Persistence

The old man didn't give him any plan to work on, all he said did not only not help him in one bit, it also reduced the hope he had. Although, there is a saying that 'when all hopes are lost, success may surprise'. But the possibility of that was very low. "Sir what do you think I should do? With all you have said I could not find a way out." Peter asked passionately.

"Son, all what I have said was not to give you hope or way out of your predicament. You might not understand the use now but surely you will in the nearest future. That is if you are fortunate to see it. Do you know that after I lost hope in finding that place, I never stopped looking for it. When one loses hope, that should not stop one to continue. Most of the time, hope might not be of great use, persistence would surely perform wonders. If blacksmithing were based on hope, do you think there would be wondrous work enough to move the heavens. Persistence is more important than hope but persistence with hope is much more important." The old man spoke to Peter in parable. Right after the man said these, he looked away like he never noticed Peter staring at the direction the woman and the man went with the small boy. "I pray you are able to overcome the coming turbulence. Turbulence makes overcomer stronger but I don't see this one making you stronger even if you are able to overcome it." He then turned away to remove the pots from fire since they were not of use again. While he was doing that, he suddenly look at the direction he was looking before, like he remembered something. "Or maybe it will make you weaker for you to be stronger."

While all these were on going, Peter tried as much as possible to talk to the man but to no avail. It was as if the old man never noticed him or the conversation they had was his imagination. He still have some questions he wanted to ask, he was well aware of the fact that everything was a dream. He was grateful that he had such conversation because the words of the old man had helped him a lot especially his last statement. It was true that he had lost hope, but because of what the man said, he had to persist no matter what.

While he was sleeping, he was unaware of what was happening in the real world. Smallie had brought different dishes four different time hoping he would be awake but he remain asleep. When Juliet was leaving, he urge Smallie to always deliver food to his room whenever they cook but if he is asleep, they should not bother him and let him be. Smallie was wondering how someone would sleep for so long like that. The fourth time that Smallie brought food to his room was the morning of the second day he had been asleep. If not for the fact that he was still breathing, they would have confirmed him dead. Mr Ralph also checked on him the previous night to confirm if everything was alright. Juliet had also called to check on him, when she could not reach him through his phone, she called Mr Ralph instead, he explained to her that Peter was still asleep. Every time she had been calling, she was told he had not wake up, she was somehow worried at first but when she remembered that Peter explained to her that he would have to rest for a very long time for him to recover himself and the fact that Peter wasn't ordinary, she relaxed. She stopped giving herself unnecessary headache and hope he wakes up soon. Even when she affirmed that nothing was wrong with him, she would put a call through to Mr Ralph to confirm if he's awake.

While everyone around was unsure about why Peter was still asleep, Peter was also uncertain about why he could not communicate with the old man. No one knew when the scene he was seeing changed, the old man was still there but he was not alone. Another man was there with him who was much more older that the old man who Peter assumed was his grandfather. The old man who joined the former dressed in white garment with a white hair and white beard, which would makes one think he was a ghost. "Why would you allow them to leave?" Asked the white robe old man, it seemed he was talking about those who left with the small kid. "What do you think I should have done?" He answered with a question but one could feel his helplessness. "You knew the disaster they would face where they are heading to is greater than the one they are running from. It's just like running from a snake to a Lion's den."

"Great one, I'm aware of all that, but do you think I'm capable of defying the heavens?"

"Must we always abide by the heavens will, have you ever thought about it, maybe if we had defy the heavens and it's will, we would have been able to go there." Said the white robe man.

"It's not that you are unaware of those who have decided to go against the heaven and the results. Those who had won against the heaven can be counted with a finger. We all are aware of those things that cost him to achieve such result. Who among us would dare go against the heavens after knowing fully the consequences." The other old man explained the consequence to the white robe man.

"Had it been that you were able to find a magma for the kid to awaken the abilities of the herbs in his system, it would have been much easier."

"What can one do, it's already too late. I was told you stumbled on a note, that explained in details the journey there?"