The Sky is Falling

Helena looked up at the sky and wondered how it had become so blue. It matched her mood perfectly. To Helena, being in a blue mood meant sadness.

Helena had been having days of sadness and trial for many months and today, when she looked up at the sky, she suddenly felt the urge to find an answer. She looked up at the sky and demanded to know, "Why me? Why does it all happen to me?"

No answer. Helena decided that maybe what she needed more than a reason was assistance. She had struggled alone for so long. She had never asked anyone to help her. People were always offering to help, but always doing things that she thought only made matters worse. She was stubbornly certain that only her way of doing things could make things right. Also, she had been sure she could manage all alone. Now she was rethinking.

On an impulse, Helena cried out to the heavens, "Help me. Please. I need help."

As she shouted the last word she saw a crack appear in the blue above her. The crack began to twist and turn and spread until it formed an odd shape. Then the shape shook and wriggled until it freed itself from the rest of the heavens. Then the piece of sky fell. It did not plummet. It simply drifted down end over end until it landed in Helena's lap and let out a small sigh.

Helena let out a yelp of shock and looked up to see a black hole where the little blue piece had once been. Helena gazed at the little blue piece. It was soft, thin and slippery as a piece of the finest silk.

"Oh no!" Helena said aloud. She was sure that her life had just gone from bad to worse. Then she looked up and shouted, "What is happening? Help me."

In her hands the little silky swatch sighed again. Then it seemed to melt through her fingers and attach to her skirt like a patch. In a panic, Helena tried to tug the little patch free, but failed.

This was the last straw for Helena. She had suffered failure and loss and defeat in the past months. Every single thing she had touched had come to ruin and she was in despair. Now, when she asked for help from above, the result was to have the very sky fall down on her. Helena looked up and shouted, "I know you are there! You, who made me and the sky and all things. I asked you for help and you have made the sky fall on me. Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

In answer, there came another crack in the heavens, and another piece of the sky detached itself and began to float downward. This time, Helena jumped up, gathered her skirts and ran as fast as she could to keep the patch from landing on her. But try as she might, the wind carried the piece of sky and it soon found a resting place on her shoulder, where it attached itself.

Helena stamped her foot in frustration. "Get off," she shouted as she tugged at the patch.

Looking up at the sky, she saw the growing blackness. There were no stars in the black part of the sky. It looked like a piece of black velvet stitched onto the blue satin of the heavens.

With each request she cried out, a new patch fell, and Helena fought against it, tearing at herself. She did this over and over until she was too exhausted to fight and sat down, staring at the patches on her clothing. Then she laid her hand on one broad piece of blue. It didn't feel like fabric. It felt softer and it sent a shivery feeling through her hand as her fingers slid across it.

Her mind began to wander. She thought of all the times she had found joy beneath a blue sky. She remembered smiles and sun. Helena began to stroke the patch on her skirt. It felt lovely and soft. Before she knew what was happening, she had a little smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

But because this was not the kind of help Helena expected to get, she forced herself to stop smiling. She stopped stroking the patch of sky she wore and began to shout up again, "This is not helping my problems! I need help."

To her horror, huge new cracks began to form and two large sections of the blue released themselves and began to come down to her at a faster rate. Instead of floating, these seemed to form into large wings and they came down in a swift glide.

Again, Helena got up and ran as fast as she could. Again the sky caught up with her and this time, it wrapped her like a blanket. Helena had the strangest feeling of being given an enormous blue, shiny, soft hug. She closed her eyes and felt herself being propelled backward. She toppled over and landed on her back in the grass. Helena fought, but the feeling of love and peace that now surrounded her stopped her struggles. It took a few moments before Helena opened her eyes. She was covered from head to foot in a flowing robe of the finest, heavenly blue. Though it was thin and there was now quite a strong wind coming from the black hole in the sky, Helena felt warm and comfortable. She felt loved and happy and safe.

Helena smiled and looked up at the sky. Softly she called up, "I don't understand what just happened."

Then there came a voice like no other she had ever heard. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. It sang through the trees, and rumbled through the earth and sighed in the long grass." You prayed for help and help has come," said the voice. "You have been given back what you lost. Piece by piece I have patched you up."

The voice continued, "You cloaked yourself in anger, fear and sadness. Now you have been given something far better to wear. You have been given love and peace. Wear them well."

Helena wrinkled her brow and shook her head. "I asked for help and the sky fell," she said. "I was overwhelmed and knocked down." The voice came to her from all around and said, "Sometimes having the sky fall on you is the greatest of gifts. You have learned that you can survive and find peace even after all seemed lost. You learned that even though the very heavens may come to rest on your shoulders, the burden could be as light as air."

Helena smiled. As she gazed at the sky the hole began to mend itself, getting smaller and smaller until all was blue and clear again. She stretched out her arm to wave to the sky and found that her clothes were just as they had always been. The blue robes had vanished. "Don't leave me," she cried out in fear.

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere came to her and said, "I surround you as the veil that is the sky covers the Earth. Like the blue of the sky, I may not always be seen. The clouds of worry or sadness may hide me. At times you may run from me or be in darkness as black as night. But I am, and always will be, with you."

For the first time in her life, Helena felt true peace and calm. She knew these words were the truest she had ever heard. She lay back in the grass under the blue sky and fell asleep. She slept for the day and the night.

The next morning when she woke she found that her family and friends had become worried over her being gone so long and had come to find her. Helena hugged each one and smiled as she had not smiled in a very long time. "What has happened to change you so," a friend asked. Helena grinned and looked up, "I just learned how much I am loved and how good it feels to know I am not alone."

From that day to this, Helena spent her days and nights knowing that no matter what happened, there was a little piece of heaven sitting on her shoulder.

[ by Lisa Suhay, Copyright ©2001 (suhays@home.com) -- from 'Daily Wisdom' ]