What makes us feel safe

The week went by quickly and when we realized it was the beginning of the bimonthly tests.

Waking up early as usual and meeting up with Arthur and the others, we headed to the Academy for our first challenge since our entrance.

"Is anyone nervous? Because I'm nervous, I'm about to have a fit right now" Said Arthur, who was restless inside the carriage.

"Artur, relax! It's not the end of the world" Merida replied trying to understand the reason for Arthur's panic.

"It's easy for you to say that, know that I barely passed the entrance exam, just thinking that those below average will be expelled is enough to scare me." He replied with a touch of anxiety in his voice.

Seeing the panic in his eyes I could see how important this was to him and I remembered something I learned a long time ago from my grandmother.

"Artur, what makes you feel calm and secure?" I asked.

"What makes me feel calm and secure?" He asked back in confusion.

"Yes, what makes you feel calm and safe? It could be an object, a color, a person, anything"

Arthur fell into thought for a few minutes, pondering the question heavily.

It may seem simple but it was hard to answer, when my grandmother asked me about it for the first time I didn't have an answer and I spent the whole week until I found what I was made me feeling safe and calm.

"When you feel anxious or afraid, what is the first thing that comes to your mind, something calms you. For some people, it could be other people, it could be a phenomenon of nature, it could be the Sun, the Moon , a word, a color, anything that serves you as an anchor" I spoke slowly and my voice reverberated inside the carriage, my voice was like a calm lake without ripples conveying a calm and helping them to concentrate and find what else it suited him in that situation.

A few minutes passed and everyone was silent, until Arthur was the first to snap out of his trance before looking into my eyes with gratitude and responding with resolve. "When I feel insecure, my anchor is my mother, to be more exact the necklace she gave me before she died" His voice was like a whisper. "Here he is"

Pulling a small gold necklace with a leaf pendant out of his collar he took a deep breath before continuing. "She gave it to me and said that I had to be strong and shouldn't cry for her, that she would always be with me and that every time I thought of her I was supposed to look at this necklace to remember that I was not alone and would always find important people who would support me in difficult times"

"So focus on him and make sure everything works out, believe in yourself and if your will falter, remember you're not alone" I replied with a slight smile and Arthur returned the same smile with a grateful look.

The others soon thought of his answers too, for Merida it was Jasmine's flowers and for Luan it was rain.

"And you Elora? What makes you feel safe?" asked Merida.

"I?" I looked silently at the window as I looked at the clear sky and with a smile I replied. "I always think about the moon"