The Miracles of the Singing Girl

Witnessing inexplicable healings

After a harrowing journey, we finally made it to the town of Ktencha; the closest town to the valley of the singing girl. Normally, it was a tiny village with no more than fifty people, but now there were people camping in every available spot and it looked like there were several hundred people.

As I entered the village center I was greeted by the mayor, a delightful man named Eenga. I’ve had the privilege of running into him in several other lives. After the customary salutations, I asked him where the valley of the singing girl was.

Eenga turned around and pointed to a pathway that led up a small hill behind the town. Turning back around, he said, “It is just over that small hill. It is not far. We have callers stationed at the top of the hill to let us know when the girl is coming to sing.”

“Where does the girl come from?”

“She lives at the bottom of that next valley over. When she is called to sing, she leaves her home and walks to the top of the valley where she faces the big mountain.” Eenga turned and pointed at a tall peak overlooking both valleys, “By the time she has walked her valley, our callers have alerted us here in this valley and we all follow that path over the hill. It leads us right to where she sings.”

“Does she not sing at appointed hours?”

“Oh no; only when she is called.”

“And by whom is she called?”

Eenga hesitated and looked around for a moment. His associates standing around him all looked at him as though to help him say it. Finally, he did, “She is called by The Mother.” An acknowledging murmur ran through Eenga’s associates.

“The Mother? Whose mother?”

“The Great Mother. The Divine Mother. It is The Mother who calls her in her head to come to the base of that peak. The girl says that she can see The Mother in the mountain and she sings to her. And The Mother calls whenever she wants to. You see the girl cannot sing like she does unless she is in the presence of The Mother. That is why she cannot come to the capital. It can only be in that valley facing that mountain.”

“I see.” I really did not understand at the time, though. “So we must wait for this Mother to call?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. And may I ask a question of you?”

“Yes, you may.”

“My little town here has been over-run with pilgrims. We need help. Our little valley cannot accommodate so many people. Our fields are being camped on and our food and water supplies are tapped. Can you please help our town cope with this? I love the girl and will do anything at all for her but we have reached our limits and need help.”

This took me by surprise. I was entirely focused on the girl. “Yes, of course, we will help.” I could see a strong love in this man’s eyes. I wondered what it had to do with the girl. Everyone seemed to have the same look in their eyes. “My group here will start helping immediately and I will also send more help when I return to the capital.” Turning, I dispatched one of my lieutenants to get things going.

Eenga clutched his hands together, “Oh, thank you, Sir Recktold! You are a great leader. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make your stay comfortable. I will be happy to…”

Just then a mighty scream was heard in the distance. The scream was followed by a bellowing horn of some sort. At the sound of this scream the eyes of Eenga and all the people around him lit up. Simultaneously, the townspeople and pilgrims all started moving in the same direction; towards the path over the hill.

Eenga started turning then said to me, “If you want to hear the girl, we must go now. Once you hear her you will understand.” With this, Eenga turned and began walking briskly.

Like everyone else, I followed.

Although everyone began walking very briskly, the pace slowed considerably at the foot of the hill where the people funneled into the narrow path leading over the hill. I could tell that the path was originally just a narrow foot path which had been widened by the feet of many a pilgrim. It was now wide enough for five people walking abreast. I noticed there were also a few people walking through the trees besides the path. I wondered how many times the people had walked over the hill.

Being the leader of the little nation, people normally stepped aside and opened a path for me when I walked down a street, but now I was just another person in a crowd. Thoughts of their leader were overshadowed in the people’s minds by thoughts of this girl who sang. I was amazed.

The flow of people over the hill was like a strong river. The river’s current, despite going uphill, was very strong. The people were moving quickly. I was completely swept up in the current. If I would have stopped I would probably have been trampled. It made me think of the ephemeral nature of leadership. At certain times a leader is really just another person.

It also amazed me that no one spoke while crossing the hill. The only sound was that of hundreds of feet.

I looked back to see where my lieutenants were. They were several paces behind me. Their job was to remain at my side at all times but they were stuck in the flow, unable to catch up to me. Looking ahead of me I saw Eenga, who I could not catch up to.

After journeying so long I was rather exhausted when I arrived in Ktencha but now, crossing the hill, I seemed to have newfound energy. Perhaps it was the collective excitement that fueled me.

When I reached the top of the hill I would have loved nothing better than to stop and take in the incredible scenery, but the flow propelled me forward. The little valley was beautiful but did not seem much different from any other local valley. As the path began its descent I noticed a tree off to the left of the path. The tree was full of crutches. It was most bizarre but I was the only one looking at it. It looked like there were a few hundred crutches hanging from tree branches. I did not have much time to ponder it, though, as the flow took me down the hill.

Still not a word was uttered by anyone. The descent from the top of the hill was not as long as the ascent for this next valley over was a bit higher in elevation. I saw no buildings; just a large meadow. On the far side of the meadow was a line of trees following a small stream. The people ahead of me started fanning out and I saw that we had arrived at the edge of the meadow. The people did not go into the meadow but rather lined up on the edge of it.

I followed Eenga who came to a stop with others at a certain point at the edge of the meadow. As I caught up to Eenga I stopped, too, for that is when I saw the girl. She was a short chubby girl no more than 12 years old and she was walking alone out into the middle of the meadow. I immediately began walking towards her but Eenga grabbed my arm holding me back. This was not something one did with the ruler.

“Forgive me for touching you like that but The Mother says everyone must stay behind this line while the girl sings.”

That is when I noticed a line of rocks along the edge of the meadow behind which all the people were. As I looked to my right and to my left and then behind me, I noticed that everyone was now kneeling; even my lieutenants. Then I looked back around at the girl and she was looking directly at me!

I dropped to my knees.

Slowly, the girl turned her head to look up at the mountain.

The first notes out of the girl’s mouth were quite ordinary. She sounded just like any twelve-year-old girl. She was not singing words but just tones. Standing perfectly still, her head looking up at the mountain, the girl sang tones. I looked at the mountain but saw nothing but the mountain.

As I turned my gaze back to the girl I realized that with each new tone the girl sang I could hear new layers of sound. Simple tones were quickly turning into an incredible symphony. It was just like with the holy man in Tibet playing the flute in that canyon. I could hear choruses of voices and many musical instruments. The music grew in volume and complexity. It was quickly all-consuming. I could not believe the thundering music was coming out of her mouth.

As with the music the Tibetan holy man played with the flute, I began feeling the music within my own body. I became part of the music and the music was so incredibly beautiful that tears began flowing down my face. I didn’t think I would ever experience it again.

I was so absorbed in the music that I have no idea how long it lasted. The music was so heavenly that it created a state of rapture in those hearing it. When the girl stopped singing it was like coming out of a trance. My body was tingling all over and I was still crying.

“Look at my legs! Look at my legs! Look at my legs!”

I did not want to leave the music, but I slowly came out of it. I kept hearing someone screaming, “Look at my legs!” Wiping the tears off my face, I stood and turned around. There was an old man with a very long beard jumping and dancing in circles. He was waving a crutch in each hand, yelling, “Look at my legs!” repeatedly. He looked as limber as a schoolchild. Suddenly, I understood all about the tree full of crutches I had seen coming over the hill.

I looked around and noticed that everyone was crying and hugging each other. Occasional screams of joy erupted from the crowd. A few people were dancing and a few people were sobbing deliriously.

Then I remembered the girl and turned around to see her walking off towards her home. I immediately started walking after her. I had crossed the line of rocks and was picking up my pace across the meadow when suddenly there was a man walking next to me on my right. Turning, I saw that it was Eenga. His face was lined with the tracks of tears and he was catching his breath.

“Allow me,” is all he could manage to say. He sprinted ahead towards the girl who was now turning around to face us. For just a moment, I was sure I saw a look of disgust on the girl’s face as she looked at me walking across her sacred meadow. It was fleeting for she then looked at Eenga.

Eenga caught up to her and stopped to catch his breath. With his left arm he gestured towards me as I approached, saying to the girl, “This is our nation’s leader.”

A look of shock erupted on the girl’s face. She covered her mouth with her hands and then as I arrived before her she immediately bowed, then said in her little girl voice, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who you were. Please forgive me.” She bowed again.

I knelt down on one knee so that my face was just below hers. “It is okay. I have come a long way to hear you sing and I am very honored and privileged to have witnessed it. You are very special. I would like to talk to you…” I looked around, “but now is not the time. May I come see you in the morning?”

Nervously, the girl nodded her head and said, “Yes.”

I smiled. She was just an innocent young child. Why the forces coming through her chose her, I did not know. Having witnessed this heavenly music twice in my life now, I simply had to know more. Perhaps, in her innocence, the girl could tell me something the old Tibetan man could not. I would show her my flute and perhaps she could help me understand how to produce the same kind of music.

I took the girl’s small hand. “Thank you for letting me witness this miracle. I will see you tomorrow.” Letting her hand go, I stood up.

Looking up at me, she said in a quiet voice, “Don’t thank me; thank The Mother.” With this she turned and walked home.

After watching the girl walk away for a moment I turned to Eenga, “You will take me to her house tomorrow?”

Eenga seemed to snap to attention, “Yes, but of course. As you wish.”

Turning around I saw that the crowd was thinning and heading back over the hill. The man with the crutches was still dancing. One of my lieutenants was standing a few feet away waiting for me.

“Recktold, sir,” Eenga said as I turned back to him, “I would be honored if you would have dinner in my home tonight. You may use my home as yours for your stay.”

“I would love to eat with your family. I will meet back with you later. I think I want to stay a while in this special meadow and contemplate what I have just witnessed.”

“As you wish. I promise you will thoroughly enjoy my wife’s cooking.” A giant smile erupted on his face. He then bowed and walked off.

I spoke with my lieutenant for a few moments then dispatched him to take care of things. As the last of the people headed back over the hill, including the dancing crutch man, I walked out into the center of the meadow where the girl had sung. I stayed there for quite a while just staring at the mountain.

Copyright 2004, 2006, 2013, 2016 by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. Stories by White Feather

Author’s note: This piece is excerpted with permission from my 2004 novella, The Valley of the Singing Girl

Once, long ago, the ruler of a mountainous Asian nation sought counsel from a Tibetan holy man on how he could help lead his people through change. The holy man gave the leader a magic flute that would drastically change his life. This is the story of that flute which led the leader on a journey of self-realization. The flute would eventually lead him to a young farm girl who had the most divine singing voice in the world. When she sang, people wept at the beauty of it and people were also healed. What happened when the flute, the leader, and the singing girl got together is an event of divine proportions. A very moving story about leadership, music, Goddess energy, healing, and unconditional love. Paperback — ebook