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The Bottomless Pool

The old woman sat down on her rock, stared into the small clear pool, and patiently waited for peace to come. For of all the treasures the water had given her during her life, peace was its surest gift. She took a deep breath, and gave her thoughts to the smooth surface.

The old woman's country was on the brink of war with its neighbour; her son had been called to join the army and she feared for his safety. She let a deep sigh follow her sight, which had relaxed and blurred on the surface of the still water, and despite her anguish it took but a few seconds for her face to soften from its lines of worry - and only a few more before she felt a familiar calm settle over her. She smiled with gratitude as the pool drained her fears away into its depths, and fancied she could hear it whisper words of reassurance.

After a while the quiet was interrupted by the sound of men and horses approaching on the nearby road. Shaking herself from her dreams the old woman looked up to an amazing sight. Coming down the road was the King himself, his General, the commanders - in fact the whole army. As the woman watched she found a plan quickly forming itself in her mind, and without time to wonder if it would work, she slid off her rock and rushed to the side of the road.

The King looked down at the waving peasant. Normally he wouldn't converse with commoners, but he needed to boost the moral of his men and thought such a gesture would surely help. Loudly, he asked her worry.

Raising from a deep bow the grandmother looked up to see a face tilted so far back she could see little more than a moustache, but nonetheless she thanked the King for his kindness, and then calmly asked him if he would look into the nearby pool of water for her. The King was naturally taken aback by this strange request, but not wanting to be seen as insincere he quickly told his General to send a man to help her. Then he raised his hand and the troop rode on.

It happened that the General passed the order to the Captain, and the Captain passed it to his Sergeant - but if the old woman had expected him to do the same she'd have been mistaken. The Sergeant was a man with more sense than pride; he recognised an opportunity to stretch cramped muscles, and gladly took it. He dismounted and followed the woman back to the pool.

As they walked he questioned the woman's request, and she spun him a hearty tale about how her grandson wanted to learn to dive as a surprise for his father. She explained she had thought the pool ideal, but her eyes were unable to tell her how deep it was. The Sergeant smiled, thinking of his own child at home, and quickened his step to help. A few moments later they arrived at the water's edge.

Within seconds of looking into the pool the Sergeant forgot his task; so beautiful was the water's colours and tones that his mind was immediately dazzled. The rock sides sparkled and shone, as if made of crystal, and gave the depths light that reflected not only back and forth through the vibrant vegetation, but actually up out of the pool itself. The water seemed to hold shapes and images he could not have dreamed of – or had long forgotten. They drew him in, taking away his weariness and filling him with wonder. He felt himself relax and smile with a blessed contentment.

After a while he pulled himself out of his reverie and it was only then, with disappointment, that he realised that the water was too shallow for the woman's grandson to dive. Yet when he said as much the old woman merely smiled and, picking up a stone, asked him to confirm his finding. He frowned at her stubbornness but was happy to lengthen his time by the pool, he took the stone and dropped it in. It wobbled its way down through the water and quickly reached the muddy bottom.

And passed right through it.

The Sergeant looked up at the old woman in confusion, but she only shrugged. He wondered if the stone had sunk into the mud, so he picked up a larger one and tried it again. The stone disappeared again, but this time the bottom seem to quiver and fade – a known solidity suggesting illusion. He picked up a third stone, dropped it, and then stared in disbelief as it actually seemed to push the bottom of the pool down away from him, before again vanishing from sight.

He stared, transfixed for a while before looking up at the woman again. She smiled sympathetically, and explained that the same thing always happened to her. He nodded dumbly and looked at the pool again, then he looked at the retreating troop of men. Somewhere, deep inside him, something changed. He no longer felt quite himself, not new exactly but more as if he was on the brink of remembering something important.

The Captain stared at his Sergeant, amazed at the man's report. He questioned his ability to perform simple tasks, but the Sergeant was affected too deeply by the pool to be swayed. Ignoring the sound of the men laughing, he explained again.

His superior felt torn, he didn't want to appear gullible, yet there was something about the Sergeant's calm clarity that drew him in. He felt curiosity growing within him, something he hadn't felt for a very long time and, to his surprise, found himself turning his horse and riding back down the road. The Sergeant waited a moment, then rode after him.

By the time he arrived back at the pool the Captain was already bending over the edge of the mysterious water. As the Sergeant approached, he saw his Captain turn to him with an unfamiliar expression, muttering in a half whisper that he'd seen the bottom drop away from him.

They stared at each other silently for a few seconds and then, together, bent over the pool and looked.

Without a word the woman drew back, and from the edge of the trees she watched two hardened soldiers become innocent boys again, exploring the water with natural curiosity. She watched the pool work the magic that had kept her in its folds all her life: the ever deepening bottom that destroyed limited thoughts; the myriad colours and shapes that created new images and new truths in their minds. Caught in its promise of infinite realities, they would have no choice but to let go of their concern with the illusions of power, strife, and separation.

When the General sent back men to find them, and eventually coming himself, the pool continued its work. It pulled them all in until the King himself was to be seen lying on his stomach, thrusting a long stick into the water, while diplomats were sent to keep the enemy in talks - told to delay the war until the secrets of the pool could be properly learnt.

The old woman smiled and slipped away through the trees; she knew the war would never come now. For the exploration of the pool would never end, could never end. She had spent a lifetime listening to its mysterious language and had not tired of its tales. For the pool told not just of this World and its many truths, but of the Universe beyond and of the greatest of truths long forgotten by man. Truths that once the adult remembers, the child cannot forget.

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