I have conceived of a story, and you may well be pleased. It is about a bubble.


In a small hut in a remote part of Turkey, there lived a mother, Meltem, who had only one son, Kabarck, to call family.


On occasion she would relate to him stories, to help him find peace in the melodic sound of her voice. Tenderly, this is the story she told him.

Very far away, across a great distance of Sea, there exists a massive jungle. Full of dangerous and terrible creatures, quite a many stories can be told of this place.

This one, however, may be one of the most enchanting stories I know of.


There lived, in a small village, a young witchdoctor. One of a very long line of medicine-men, he was taught the many skills and secrets his family has collected over the generations.

He had just become confident enough in his skills to practice this trade, when his father passed away. Before passing, his father told him the most prized secret kept by their lineage.


"Young Beora, there is one secret which I have not yet told you... There is... in a certain region of this Rainforest, a certain Holy Tree. Inside of this tree there flows an enchanted Gum. Whosever creates an orb with this gum shall be the master of it. Relate your intentions to this bubble, and it will soon float easily in the direction of whatever object you wish to pursue."

His father showed him a map, which he had guarded until this time, told him to study it very carefully, and instructed him to thereafter destroy the map, only recreating it when his own son becomes old enough. It is a very dangerous path to this holy tree, as the most vile creatures are attracted to it's scent. For this reason, he said, it must be kept a secret, and that the highest care and most clever measures should be followed to obtain the gum from the tree.

His father admitted, that he had never the courage to procure the gum from the tree, but he had seen it. A very beautiful tree, outstanding from all the rest in size and color. Many exotic birds made their rest there, as well as the many terrible creatures of the forest.


Beora was intrigued. This sounded very strange to him, but he understood it must have been guarded for a reason. It was clear to Beora that this enchanted bubble would serve him well to keep his herbs well-stocked, and to document the best caches of them in the jungle.


He prepared himself for the excursion into the forest, by dousing himself in repelling perfumes. This was enough, he thought, for no creature however vile would be interested in anything that smelled thusly.


He trekked, passing all the landmarked he had studied, occasionally applying more of his repelling perfumes.

When he finally beheld the Holy Tree, he had completely forgotten the dangers which surrounded him. The sun passed through the canopy in such a beautiful way, that this massive white Gum tree seemed to glow. As he approached, the birds bantered increasingly.


With his blade he pierced the tree, and procured just a small piece of gum. The bushes rustled around him, and it was clear that predators were fast approaching. He began to run home with his prize, frantically, and soon realized that he would be mauled if he didn't rid himself of this gum.

He did not consider the dangers of having a piece of gum, but he conceived that if he were to throw it in the river he could escape, and find the gum downstream, where the jungle was safer.



The piece of gum floated gingerly down the river, down cascades of rocks and through the rapids. It became wedged between two rocks in a rapid, and was soon reformed by the white waters. Just as a cavity was formed and it took the shape of a thimble, it slipped from the rocks, and continued down the river.



As it sailed through a very calm stretch of water, a water-serpent caught it's scent. The creature rushed towards the object, and much to its surprise, found its head stuck in the cavity.

It flailed about for a short time, and soon calmed down. It made its way towards the shore, hoping to find a way to liberate itself.


Our young friend and medicine-man, Beora, happened upon this scene. To his delight, he made for the snake. He was very surprised that his prize had found him!

But just as he approached the snake, a harpy quickly swooped in on the serpent. Beora cursed the falcon, and watched his prize fly away so quickly.


The harpy carried away the fell serpent to her nest, in a very high mountain cliff.

She and her chicks feasted on the serpent, but soon found the piece of gum to be inedible.

They looked at it curiously, for it smelled so good, but the mother harpy cast it out of the nest. It bounced and rolled down the cliff-side for some time, until finally making its final bounce and becoming completely lodged between two spikes of rock protruding from the cliff-face.


So it sat there, undisturbed for a very long time, occasional birds investigated it, but always just left it alone. Only the wind whistling through the mountain range touched this piece of gum procured from the Holy Gum Tree.

Throughout the year, the gum was slowly formed into a more bulbous shape. Twelve months later, it became a robust orb. A mighty gust of wind dislodged it from the rock. It was light enough to float on the wind, and so it sailed.

The orb was basically conscious by the time it was complete, though it
had never moved. When the wind finally dislodged it, it realized that it was conscious. It had no creator to do the bidding of, yet had no will power of its own. It knew not of its possible fate, but simply enjoyed himself as he floated high above the canopy.

He enjoyed the sights, and the many colored birds.


"My dear young Kabarck, this concludes tonights story" Meletem told her son, as she put him to rest. "I will continue tomorrow evening, okay? Good night sweet son." She kissed him, put out the candle-light, and retired herself, to dream another dream.