The Bridge

The Bridge

The wise Master stood upon an old bridge, and as he smiled at the woman's demands that he step back or move aside. The it was narrow bridge, and the river was deep, dark and cold, But he saw within this woman something she could not hide from his eyes.
"I shall fight you," she screamed. "I will do battle and win, I have made many fall in my path." The wise Master smiled and waved to her to come forward, and to give battle, for much more than she could understand was at stake.
They fought there together, on that bridge, without a word. And the Master never spoke. He took her blows without flinching as his tears stained the bridge. And she wondered, who could this man be, so strong, and what it was that he wanted.
Finally her strength was exhausted, and as she stood there gasping for air. the man stood, bloody but unwavering. She cursed and she screamed at this Master who refused to give way, When all of sudden they both heard a crackling sound from the bridge.
Moving swifter than lightning, the Master knew what he heard and knew what he had to do. He gathered her swiftly and pulled her close to him. And like a child in his arms, he carried her back the way he had come, and as the bridge crashed into the river, unable to withstand the strain of the test.
The woman looked to the Master with wondering and questioning eyes, with a question she must know. His strength had been many times her own, she knew this, But it was a strength he would not use, nor show.
"You took all I had," said the woman in awe him. When at any moment you could have like an bug brushed me aside. I used up my strength on you like waves upon a beach, But at the end, it was my life you saved before your own."
The wise Master sighed and then stood up and smiled, the smile did infurate her so. He brushed the dust from his trouser legs, And then he turned to go.
He paused and looked back to her questioning eyes. And smiled a soft sad tender smile, and deep within her soul, the woman began to understand.
"I am the Master who has lived in your dreams," he said. "The dreams that you have never told a soul about. I am the faceless man, who you are helpless against, The one who takes, holds and controls you."
"I am the one who has the strength to take that which you long to give, And the control to give which you yearn to take. I am the one who you will build your world around. I am the One who the burning fires in your soul can trust and love."
But what I offer is not forced my love. For at any moment you are free, if you wish, to depart. What I offer must be given and accepted the same way, as a gift and with love, from the heart."
"So follow me my child, if your heart leads you. But I warn you, the road is long and hard. But the pleasures that road offers are like nothing you have experienced on this Earth. You must accept that both the rose and the thorn are parts of the one.
She called out to him as the night came closer. There in the last fading light of the sun. "You know of my dreams, my hidden untold desires, But how is it that you know it is you in my dreams?"
The Master stopped, turned and smiled, And said with a voice like soft silk. "Oh my sweet child," he said with a tear in his eye. "I know it, because it is about you that I dream."