“Pursuing one’s personal legend is a task that for centuries, only a few have been able to run to the finish line. It’s true that life is only generous to those who pursue their personal legend” The boy thought to himself.
Then he remembered that he had to get to Tarifa so he could give one-tenth of his treasure to the gypsy woman, as he had promised.
The wind began to blow again. It was the levanter, the wind that came from Africa. It didn’t bring with it the smell of the desert nor the threat of Moorish invasion. Instead it brought the scent of a perfume he knew well and the touch of a kiss; a kiss that came from far away, slowly, slowly until it rested on his lips.
The boy smiled. It was the first time she had done that
“I’m coming, Fatima” he said.
He quickly kept the treasure in his bag where he had kept the Urim and Thummim.
“The treasure has been found, now it’s time to return to an even bigger treasure. One that is an immense part of my soul” He thought to himself again.
“Young man” The monk said, standing 18 yards from where the boy was.
“Go after your heart, for where the heart of a man his, there lies his treasure.”
“How did you know what I was thinking?” The boy quickly asked, while walking majestically to where the monk was standing.
“The universe knows and understands every of our thoughts, it conspires with its soul to bring to us what we really need.” The monk replied.
The boy bade the monk farewell and hurriedly left the church to finally reunite with the love of his life and tell her how she conspired with the universe to make his dreams come true.
The wind was cool and calm on the outside, but it wasn’t the usual peaceful sound he heard; that sound is familiar. He had heard the sound while he was in the desert. Then he heard a voice from the wind:
“What will you do with the treasure, now that you have it?”
He stopped abruptly and started to look around. Did he really hear a voice or was it just his mind that was playing tricks on him? He sighed and continued walking.
“If the treasure of a man lies where his heart is, I guess that I am going to give this treasure to Fatima my beloveth.” He thought quietly.
He also thought about the Alchemist and all he had learnt from him.
“It has really been an adventure” He whispered to himself.
He was finally at the desert; that same haven where he met the love of his life Fatima and in an instance they fell in love.
Without wasting much time, he hurried to the house of the Alchemist. His dreams finally came true. As he was about to knock on the door, someone opened it…
It was her, his glimmer of hope. The embodiment of his secret dreams, his very fantasies. Those eyes and smiles that had got him at first. The love he had not felt in a long while. The same girl, only that this time, more beautiful.
“Hi” She finally said, wearing a smile that sent shivers running down his spine, to his tiniest bone.
“Hi” He finally managed to reply, but something felt wrong.
This was a girl he had not seen for a long time, a girl who professed her love to him, a girl he promised he would return to, but here she is, standing right in front of him with just a “Hi”. He requested to see the Alchemist.
“My husband you mean?”
Santiago couldn’t believe his ears, his heart now racing. How did this ever happen?
“This was all a test” A voice said from behind; it was the Alchemist.
“Love is weakness ” He continued.
“When we split our emotions, it shields us from seeing our goal, thus preventing us from ever attaining it.”
“But love is strength” The boy managed to reply, despite his shock and confusion.
“True love inspires us to be better, to conquer our fears and attain the unattainable.”
“You are right ” The Alchemist replied
“But your heart truly lies in the daughter of the merchant; the only reason you reached your dreams. Where the heart of a man lies, there his treasure is.”
The boy left without breathing another word and headed straight to that village where he had first met the daughter of the merchant.
Together they will start a new life, a new home and build riches together. For the very first time, he truly understood where his treasure lies.
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