A Skeleton In The Attic
Once Upon A Time, there was a big house that had a skeleton
in the attic. The family that lived
there was very frightened by this skeleton so they insisted that no one in the
family should ever go up to the attic. And yet, it so happened that one day the
little boy who lived in the house and who was very curious by nature secretly
made his way up to the attic. When he got to the attic and opened the door he immediately saw
the skeleton sitting in the corner of the attic. He was scared at the sight of
this ugly skeleton, but he entered the attic and sat far away from the skeleton
and just looked at it for a while. For a whole year the little boy would sneak
up to the attic and would just sit on the floor and look upon the skeleton from
a distance.
When a year had passed he realized
that he was no longer really scared by the skeleton's presence so he attempted
to get closer to it. He moved right next to it and for some reason he started
to talk to it. The more he talked with it the more comfortable he felt being
close to it. Of course the skeleton didn't talk back --but the boy just
pretended. He would tell the skeleton all the things he was afraid of and even
how he was afraid of coming to the attic. After about year the boy, in the
midst of one of his conversations with the skeleton, just reached out and touched
it.
When he touched its coarse bone, he
startled himself because he felt how cold and hard the skeleton was. But what
was even more startling was the fact that the skeleton started to speak back to
the boy. The skeleton told the boy not to be afraid--and he thanked the boy for
allowing him to talk by touching him.
"For two year," the
skeleton said, "I have waited to speak, and your simple touch has unlocked
my lips. Now, when you come back tomorrow we both can talk."
So, for a whole year the two of them
would talk about life, and death. The boy would ask the skeleton what it was
like to be treated so badly by people. He asked the skeleton why people were so
afraid of him.
The skeleton said, "People are
not comfortable talking to things that look strange, ugly, or remind them of
painful things. People are scared of me because I remind them of death."
The boy however was very happy to
have made a new friend with this skeleton and he thought, perhaps, if he put
clothes on the skeleton it would feel better about it self.
So the boy brought up clothes to the
attic and he picked the skeleton up off the floor--but when he embraced the
skeleton with his arms the skeleton all of a sudden started to walk by himself.
The skeleton was so happy and said,
"Oh, thank you so much for clothing me with your embrace. All I needed was
your arms around me to give me strength. Now I can walk."
So, for another year the skeleton
and the boy would walk around the attic, talk, and laugh. The boy grew to love
the skeleton and the skeleton was very grateful to the boy for all the gifts of
life he had given it. One day as they were hopping around the attic the
skeleton tripped over a trunk that was in the center of the room. It fell over
and landed very hard. Its legs were shattered and its skull was cracked--the
skeleton was now unable to walk and almost unable to speak. The boy ran over to
the skeleton and picked it up brought it over to the window sill and laid it
out trying to make it comfortable.
The skeleton looked at the boy and
said, "It looks like I will have to go back to being a mute and still
skeleton again. But, before I go back I just want to thank you for all the
gifts of life you have given me."
The boy started to cry and told the
skeleton he didn't want him to die or stop being his friend. The boy told the
skeleton that he loved him as a real person and then he leaned over and kissed
the skeleton on the crack of the forehead. As soon as the boy's lips touched
the skull, the skeleton turned into a fleshy person.
The boy couldn't believe his eyes
and said, "You are a real person--now you'll be all right."
"No," said the skeleton,
"I will soon be gone--I will disappear--but your love and kiss has given
me, in my final minutes, the gift of being a real person. Thank you very much.
When you leave here today, I will go away and you will never see me again--but
you must remember this moment, so, when you meet other skeletons you will not
be afraid to sit with them, talk with them, touch them, embrace them and kiss
them. It is because of your love that you have been able to conquer your fear
of skeletons and at the same time your love has given me the life of a real
person--even though now I must depart from this world."
"Look at me now but remember me
as I once was: a skeleton you found in the attic.
Reflection by Ken Willers
How do we embrace the 'skeleton that resides in the dark attic' of our reality? Life has a way of making us encounter this side of ourselves. Do we retreat or approach? Do we stand on guard or sit with patience? Do we discard what is found or do we learn from its truth? Do we reject out of shame or do we find meaning in our acceptance?
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