The Words in Red

She walked on the other side of the path from us and called out “Unclean... unclean.” Her back was laden with a cloth bundle, containing her life’s belongings. The Teacher stopped when he saw her. I bumped into him and apologized. Then I saw her as well.

She felt the Teacher’s stare, but did not raise her head. She shuffled on her way, in the opposite direction of the town. We were traveling to that town that was just over the next hill. We had received an invitation from the town’s leaders. They wanted to hear the words of life.

She was a Dark Silent, and she lived among the outcast at the town’s waste pit. Her arms were wrapped in bandages to hide the marks of her affliction. Very few merchants traded with a Dark Silent. Most feared that the outcast’s sickness was contagious. Some of the religious even believed it was an evil spirit that tormented lost souls. Few took pity on them.

A wealthy merchant rode his horse down the path. We moved to make way, as the horse and rider approached. He shouted at the Dark Silent “Stop thief! I know what you have stolen, you will pay for it.” He dismounted his horse and approached the girl.

“Unclean!” She cried out and hid her face from her accuser. The merchant confronted her and began shouting about stolen apples. The girl reached in her robe and dropped two apples on the ground.

“Forgive me, I was hungry.” She pleaded.

“I don’t want the apples back you unclean animal. I certainly can’t sell anything that you’ve touched.” The merchant placed his hands on his waist and demanded “I want payment!”

The girl cried. She still kept her face hid. “I only took them because I am starving, I have no coins.”

The merchant removed a whip from the horse’s saddle “Then you will pay with your flesh.” He drew back to lash the girl, but something behind him caught the whip. The merchant turned to see the Teacher. He held the other end.

“Do not strike her!” The Teacher commanded. “Have you no pity?” He asked.

“Look here, holy man, this is none of your business. Her kind has to be kept in check or they will over run our society. I must set the example for the other outcast. She must pay for her sin!”

“She has been paying for her condition her whole life. What are two apples worth to you?”

The merchant was angry, but he was a merchant and asked “Do you holy man, wish to pay her debt?” He raised an eyebrow.

The Teacher tossed a coin at the merchant. The man grabbed it out of the air and inspected it. He placed it in his money pouch and mounted his horse. “It’s good doing business with you, holy man.” He rode back towards town.

The Teacher shook his head in disgust “He would not take back the apples, but he would have taken a coin from her. The apples would have caused no harm, but a coin holds him prisoner.”

The apples were still on the ground, but the Dark Silent had ran away. The Teacher picked up the apples. He told Brother Chavez, “Make camp outside of the western wall. I will join you at the evening meal.”

He followed the path of the girl. He would return her apples. I followed him. He did not prevent me. We descended into the underworld.

Several poor souls huddled down in the darkness cried out from their blankets “Unclean, unclean.” The Teacher continued further into the wasteland. I followed closely. A few of the denizens began to follow us. They were drawing closer than I preferred. The Teacher seemed not to care. He continued his search for the girl.

A man called out “You have come into our domain uninvited. You will be required to pay for your exit with coins.” Four men surrounded us. Two of them held clubs.

“I have brought no coins, food or drink with me.” The Teacher stated.

The leader of the ragged group said “Then, we will search you both. Pray that we find something of value, or you will not leave here tonight.”

“Leave them alone!” The girl cried out. “He is a holy man of peace. He intervened on my behalf today. I will not let you harm him.” She walked out into the open. She was holding a club as well.

“Holy man? He’s no holy man. A holy man would not allow himself to be in the presence of the unclean!” The leader barked.

“He is a holy man, but not like the priest or those who work in the temple. He is something more than that. He sees clearly, into the heart.” She was confident in her statement.

She looked at the Teacher and said “Please holy man, follow me to my dwelling.” She pointed her club at the four bandits. They shuffled back to their dark places.

We followed her though the garbage to a small tent erected against the wall of the pit. A candle was burning and incense as well. We entered and sat on the floor as she directed.

“I have nothing to offer but water, forgive me holy man. Though I know it is wrong for you to receive from me, for I am unclean.” She lowered her face as she spoke to him.

“A drink of water? Yes, I would love a drink of water.” He reached out his hand and touched her chin. She allowed her eyes to travel up to meet his gaze. The Teacher said, “You are not unclean my child and I am not withheld from receiving from you.”

She hesitated for a moment but rose to fetch the water skin. She handed it to him. He took it and drank deeply. He held it out for me to drink. I too, drank deeply and handed the skin back to the girl.

“The Teacher looked at her bandaged arms and asked “When did it begin?”

“When did I become a Dark Silent?” She seemed puzzled. “I was born this way, it has always been. The priest even say that I am with an evil spirit from birth.”

“You are not with an evil spirit, only a broken one.” He reached for her arm. She allowed him. He began to remove the bandages. She wept. He wept with her when he saw her scars.

He touched her scars.

She was embarrassed and pulled her arm away. Her tears increased. “I know it is a sin, to harm myself, I know not why I do it?”

He answered “All have wounds on the inside. Inner wounds which reach to the surface and cry out for healing.”

“Healing? How can one such as I be healed?” Her voice was sincere. “Can you heal me, holy man?”

He sighed in a friendly manner and said “There is a door to your life, it can only be unlocked from the inside. On the other side is that which you seek.” His smile interrupted the stream of his tears.

“It matters not who locked the door, circumstance or self. Each must find the key inside their own soul. Freedom awaits those who fear not to gaze inside their own intentions.”

The Teacher spoke with her for a long while. He held her as she cried and shared her life’s sorrows. His compassion and love was revealed in his gentle words. A light had fallen upon the dark and hope was found in hell.

Hours later the Teacher awakened me to return to our camp. The girl had found the door to her life. She had unlocked it. The Dark Silent stepped over the threshold, but it was Deanna who came through the other side into the colors and sounds of life.