The Wind Horse

Anna reminisced during her long flight to Tibet. Subsequently, she realized that she was always running away. The pattern started when she ran away on her sixteenth birthday, to escape the profound physical and mental abuse she suffered, from her unstable father. It broke her beloved mother’s heart when Anna left, but she did not try to stop Anna, as she knew it had to be so.

Later, she ran away again, this time from the biker gang she hung out with. A war became imminent when her associates had their clubhouse bombed by a rival gang. Not wanting to be involved anymore, she left the country to break free of their control over her.

There were many more incidences she recalled, where she just hightailed it as far away as she could get, when the going got tough. Even now she was running, she mused. Although those turbulent times were years behind her, she was running now from her increasing age and the disappointment that she felt at not having achieved her dreams yet. She had such high hopes for herself when she was a young girl, before all of the turbulence started. Regrets and deep loneliness seemed to have invaded her soul. Her self-deprecating thoughts trailed off as her plane landed.

She had come to Tibet to research her upcoming term paper. Anna was a mature university student, majoring in philosophy. She now needed to find Paulo, the driver that was going to bring her to The Holy Mountain, from Aba, where she was now.

Paulo was running late. He texted her apologetically. Anna decided to wait for him in a local establishment. She ordered herself a nice glass of merlot. She absent mindedly drank it and ordered herself another and yet another. When Paulo arrived, Anna was feeling a little more than tipsy. He mentioned that he wouldn’t mind a drink, as he had been on the road for a while. He ordered himself one and another merlot for Anna.

Even though the couple had never met before they got on well together and shared much about themselves to each other. Anna thought Paulo was a fairly good looking man and he seemed very nice, caring even. She couldn’t remember the last time she had participated in sexual relations with someone, but she had been carrying around a condom in her purse, you know, just in the event an opportunity presented itself that she wanted to pursue.

It was Anna that suggested to Paulo that they find a room. Anna was quite drunk by now, but Paulo was not. He was a very considerate lover, and Anna, having no inhibitions at the time, really enjoyed her tryst with Paulo. They ended up keeping the room for the night.

In the morning, Anna awoke with a hangover. Red wine always did that to her, and she admonished herself for drinking so much. From past experiences with drunken sex with strangers, she would want to rush to wash the stink of regret off of her body, but Paulo’s beautiful body was still entwined around hers and he was sound asleep. She lay there enveloped in his warmth and in his scent.

When Paulo awoke he was very cheerful. He was not in a hurry to leave the hotel room as Anna expected he might be. They chatted comfortably for a while. He briefly left to go find them some coffee.

Paulo returned with the coffee which Anna felt she needed so badly right now! They sipped their coffees, chatting like old friends. He unexpectedly reached into his bag and presented Anna with a gift. He gave her a Tibetan prayer flag with the Wind Horse on it. In Tibetan culture the Wind Horse represents our souls and heralds the coming of good fortune and happiness, he explained to Anna.

Paulo goes on to tell Anna that the Wind Horse carries with it a jewel. Anyone that finds the jewel is granted a wish, anything their heart desires! He points out that the jewel has been missing for a long time, although the prayer flags are readily available throughout Tibet. He suggests to Anna, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye that she should keep her eyes open for the Wind Horse’s jewel so that her most heartfelt wish can come to fruition. She giggles and reaches out to hug him and thank him for his gift.

They decide they should move towards packing up their things and making the journey to The Holy Mountain. Anna excuses herself to use the washroom, taking her cell phone with her. She has never heard of the Wind Horse, but she is curious and somewhat intrigued. As she sits on the throne, feeling poorly because of her hangover, she punches Wind Horse into Google. Information about the legend comes up on her phone, just as Paulo had described. Anna realizes how deep rooted this legend is in Tibetan culture. She makes a note to herself to investigate this further and perhaps include it on her term paper. She finishes her business and exits the washroom to assist Paulo in packing up.

They begin the drive and Anna asks Paulo to stop the SUV. She needs to get out fast…and vomit. Paulo obliges and pulls the SUV over to the side of the road. Anna scrambles out and vomits violently. Sitting there on the side of the road, squinting in the glorious, morning sunlight she suddenly hears a loud, whooshing sound just over her head. She can feel the wind now, that she surmises made the sound and could swear she sees the Wind Horse! Then something falls and she instinctively reaches out to catch it. She can feel it in her hand. Slowly opening her hand, she finds a stunning jewel. Immediately she wishes for happiness, just as she is right now, with Paulo. The jewel vanishes. She knows she will never run away again!