The Basket

"A young woman knelt on the ground in a throne room. In her lap, she held a basket. In that basket, were her collection of dreams, her hopes, and the quiet stirrings of her heart that she had never dared to utter.

A passing observer would see her laying the dreams out on the floor, and then placing them, one by one, back into her basket. Some dreams went in the basket easily, with a soft sigh of farewell. Others were placed in the basket through a veil of tears. Still other small dreams were set into the basket with a look of fear. As if by letting go of the dream it would cease to exist. 

When the basket was filled, the young woman placed it near the throne and went on about her daily duties. As the day turned to dusk, she returned to her basket, time and again. Sometimes with a new dream to place therein, sometimes to pull out an old dream, to remember it. But, the dreams would eventually return to the basket, and she would return to her responsibilities. No one knew how many tears she shed in front of that basket, or how she would return to the basket for reassurance. Had her dreams disappeared? Had they lost their value? 

One day, the young woman slipped into the throne room to take a quick peek into her basket. Her eyes widened as she realized the King had returned. In his hands, he held her worn basket. She approached the throne shyly, wondering if such a wise ruler would understand her little basket of dreams, or would mock them as a sign of a foolish heart. As she neared the King, he pulled a dream from her basket. It wasn't a large dream; it wasn’t lofty, or world-changing. But it was precious to the young woman – she had placed in the basket so long ago, that she had lost hope that would ever see the light of day. The King handed the dream to the young woman, with words of assurance that he would bring it to pass. He wanted her to know that he hadn’t forgotten her dreams. After waiting for so many years, she was ready to live this little dream. She would value this dream because it was a sign that many of her dreams would one day leave her faded basket. And those dreams would be all the sweeter because of the time she had spent laying them down."

- copyright 2012 EJS