The Lost Goal and Father Time

Once upon a time, there was a woman who was looking for her goal in life because she lost it on the way. She looked under rocks and she looked into the pond, she asked the fish “What is my goal?”, but the fish did not respond.

“I know I used to know,” she said to herself, “but that was so long ago! How will I ever find what is buried in my mind?”

This thought made a little light bulb shine and she knew:

“I need to go back in time!”

So the woman left her town and went to look for the Keeper of Time, to beg him to help her out, hoping he would be so kind.

After many adventures she reached the desert of the Sands of Time and set course for the tower where Father Time lived. For days she wandered, but it was as if the tower was invisible, because sand was all she could see. Her water supply ran out and so she became afraid to die out there, alone in the sand. It was not long until she could no longer walk and so she lay down. The sun gave way to the moon and the woman closed her eyes and fell into a delirious sleep. It was not long until Father Time came to visit her in her dreams.

“Don’t you know, dear child, that I am not real? I am just an idea, an archetype, but since you are so persistent, I figured to show myself so you can finally go back to your town and have some water and a meal.”

“But I have a very important request for you, Father Time, won’t you help me out?”

“Since I know everything, I also know that you are looking for your goal. However, a long time ago, you locked your goal in a dungeon deep down below, and not I, nor anyone else but you, can ever set your goal free. Otherwise I would be defying your own free will, you see?”

“But I am telling you right now, I want it back!”

“I am not the one you need to be shouting at… and I don’t think shouting is a great tool in this particular endeavor… What you need, is the key. The key to open up the door that is holding your Goal captive.”

“Ok, well, where do I find this key, can you please tell me?”

“Alas, this would be going against your own previous wishes, my dear.”

“Then please send me back in time, so I can speak to this younger version of mine! If she locked up my goal, I will get her to set it free, for once and for all!”

Father Time smiled and little lights seemed to be popping out of his hourglass, floating towards her. Soon enough, with a loud bang, she was back in her childhood again, and there was her younger self with tears running down her face, about to lock the door that held her goal in place.

“Stop, please!” she screamed, ”I don’t know why you are doing this, but you will regret it later, I know, because I am your future!”

The little girl looked up, sobbing and full of pain.

”Why would I ever try to be Great again?”

The woman realized that she had just gotten her answer. Her goal was to be Great! To be a Great Woman, a Proud woman, a Proud Queen! She fell on her knees, hugged her little self and said:

“You will regret this, my little one, trust me, I have searched for so long to find what you are about to lock away.”

“Why would I want to be Great? I cannot see a more horrible fate! I have been believing it since I was born, and all it got me is pain and feeling alone.”

“You are blind, my love, that is not true, it gets you Pride too! Remember when you sang in front of everyone and your mother had tears in her eyes? Remember when you got top grades and your father hugged you and told you how proud he was? Do you really want to give up on all of that?”

The little girl looked her in the eyes and said sadly:

“But what if I end up a dangerous dictator? Or a scientist who destroys the world? Or a business owner who destroys people for money?”

The woman thought for a few seconds and then said:

“Don’t you worry, you are a good person, my little girl, just like everybody else. It is only when we forget that we can be Great that we become monsters that destroy. If you are Great, others can be inspired by you to live Great lives too!”

The little girl started crying again, not out of pain this time, but out of Pride for who she would become: the woman who stood in front of her. A Great Woman who would live many adventures and live happily ever after. 

The End.