Week 14 Storytelling: The 3 Encounters

The Three Encounters 

Sydney had always been exceptional. They day she was born it was as if the sun shone brighter, the flowers stood taller, and everyone near felt an overwhelming sense of calm and joy. She was so full of life and had an incredible thirst for knowledge. She would spend hours reading before going outside just to swing under the sun’s rays. As a child she talked often about having discussions with the sun, the trees, or even the creek not far from her house. As she grew, she began acquiring human friends. Everywhere she went, Sydney made a new friend ad everyone she talked to could not help but smile and love her. She was a staple in the community as she spent a lot of her free time volunteering at various agencies in her town.

Girl, Child, Kid Smiling by Shaunaleianderson

Found on Pixabay

In high school she continued to excel; she made As in all of her classes, was captain of the student volunteer club, played Belle in her school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast”, was co-captain of the debate team, and held the position of vice president of the student council. She was well-known and liked by not only her teachers, but her peers and she seemed to carry with her an everlasting sunshine. Light just seemed to emanate from all around her, spreading happiness and positivity to anyone near. Though she was highly involved and motivated, she was not seen as strange or different. In fact, Sydney was every bit the normal, albeit more well-behaved than most, teenager. However, Sydney’s sense of normalcy would quickly be changed. On a field trip to a ginormous new art museum, Sydney became profoundly impacted by three artistic encounters.

Kimbell Art Museum

Found on Wikipedia

The first occurred not long into the class’s tour of the museum. They were walking through the Ancient Greece exhibit and was astounded by the detail that had been put into the marble statues that filled the hall. She walked slowly, admiring the fabric on the statues and the authenticity of their bodies. One statue caught her eye. She wasn’t particularly attracted to it, but found she was inexplicably drawn over to a statue of an incredibly thin man lying on his side. He looked ill and Sydney began to feel uncomfortable. She had experienced minor sickness before (colds, allergies, etc.) but had never seen such a sickly form. She tried to look away, but the statue began to move! The man shook and shuddered as he turned to look at her with his cold, marble eyes. “I’ve been sick for so long now. Please end my suffering! Oh what a wretched fate! Please, help me!” he said, reaching out for her with one skeletal hand. Sydney screamed and jumped back drawing immediate attention from the fellow students and her teacher. “Are you okay?” her teacher asked. Sydney looked around; had no one else seen what happened? “I’m fine,” she replied, “I just found a spider on my sleeve.” The teacher sighed and patted her shoulder before the tour guide began speaking again and the group headed off to the Indian Contemporary exhibit.

Abel Dying by Jean-Baptiste Stouf

Found on Wikimedia Commons

Sydney felt odd, but soon her smile returned as she passed by dozens of beautiful paintings. She loved how full of color and life they were! Each painting was so bright and vibrant, but much like the previous exhibit one painting stood out. It was of an old man with hair white as the marble statues she’d just seen. She inched closer and closer to the painting. Something about the man seemed so familiar. Had she seen the painting before? Maybe on the internet? She peered into the old man’s eyes; they seemed so sad, so lack-luster. She’d seen eyes like that before, on her grandfather. Looking into that old man’s eyes was like looking into a shell of a once great man. She reminisced but not for long because suddenly the painting began to speak! In a soft, frail voice the old man said, “You are so young, so beautiful! Life has been good to you, but just wait. You too will grow old and weak. You will no longer be able to do the things you once loved. Old age, what a wretched fate!” Sydney stood there shocked, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. She didn’t know how long she stood there before her friend came over to get her, but it felt like an eternity. “Man, that old man is right! I don’t want to grow old? Why can’t I live ALL of my days in peace and happiness?” Sydney wondered to herself as her class moved on to the Old West exhibit featuring the largest collection of original black and white/sepia photographs in the country.

Little Old Man by Tyrislow

Found on DeviantArt

Sydney enjoyed exploring the exhibit. She could imagine what life was like in the Wild West and loved seeing the clothes from the time-period, but towards the end of the exhibit the art took a turn for the macabre. Behind a maroon velvet curtain, in a mostly dark room hung tons of photographs. Most showed families, standing unsmiling as they waited for their picture to be taken. Some showed children and family pets, but the ones that really got the group's attention were the death photographs. The guide explained that back then it was common practice to photograph the bodies of the deceased because for many of them it was the only picture of that person that existed. The pictures were strange, discomforting and the students fell silent as they were led through the long, dark hallway that housed the death photos. Sadness overcame Sydney as she stared at a photo that reminded her of her grandfather. The man lay on a bed of sorts with his hands crossed and eyes closed. Apart from his frail appearance, he looked relatively peaceful... that is, until he snapped up. He hollered and tore at his hair, "I wasn't ready! I had so much left to do! Why has death taken me so early? Oh what a wretched fate!" With that proclamation, the man fell back into his original position. Sydney was shaken, but more angry than anything.

Unidentified Man, Postmortem

Found on Flickr

He's right! Why does death take us when we are not ready? Why should we have to spend our lives in fear of sickness, old age, or death? It's not fair! There must be a way to deliver humanity from the evil of decay! Sydney tried to focus on the art, but for the rest of the day all she could think about was how cruel fate was. By the time she stepped off of the bus at home, Sydney  had become determined to find a way to change humanity's fate. She would seek knowledge of how to live a life worthy of freedom from the three evils she'd witnessed that day. 

Author's Note:
I read the unit about the Life of Buddha this week and really liked the idea of the three encounters changing his view on life and spurring him on to seek enlightenment. I wanted to keep writing! I enjoyed writing this story so much, but did not want it to be too long. I changed quite a few things, but think it is still pretty easy to see how it relates to the original.