raced madly like a clock ticking during an exam.

I stepped outside. It was crowded with people. I wanted to go back. I couldn’t. I had forgotten my front door key. “Ok, it doesn’t matter.”, I said, “I’ll walk around a bit.” But there was something that scared me. All the people wore masks on their faces. “Could they have organized a masked ball like they do in Venice?”, I wondered. But no, there was nothing like that.

Suddenly everyone started laughing at me. They whispered and pointed at me. I was worried. “Look, she’s naked!” someone shouted. I was very frightened. I looked around, but I was fully clothed. However, the masked people kept discussing me. I became so uncomfortable that I decided to run away. I went to the end of the park and sat on a bench. My eyes began to fill with tears. A little girl appeared from somewhere and sat next to me without asking. I didn’t get angry because she wasn’t making fun of me. The strangest thing was that she wasn’t wearing a mask on her face. Her kind blue eyes invited me to speak to her.

— Why aren’t you wearing a mask? — I asked her.

— Because the kids don’t need it. They say what they think and are not afraid of how others will perceive them. — replied the little girl.

— But I am not a child. Why don’t I wear a mask? — I wondered.

— You realize it’s a meaningless thing; that only weak people wear it. They try to cover up their fears.

— Am I not weak? — I wondered. — Sometimes I feel so insignificant that I want to hide from everyone.

— No! — said the little girl firmly. You value yourself and that’s why you don’t wear a mask. It can only cripple your humanity; destroy your soul. If you put on that mask once, you will never be able to take it off again because it becomes a part of you.

— Is there no salvation for all these people?

— There is salvation, but it is in the power of God. You cannot help them. Go back home and you will realize that you are not alone and you have someone to rely on.

I thanked the little girl and kissed her on the forehead. She hugged me with her gentle little arms and I felt warm shivers all over my body. I headed home with a smile on my face. I could no longer hear what the masked people were saying to me. I didn’t care at all. I was very happy when I reached the entrance of the block. Someone had forgotten to close the door and I quickly shuffled in hoping to see you home.

I unlocked it. The door creaked open. I closed it. You were asleep. The room wasn’t so dark anymore. I could see your soul flickering like a firefly on an autumn evening. I smiled. I looked at the open window. It revealed to me an incredible view. The stars shone like a thousand beacons and seemed to tell me that nothing was lost; that there was still hope.

Among those lights I thought I saw a child’s smile. “Was it the little girl I met?” I looked at you. I teared up. I realized that you were my meaning.

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