As she looked around, she sensed a familiar yet detestable feeling building up in the pit of her stomach. Fear slowly took hold of her, muddling her mind and making her feel nauseous and disorientated. From the restless nodding of its head, Soraya knew that her horse felt it too. This knowledge fuelled her fear even further, despite her attempts to calm herself and the mare down by stroking its neck. In her anguish, she began to wonder if she should turn back until she realized that she had lost her bearings. She was hopelessly lost, and above all, very frightened.

“Here,” she beckoned in a soft voice to the mare, “drink, my friend.”
While the mare quenched her thirst, Soraya stroked her mane for a while before having a drink of water herself. When they had both finished, she went about collecting more firewood, which she piled up by the cave wall. She then took a tinderbox from one of the saddle bags and started a fire. By that time, the sun had already set and the first star had appeared in the sky.
“Well, we should count ourselves lucky,” she said to the horse. “At least we will be fine tonight.”
The words had barely passed her lips when she began to feel uneasy again. But what about tomorrow, she said to herself and looked up to the heavens in search of solace.

Soraya closed her eyes and became fully aware of her body and all of its sensations. Through this, she made deep contact with body, soul and mind, and began to converse with herself without uttering a single word. It was a conversation about the knowledge deep down inside. She knew that fear was but an illusion. It was merely an emotion that shrouded her higher self and therefore her true power. Fear caused her to contract and love caused her to expand. Expand and open up in vulnerability, in order to see God. And when she saw God, she saw herself, for she herself was God, in the same way that everything on Earth was God. The fish in the sea, the wind that spoke to her, the cave she was in at the present moment, the flowers in the field just outside her house and even the tiny specks of sand on her face. Knowing this, made her realise that she had the power to create anything that her heart longed for. She could create her own life simply by following her destiny.

The next morning, Soraya awoke with a deep feeling of faith. During the night, she had seen her higher self and felt the power of creation within her. And she now understood that by looking at the world through the eyes of her higher self, she would see herself in everyone and everything. She would be open to her heart’s desires and would always know what to do no matter what situation she found herself in. Soraya sighed deeply and smiled. She knew exactly what to do. With no time to waste, she jumped up, got dressed and walked to the cave’s entrance.

There she stood with her arms open wide and took in the magnificent view of the desert that stretched out before her beyond the horizon.
“Thank you,” she said with a glowing sensation in her heart.
Without thinking, she looked up to her left to see the most beautiful falcon she had ever seen, circling in the bright blue sky above her.
“Hmm,” she sighed, realizing what this meant.
“Follow me,” the falcon said.
Without giving it any thought, Soraya saddled her horse, led her out of the cave and mounted her.
“Where to?” she asked the falcon.
The falcon stopped circling and began flying to the west. Soraya spurred her horse and followed the falcon.

Before long, Soraya began to recognize her surroundings.
“Oh, falcon, you’re taking me home to my mother and father!” she cried, ecstatically.
The falcon did not reply. It merely circled above her three times and then flew off in the direction they had come from.
“Soraya!”
“Father!” Soraya shouted with tears in her eyes and turned in the direction of the voice. “Mother!” she added when she saw her beloved mother riding beside her father and a handful of men who had volunteered to help find her.
Her father dashed forward to meet her. When he halted his horse before her, he quickly dismounted and rushed to help her dismount too. Father and daughter flew into each other’s arms and held each other tightly. Then her father surprised her by getting on his knees and bowing for her.
“Dear Soraya,” he said, “please forgive me for wanting to make you do something that was not true to your heart.”
“I too ask you for your forgiveness,” her mother said, dismounting. She then went up to Soraya and embraced her like never before.
“You have my forgiveness without even having to ask for it,” Soraya replied.
Her father smiled through tears of love and joined the two women he loved most of all. Then the three of them were startled by a freak gust of wind.
“I am proud of you?” the wind said softly in words that only Soraya understood.
“Thank you,” Soraya smiled in return.

Images:
‘Muslim’ by SamWilliamsPhoto on Pixabay
‘Sand’ by zakibmsr on Pixabay
‘Adult’ by Pexels on Pixabay
‘Falcon’ by Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay