Carrier of Souls

“Mama, tell me a story” a boy tugged on his mother’s hand. She laughed “Very well my child, but you must listen close, understand?” She then looked at him very seriously and said in a stern voice, “What I tell you now is how humans became one with their souls. And… Small one, this is the most true story you will have ever heard.” The boy looked up at his mom with huge eyes, and quickly sat on the floor, he gazed at her with the most focused expression he could muster, prepared to hold onto every last word.

“Long ago, the world was flat- Do not look at me like that child, or story time is over” the mother began, as the focused look on her son’s face became instantly skeptical. She glared at him teasingly and then cleared her throat. “Long ago, the world was flat, and people were empty. As empty as a glass of water that has been drank and left in the sun all day. It was a trying time, and people had unusually long life spans because they could not leave this world, for they had no souls. It is important to know that people with no souls are either angry, unbearably sad, or indifferent to their surroundings” the mother said with certainty. “But mama, why can’t they be happy? If they are not happy, how can this be a good story?” interjected the boy, whose concern now had him looking up at her with pleading eyes. “Shush child, you must listen, and you will understand. It is a story; we must start at the beginning and work our way to the end” the mother replied.

“Now then, these soulless people were the first people ever to be created by the gods. At first, they were beautiful and kind, but the gods saw within them the source of this beauty and wanted it for themselves. So they reached in and took the lights from within their people, carrying them up to the heavens where they lived. The people below, now left without their souls, looked up as darkness fell and saw that the sky was filled with silver lights, and though they did not know why, each of them felt a pull within their hearts.” “Are the silver lights stars mama?” the son asked, eager to know more. The mother laughed, “Yes my child, the silver lights are stars.” “How are there so many souls’ mama? There are more stars than I can count!” “Well my child, it is said that only the falling stars belong to people who exist now. All the rest are for people who are waiting to be born. Now do you want to hear the rest of this story or not?” said the mother, as the boy quickly became quiet and nodded excitedly up and down.

“As the people continued with their lives, growing more weary the longer they were apart from their souls, a boy was born. The gods came to collect his soul under the guise that they were offering him a blessing. One god, upon looking at this boy, took pity on him- for in his eyes, she saw everything that had been good about the world. In secret, when the other gods were not looking, she did offer him a blessing, she promised that one day- he would find the way to the edge of the world and be reunited with his soul. This boy, whose heart held the promise that it was not fated to be apart from his soul for eternity, was able to find joy in the world that others had no love for. Though he was surrounded by sadness, anger, and indifference, he managed a peaceful life. Eventually though, he became weary as all soulless do.

Having lived well past his time, and being unable to move on, he too began to grow bitter. His heart however, had not yet lost hope. As he lay in the grass of his home looking at the stars, he saw one begin to move. It was slow at first, growing faster as it fell further and further. The star flashed a soft purple, calling out to his heart, and without realizing it, he began to run. He ran and he ran in the direction of that falling star, unsure of where his feet may be taking him. His journey lasted many years, and through all of those years, he ran until he could not anymore. And when he could not run, he walked, and when he could no longer walk, he fell. As he fell tears began to stream down his face, so many tears that he could not see anymore. Yet, when at last he looked up, he saw that he lay on the edge of something. Crawling forward he looked over, and what did he see?” “I know! I know, mama!” exclaimed the boy “He saw the edge of the world!” The mother smiled “Yes my son, he saw the edge of the world. And how beautiful it must have been.”

“It is said that the edge of the world looked like an ocean, filled with thousands of stars, and as the boy, who was now a man, looked over… His heart and his soul found one another again and called to each other with the same purple light as before. Now, the man was afraid, but he knew what he must do. He threw himself from the edge and into the ocean of stars” the mother stopped there, allowing her son to take in the gravity of what had just happened. After all she had just informed him that a man had thrown himself from the edge of the world. As she paused, she watched her sons’ facial expressions. At first, he appeared simply surprised, but slowly- as he realized the consequences this might have, he became greatly concerned. “Mama! What if he dies? This cannot be the end! Why would he just throw himself off the edge of an entire world?” he exclaimed, now sitting in her lap and pulling on her shirt, as small, concerned children are wont to do. Laughing a bit now, the mother gently positioned him on her lap so they would both be more comfortable, and said “My son, if a man jumps from the edge of the world, there is certainly the possibility that something bad may happen, but… There is just as much of a possibility that he will fly.” She winked at him knowingly, and then continued the story.

“As he fell, the man took what he knew to be his final breath, for he could never again return to the mortal world. At least, not as he was. But he did not need to breathe to swim through the thousands of stars and reach his own. As he swam, he felt an overwhelming sadness. It was so great that he struggled against its weight in his attempt to reach his soul and he knew… He knew that this sadness was the pain of all of these thousands of stars that had been separated from the humans that bore their matching hearts. He began to weep for them- for the souls, for the hearts, for the people… Even for the gods who did not know what they had done wrong. Though his tears blurred his vision, eventually, he came to find his own soul.”

As the mother finished this part of the story, the son looked up at her to find that her eyes too, were dotted with tears. He did not yet understand why his mother was crying, for he was so young, but he knew that one day, when he too had felt the weight of the world that his mother currently held for him, he would find the same tears in his eyes. He put his small hand on her cheek as he had once seen his father do, and said “It is okay mama, you know that the story must have a good ending, because we get to live in a world where we can be happy.” His mother smiled at him, “You are right my son, we do live in a world where we can be happy. Let me finish this story now, no more interruptions. We are almost finished.” The boy nodded his head and returned to the previous spot on his mother’s lap, though he did seem to lean in a little closer, as though he were trying to give his mother some of his own small strength.

“Once the man touched his soul, a great purple light surrounded him and he heard laughter and tears, felt the warmth of a hug and the cold of snow, knew what it was to dance and hope, and dream. The gods looked down on him, and though they had all of these souls, they each agreed that nothing had ever been more beautiful than what they were witnessing in this moment. As the mans revelry ended, he looked up to see the gods smiling at him. He knew that he could go to a place of peace and rest now, but his heart held him back. Slowly, he looked around him, still able to feel the heavy sadness of the other souls. He then looked back up at the gods and asked if he could help them begin to atone for the great sin they had committed. For even gods can sin my child, and there is no sin greater than that of separating someone from their soul. The gods were offended, for they had given people life, they had created them. If they wanted to keep the souls, there was no reason for them not to. But the man had seen their faces as he had been reunited with his soul, and he knew there was room to barter. He thought for a moment and then offered them a deal. He promised them, that if they allowed him to carry the souls of all the people that had ever been created, and ever would be- back to them, his own soul could be theirs until the task was completed and they could once again witness the beauty of what they had just seen.

The gods mulled over this offer and came to accept it. They granted him the ability to travel between the heavens and the mortal realm and gave him a special bag in which he alone could carry the souls they had kept for themselves. That night, the Carrier of Souls was born. He began his task immediately, despite the pain of having his soul ripped away from him once more.

It is said that each time you see a falling star, it is him. Carrying a soul to a person who has just been born or reuniting someone with a soul that was lost to grief. The Carrier of Souls is the only human to have made a sacrifice this great, and though all those who know his story hope that the gods will reunite him with his soul soon, we know how greedy gods can be. The more people that come into the world, the longer the gods may keep his soul, and there is no soul more beautiful than that of a selfless human” the mother finished the story and looked at her son. “Mama, can’t someone take his place? The world has existed for so long. Must he keep suffering?” the boy asked. “Ahh my boy,” the mother said, tears in her eyes once more “There are some things that no one else can do, and at times people will feel a pain so great that they would never be willing to give it to another.” She then set her son on the ground, taking his small hand in hers. Together, they quietly walked outside to go and see if the Carrier of Souls would be making any deliveries tonight.