Sister, Sister...

In the dark corner of the room, the old man sat down on an armchair and brushed his grey hair out of his face. He adjusted his glasses and bent down to pick up the worn blue book. He studied the scuffed surface of the cover. Someone had scratched and painted symbols and pictograms into the cover with a ballpoint pen. No one had ever understood what the artist meant by the signs mysteriously scattered across the book cover. But that had been a long time ago, long before the old man found the book of wisdom in a hiding place in the sacred forest.


He sits here tonight in the dark corner of the room and opens the book, the sputter of burning candles the only audible sound. Slowly he straightens a little, takes a deep breath and begins to speak quietly. “Good evening, dear friends, I am delighted that so many of you have come here today. I would like to take you on a journey, the journey of a little girl in search of the future." The old man clears his throat and continues slowly and deliberately, "the little girl lived happily with her parents in the forest. Together with her very best friends, the birds, the fox family, the hare and the hedgehog, she romped happily through the forest day in, day out.





But one day it happened: dark clouds gathered, the sun disappeared and all her friends called out to the little girl to 'hide, hide quickly'. The little girl hid under the big tree that had stood in the centre of the forest for centuries and under which everyone always met to discuss their problems. The darkness lasted for several days, the tree creaked, the branches screamed in pain, swords of fire flashed from the sky again and again, and thundered on the ground. The ground shook!



The little girl crawled further and further into the tree and held on tightly. 'Don't leave me, don't leave me alone big friend,' she called out to him. The old tree answered in a shaky voice after lightening had struck him with full force. 'Run my little friend, run, hide behind the stones and look for the future so that we can live again.'





The little girl ran for her life, lightening twitching from the sky. She hid behind the rocks and watched in horror as everything was destroyed. Sadly, when she woke the next morning it was deathly quiet; no cheerful chirping of the birds greeted her.
She called the fox - no answer.
She called the hare - no answer.
She called the hedgehog - no answer either.
She was alone and began to cry bitterly.




She sat on her stone with tears in her eyes and didn't know what to do next. Then she heard a small voice from the earth 'take me, take me with you on your journey, I'll show you the way'.
Confused, the little girl looked around, but there was no one to be seen. But the voice said again and again, 'take me, take me with you on your journey, I'll show you the way'.




The little girl followed the gentle voice calling through the forest, going deeper and deeper, until she came to a sunny clearing.
Here she found a bunch of wild herbs that kept calling softly, 'take me, take me with you! - I'll show you the way!’ Astonished, the little girl took the bouquet in her arms and looked at it. Her grandmother had always told her about the magical powers of the herbs in the deep forest. The little girl continued through the forest, following the gentle calls, going deeper and deeper, until she came upon a sunny clearing in the forest.







In the centre stood a large stone house from ancient times.  When she was little, she used to come here with her grandmother and they would listen to the old stories. Today there was no one here, she was alone. All her friends had disappeared!Sadly, the little girl sat down on the floor and waited. She started to prepare a coffee. Her grandmother taught her to see the future in a coffee cup but today there was no future. The little girl sat alone on the stony floor for a long time. Slowly, the cold rose up inside her. She didn't know what to do next. Everyone had disappeared, there was no one to help her. She was alone.
Suddenly she heard voices from the old days, 'Go out! Find the wise women. Look for the future. Be brave, you will make it'.
The little girl left the building and sat down to prepare herself for a long journey.
She remembered what her father used to say when he showed her how to make a pair of shoes. 'Shoes' he said, 'are not about standing still. Shoes are the idea of moving forward, continue moving on. Shoes bring you forward, never backward. Don’t stand still!'
'I taught you all the skills. So now move on'. The little girl finished her magic shoes.

Then she started walking to find the wise women. She walked through the devasted land, crossed the crying soil, climbed over broken houses. After three days walking through a destroyed land, she arrived at the house of the wise woman.







'Sister, sister', she asked the wise woman, ‘where can I find the future?' The wise woman put her hand on the little girl’s head, looked into the sky and didn't say a word. Suddenly, after a long silence, she started to speak, 'It's all about you! You must have the will to accept change. Have the will to change your life. Then you will find a wonderful future'.





The little girl nodded her head, stood up, climbed the next hill. She looked into the dark sky, shouted and wrote with big letters into the air, that everybody heard and saw, even from afar! She jumped, started to sing and was happy about her decision.

'I swear'

She decided to find the future! And bring it back home!









The little girl continued walking, climbing up hills, resting overnight in caves. Slowly she left the destruction behind. After three days she came to an ancient little stone house. Heavy smoke streamed from the chimney and the little girl was afraid to go in. From the inside a loud but friendly sound invited her to enter, 'ping... dong, pingping....dong, pingping, dongdong' She saw a woman standing in front of the fire. Hammering with a big hammer. 'ping... dong, pingping....dong'
'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' she asked the blacksmith. The woman stopped hammering and looked at her. 'You have to be brave enough to learn everything, even when everybody tells you, 'this is not for girls!' she said. 'Be brave and be strong!' The sound of the hammer started again 'ping... dong, ping ping....dong'




The little girl continued walking for some days until she arrived at a big building in the middle of nowhere. She opened the door and entered. Behind many glass tubes and apparatuses, she saw a woman in a white coat carefully taking samples with a syringe. 'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' she asked the scientist. The scientist continued working, finishing her task. Then she turned around, looking into the eyes of the little girl, 'You will only find the future, if you are brave enough to allow all questions to you, even the ones you cannot answer yet', the woman said. The little girl wandered deeper and deeper into the forest. After three days she reached a clearing in the middle of the forest with a tiny little hut in its midst.

It was already getting dark. The little girl wanted to go to the hut and ask for shelter. As soon as she entered the clearing, she heard a menacing growl behind her. It got closer and closer, and louder and louder. She could already feel the hot, stinky breath on her neck and tried to run, but she couldn't. The door of the hut opened; a flash went through the air. The monster yelped and ran away. The little girl crawled through the door into the hut. There she saw the women looking into a shimmering crystal ball.
'You were lucky, the ball told me that you would come', the woman said to the little girl. 'I have been waiting for you!'
'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' the little girl asked the women behind her crystal ball. The women looked first into the crystal ball then at the little girl, 'You have to continue, go on and follow your way! Learn everything.
You have to have the will to learn from others and accept that they are different'.



The little girl continued on her way, following seductive sounds from the middle of the forest until she came to a tree, where a woman was playing the violin so beautifully that the little girl found tears in her eyes. 'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' she asked the violinist. The woman stopped playing and looked angrily at the girl. 'You will only find the future if you respect beauty and allow beauty to become part of your life!' A little irritated after this rebuke, the little girl continued on her way.









Again, she walked through valleys. Still there was snow on the peaks of the mountains. She dreamed that she could fly over the mountains. At the end of the day, she reached a mighty, intimidating stone building. Because everyone told her to be brave on the way here, she opened the door and entered. At the other end of the large hall, she saw a friendly woman cleaning and restoring an old manuscript. 'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' she asked the friendly woman, who called herself a book doctor. 'You have to study carefully the wisdom of the past, to achieve the future' she answered and smiled. After they talked for a long time together, the little girl decided that it was time to leave again.





The little girl wandered on until she came to a large hall full of machines. No inviting sounds came out of the hall, but because everyone on her journey told her that if she wanted to find the future, she had to be brave, she entered. In the hall, she saw a woman conducting all of the machines, full of different colours, like the conductor of an orchestra. She set the rhythm of the machines and brought everything together into a beautiful harmony. 'Sister, Sister, how can I find the future?' she asked the orchestra conductor. 'Oh, that’s simple, you teach the machines what they should do for you', she said. The little girl left the hall in disbelief and decided that she would have to find her own future.

Finally, she became hungry and searched for something to eat. In the factory hall she couldn't find any food. A little bit further on she found a bakery. When she entered into the shop, she saw a woman in a bad mood behind the counter. But she became very talkative, after the little girl asked her 'Sister, Sister, please tell me, where can I find the future?' The chatty baker women told her, 'you'll find the future inside yourself, you have to learn to listen to yourself!'




During her journey the little girl collected all the advice in her little black box. 'Shoes are the idea of moving forward, continue moving on. Don’t stand still!'
'You must have the will to accept change. Have the will to change your life. Then you will find a wonderful future'
'You have to be brave enough to learn everything, even when everybody tells you, this is not for girls!'
'You only find the future, if you are brave enough to allow all questions to you, even the ones you cannot answer yet'
'You will only find the future if you respect beauty and allow beauty to become part of your life!'
'You have to have the will to learn from others and accept that they are different.'
'You have to study carefully the wisdom of the past, to achieve the future'
'You teach the machines what they should do for you!'




The little girl continued her journey to the future after she organised the knowledge in her black box. She climbed the seven mountains, crossed the seven lakes over the seven bridges. At the little stream she had to call the ferryman into the new land. On the other side, the ferryman showed her the way through the wetland to the wise old man. The ferryman warned her, 'please don't forget he's a grumpy old man. He used to travel alone to discover the world'.
At the end of her long walk, she saw the old man sitting in the middle of nowhere looking into the grass. When the old man with his long white hair heard the little girl coming, he called to her. He pointed his finger to the gras and told her, 'look how beautiful this little plant is! You have to appreciate the beauty of this plant to understand the beauty of the world'.



All his life the grumpy old man was a photographer. He took the little girl around the grassland, showing her a plant here and a tiny little plant a few meters further
With him the invisible beauty became visible. As a photographer he taught her to see, to realize and to appreciate! Together they walked around, the old man always showed the beauty of the smallest details', You have to take the time to see the magical beauty everywhere, just to see the world and to understand the time. We have to appreciate where everything is coming from to see where we want to go!' Somewhere in the plains he turned around, telling her 'A lot of birds are singing of freedom, only the wild ones fly!' The he turned around gave the little girl his favorite camera and send her away into the world.

'Go and see! Respect the world, tell her that she is important to you! See her and photograph her magical beauty. Then you see the future!'

Now the little girl had to sort all the advice she collected in her black boxShe happily left the old photographer with all her knowledge and looked to her future with satisfaction. She now knew that she alone was responsible for shaping her own future."

Suddenly three pomesgranate fell from Heaven;—one for the story, one for the audience and one for the one who entertained the company.

"This is the sign for a new life, the little girl will celebrate her life in freedom", the old man stopped reading and closed his book. The he was sitting on his armchair for a moment, closed his eyes and hold the book tightly. Strangly the light went off for a second. The whole room was covered in darkness. When the light came back again, the armchair was empty and the old man had disappeared.
He has left a mirror in its place.