Hide and Seek

In a village far to the west lived a shaman renowned for his exceptional knowledge and his mastery of mysteries. Furres would come from near and far seeking his advice and never had anyone gone away with their question unanswered. One day as the shaman was sitting beneath the shady oak outside his home, the villagers told him about a cub who was said to be wise beyond her years.

“But who is her teacher?” asked the shaman.

“That is the most amazing thing of all” replied the villagers. “She has not studied under anyone. It must be that wisdom comes naturally to her.”

“I will speak with this child,” said the shaman, “for I am old have no students to carry on my knowledge.” The shaman left immediately to find the child of wisdom. When he came to her home, he fell to questioning the child and all of her answers were simple and beyond a doubt wise. But the cub soon grew bored with all the sitting and talking.

“I know,” she said. “Let's play hide and seek!”

The shaman smiled and decided to indulge his prospective student, thinking that the game would provide the child with a good lesson, for there was nothing he considered more worthwhile than the seeking of hidden knowledge.

“You had better hide first, though,” he said, “for I am a master of seven magicks. Where I see clearly, you will be blind and at a great disadvantage.”

“But I chose the game” the cub replied, “so it's only fair that you get to go first.”

The shaman saw the wisdom in the child's words, and so with a snap of his fingers and a word of command, he stepped into another world.

“Hey! That's no fair!” scolded the cub. “You're not supposed to go places where no one can follow.”

The shaman returned a bit shamefaced as he saw truth in what the child said.

“Then it is your turn to hide,” he said. “But I must warn you, I am a traveller in nine dimensions. There is no place where you might hide that I would not find you.”

The cub clapped her hands, and with a wink of her eye and a giggle of mirth, she jumped straight into the shaman's heart.

The shaman searched and searched, prying into all the secret places he knew and even into the darkest corners where the terrors dwelt. But nowhere could he find her. From time to time, though, he would hear the muffled giggles of the child. “I'm right here, silly,” she would tease, until finally the shaman gave up and called for her to come out from wherever she was hiding.

“I was in your heart the whole time!” laughed the cub. “That's always where you must look when you are seeking wisdom.”