#adventureswithin

Always there

She has long forgotten how long she has been standing there at the exact same spot in the middle of that small park below the heavy branches of that mature sycamore maple. Let there be sun or rain, snowstorm or heatwave, day or night she was there waiting for them to choose her instead of all the others offering their services.

She was kindly inviting everyone to the comfort of her lap, young and old, people of all race and all faith even the faithless.  She welcomed them with the same unconditional love and affection, hugging and holding their tired bodies, offering them a safe space to recover, to let go of emotions running high inside them, or just to emerge in the feeling of being totally accepted and held like in the womb of their mothers.

She could feel the warmth of their bodies touching hers, she could feel their heartbeat and thus she knew right away if they were at peace or emotionally stirred-up and excited, she was the perfect partner to all of them. She did not say a word, she did not judge them, she just listened with every cell of her body and held them safe. That is why they kept coming back to her again and again. Though there were some one-time encounters too, tourists, people visiting the town  and never returning to her, but to tell the truth, she had a diffrent link with her regulars.

The ones that kept returning to her, like that young man who always came around lunchtime, or the old lady who loved to feed the pigeons, the kid who made his homework after school, the homeless guy, who came back home to her every night. With them, it was always something special, some even caressed her rusty arms before leaving, the young mother sometimes cleaned her gently with a smooth wet cloth to get rid of the dirt and the dust, and the playful noisy children who always said hello and thanked her for being available.

Once, she heard two pigeons talking around her legs. One said to the other:

-          Look at this poor bench, she cannot move, she is cursed to stay at this park all her life. We are so lucky to have wings so we can fly away to wherever we wish.

She just smiled, and thought that in her next life too, she wants to be a bench in a park welcoming people of all kind, let it be day or night, sunshine or raining. 

Photocredit: @klein_kinga