Storytelling Post Week 11: First Encounter

Siddhartha erupted from his bed, drenched in sweat from head to toe. He couldn't help but have these horrific dreams -- beggars were crawling around the streets, vandals were breaking windows and screaming expletives at the shop owners, and women were even being molested and raped when out past the late hour. He knew not how these travesties could occur, and he also knew not how he was seeing them. He had never ventured far from the palace. In fact, he believed his father would never let that happen. One day, Siddhartha came up to his father to ask to explore the adjacent streets around the palace. Siddhartha could see the tumult that such a request was causing his father. Siddhartha immdeiately regretted his request and began to inch away from his father, realizing that Siddhartha's request would be too heavy on the heart of the old man. Siddhartha had already turned away when his father put a firm hand onto his shoulder.

His father responded, "My beautiful and strong elephant, you have been held under captivity for far too long. I will permit this request. Let me coordinate.with some of my associates so I will know that you will be under supervision of safely watching eyes."

Siddhartha's father sent his most trustworthy guards and associates around to clean up the streets around the palace. The father knew what Siddhartha needed this trip to clear his mind and conscience, bit this did not mean that Siddhartha needed to see evvery unsightly detail. The king even went so far as to pay the taverns nearby to close their doors for the day. The king thought this would keep the regular patrons from contaminating the beautiful mind of his Siddhartha.

After his final finishing touches on cleaning and decorating the city, the king returned home to Siddhartha to give him permission to travel out on the next morning. Siddhartha, who originally would have been ecstatic to finally escape the confines of the palace, s
eemed aloof upon hearing his father's words. Siddhartha thought to himself, "I made this request of my father so that I may see the good and bad of the world for what it is.But now, I fear that I may not be able to handle the sadness and treachery that exists in the real world." He decided to sleep on it, which only lead to the same sequence of dreams he had the night before.

Wikipedia

The next morning, his father greeted him outside the palace with a beautiful gilded chariot. He appreciated this favor, but he decided to only ride it as far as his father could see. As soon as he leapt down from his perch, he was confronted by a man. The man was missing a few teeth and was covered in day-old soot. The man promised to him, "Oh Siddhartha! I will watch this chariot for you until you return!" Despite his appearance, the man was surely a kind soul, Siddhartha thought.



Author's note:

For my story, I decided to adapt Siddhartha's first encounter outside of the city. I thought it might be interesting to incorporate some level of premonition on Siddhartha's journey through his dreams. I tried to make it apparent that the father's efforts to coddle and protect Siddhartha would be pointless -- which is also sort of the moral of my story.

Link to Life of Buddha