The stone

   A long, long time ago, there was a young girl who came from a good family. Luisa was growing up nicely, she had friends, she was a great student and a good daughter.  More than anything she loved her parents, siblings and her dog. Although deep down she felt she was missing something but just didn’t know what it was. Luisa thought maybe it was God, or something like that. This hole in her heart pushed Luisa to look for whatever it was. She was not going to let herself feel that way any longer. Luisa was determined, so she decided to search for it no matter what, nothing was going to stop her. 

   Luisa began to search everywhere but couldn't find it. She searched in her house, outside, in the neighborhood, and even around the city. Luisa was tired after a long day of searching, it seemed like she was searching forever. She even almost gave up but she still decided to get up early the next morning and keep searching. She didn't find anything out in the city so she searched out of state. Still Nothing. She traveled over valleys, oceans, through deserts and plains, up and down hills. She felt hopeless and most of all she felt lost. Luisa broke down and wept as she began to regret her decision. Luisa thought to herself “What is wrong with me? How could I be so stupid?! I have everything. I have a family that loves me, but now I am lost, and I have nowhere to go.” She was so heartbroken and wondered if she would ever find a way back to her home.

    Luisa kept walking looking for a way back home when she came across a dark forest and went fearlessly into it. It was a forest as dark and creepy as you would see in movies. She walked over to a lake that was surrounded by the tallest trees, bushes and flowers. In that moment Luisa sensed something, she followed her intuition. It was a feeling she had never felt before but somehow there was something familiar about it. She stood beneath the clear sky above her and said to herself: "This is it." A huge storm came up so quickly, with howling winds and cloud-blackened skies. The thunder and lightning was very frightening and she felt she might die before she found it. Before Luisa knew it, she was tossed like a rag doll by the raging storm. Once again she was helpless and hopeless, in the grip of this fury. After what seemed like forever the storm stopped and the skies cleared again. She had survived. Luisa was disoriented by the impact of the harsh storm. She looked around and was now in the middle of the lake which to her surprise was frozen solid. Luisa saw nothing but the blue sky, ice, and some storm debris. There were broken branches everywhere, broken trees, and leaves scattered all over. She was lost once again with no clue of which way to go. She spinned around in a circle and walked back and forth looking for something, anything, somewhere to turn to. At last she spotted something, way off on the edge of the horizon. Without hesitation Luisa followed it, as she got closer to it she saw a huge cube of transparent ice. In the middle of this clear, giant ice cube, there was a girl stuck inside the ice. The girl looked exactly like Luisa. 

   She couldn't believe her eyes. Suddenly it was all clear as daylight. It was her twin, this was what she had been searching for. “I have a twin!?” Luisa exclaimed to herself. Luisa had to come up with a way to get her twin out of the ice. She tried to chip away the ice with her bare hands and nails but she was helpless. She couldn’t do anything but wait for the sun to melt the ice. A few hours went by and it was working! The ice cube was slowly melting, freeing Luisa’s twin. “You’re alive!” Luisa shouted. The twins stood facing each other, looking closely up and down one another, and stared into each other's eyes. Luisa had never been happier, nor had ever felt more complete. However Luisa saw the pain and suffering in her twin's eyes. She asked her twin what was wrong and the girl answered "I may look normal but I am not. I am helpless and hopeless because deep down I do not know who I am or why I am here. I have no feelings and I don’t know my purpose." Luisa answered "Don’t worry, I  now know why I'm here and who I am. I have lots of feelings, but most importantly now I feel complete. I can give you some of the best in me, then we’ll both have enough and you will be normal like me." The second twin just shrugged, she had no idea what to say or do. Luisa asked “Well… do you know your name?”. The girl responded “It’s Jane I think”. Luisa said “Okay Jane, now I am going to help you out and give you some of my best just like I had told you." 

   There was something that went wrong in the partial transference and all that Luisa had within her like her thoughts and feelings were now a part of Jane. Now Luisa was helpless and hopeless, with no feelings, and had no idea who she was. Jane said, "Not to worry. I will find what you are missing inside so you can be normal again." She left Luisa standing in the middle of the frozen nowhere and went off to search for what was missing. She searched everywhere and found nothing. Finally, she came across a mountain. She climbed it and on top she found a small village. At the very end of the village, in a small house which sat on the edge of the mountain, there was a school for emotions, thoughts, and how to answer questions about life. This is just what she needed for Luisa. Just as she was about to finish collecting all the knowledge she needed there was a big noise and then everything seemed to fall apart. The school broke off from the mountain and it fell down, with her in it. She landed in a huge deep lake. Jane was surprised to be alive, she looked around and saw that she was with other children who were like her. The children lived in this huge lake filled with fishes, surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. Jane was so happy that she had forgotten about Luisa. 

   One day she was sitting on a big rock, playing, when she felt something moving under her. She thought that there was going to be another earthquake or something so she slid down and got out of the water. The shaking stopped. Then a stone she carried with her in her hands began to move which startled Jane. This scared her and she dropped it on the ground. For a second it stopped moving. She came closer - it began to move again. She was no longer afraid but curious. She slowly picked it up, noticing that one edge had separated. She looked inside the magical stone and found all the emotions, thoughts and answers she needed to know. Then she remembered Luisa whom she had left helpless and hopeless. She knew what she had to do. Luisa had helped Jane so now she was going to do the same. 

   She said goodbye to everyone she had met there and was on her way back to the frozen lake. It took her a long time because she had to cross plains, valleys, deserts; she went through villages, towns and cities. At last she was back in the heart of the forest, at the lake, it was perfectly clear, blue and calm. There was no longer any sign of ice, however she didn't see Luisa. Something in the middle of the lake caught Jane’s attention. Bubbles were coming up, each time they did, they made the sound, bbrrruupp. Jane knew that Luisa was breathing under water. "If my twin can breathe underwater, so can I." She walked into the lake, fearlessly, holding the magical stone. She took a deep breath and went in over her head. Jane was able to breathe under the water. She saw the direction of the other and walked toward it. Then she saw Luisa sitting on the bottom of the deepest and darkest part of the lake. Jane motioned for Luisa to follow her out of the water. Luisa shrugged then she decided to do as she was told. She followed her twin out of the lake. On the shore they stood facing each other with only the stone between them. Jane said, "I have what you need to be normal." Luisa said, "I don't care." Jane gave Luisa the stone, who took it thoughtlessly and without emotion. Jane told her to lift the cover of the stone, so she did, casually. What was in the stone jumped into Luisa. She became normal again. They stood face to face and looked into each other's eyes. The distance between them disappeared and the twins became one for a moment. Then Luisa separated from Jane, or was it the other way around? It made no difference. Luisa found God but in earthly form. She had found herself.