Wells

Packa. “Well in Satalice, Prague.” Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Prague, 18 Nov. 2007, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Well,_Prague_Satalice.jpg.

“Good boy,” I said satisfied while Opie majestically went from galloping to trotting. It was a beautiful and sunny December day in Israel. I was riding through the strawberry fields of Even Yehuda, while listening to the songs of innocent birds and letting my thoughts peacefully fly through the air. This was everything I needed. The only thing that brought peace and joy into my world, full of complex problems and difficulties that nobody could solve. Even the psychologists haven’t been able to figure it out, but they just said that they were glad I wasn’t their daughter. But I never really cared because the only love I needed was from my beautiful brown Arabian stallion.
         

As it got darker I started to ride home. It was always hard and very sad to head home and go from my peaceful time with Opie. Especially because I knew I was going home to tedious and almost sad moments with my parents. It was like nobody could live up to the bond and friendship Opie and I had together - not even my parents. My parents were unemployed and our family wasn’t the best. We didn’t have a lot of money, and we didn’t even have the love to hold the family together. I liked to think of us as “the ones God created to make others feel better about themselves.” 

        

When I came home with Opie, it was almost completely dark. I silently stepped into the hallway and saw my parents half asleep on the old couch. The lights were dim and I could still smell the food they had eaten several minutes prior to my arrival. I tried to be as silent as possible in attempt to not wake them up, but as I stepped on the fourth and creaky step on the staircase, my mom suddenly called me with an annoying high pitched sound that I never expected she could get out so quickly after waking up. 

“How was school today?” she asked skeptically, knowing that I hated school and rarely showed up. 

 

I answered with a short “fine.”

My dad began talking with a serious voice, “there is something we have to tell you” he stated. “We have to sell the horse due to our economic problems.”

At least that’s what I think he said. I don’t remember it clearly since as soon as the words left his mouth they hit and wounded me like bullets. My eyes started tearing up and my knees felt weak. “It’s also time to for you to start focusing more on school now,” he continued while I was struggling to stand. Without thinking, I quickly ran out to Opie. He seemed confused even though he was always ready for a new adventure. I climbed on his back as quick as possible and left. I had no idea of where I wanted to go, but I remember that it felt right. I rode faster and faster, while the memory from back in the house flashed before my eyes like a movie scene. Opie galloped as fast as he could, and it was almost like we blended together. I also thought about the peaceful horse ride earlier that day. Back then I didn’t know any of this would happen, and I started to miss all the birds I had seen earlier as I rode through the strawberry fields. I missed the innocent way they flew around with nothing to worry about. Wherever Opie and I were going, we both knew it was going to be a better place. Suddenly, I saw a faint shape of a well and decided to approach it so that Opie could get some water. When we arrived at the well, I discovered that it was empty and there was a ladder going all the way down to the bottom of the well. It was really strange, but without second thought, I decided to climb down. Now thinking about it, I don’t know what made me mindlessly go down, but it is definitely something that changed my life. At the bottom of the well I discovered a place that would become my safeplace. A place where I could go and spend time for myself in times of trouble, and feel well. I found an important purpose to a mysterious and remote well.
         

Everyday for the next many years, whenever I would feel uncomfortable or my parents were in some kind of trouble, I would go to my well with Opie and just feel well.

So if your family is also in a bad situation and the psychologists are happy you are not their child, you should try to find your own well even though they can be very hard to find. And if you can’t find one for yourself, you can always come to my well and we can feel well together.