The girl with nine toes, Ray Wilkins [black female authors .TXT] 📗

his mind and spirit and fly true, otherwise his spear
will not be accepted by his partner and the heart will not
be pierced - and the heart is the place where you must
always aim and never miss.
John understood perfectly what this boy was
teaching him and couldn't help being impressed by the
wiseness and clarity of the message. He walked up to
where his little teacher was standing and took the other
spear and the Woomera from his small scarred hands. He
closed his eyes making an image of the tree inside his
mind, opening his eyes he placed the end of the spear in
the notch of the Woomera , drew back his arm holding
the Spearlauncher and without too much pressure he
aimed the tip of the spear at the tree, took a deep breath
and on the tenth beat of his heart he released the missile
with a mighty cry. The spear landed three meters to the
right of the tree and struck a rock. “Turawwa.„ said
Wootara in an unusually, polite tone. “Your aim was
good, your breath and heart were perfectly in balance and
your body danced the way of the warrior, this time you
did not pierce the heart but with time and practice you
will hit your target. You have learnt how to throw the
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spear.„ Wootara's voice was becoming fainter and fainter
and John noticed that the landscape was changing,
everything was starting to turn into a misty yellow and
the last words that he heard were “...in the next dream
the warriors path will continue.„

John could smell the scent of fresh coffee wafting
up the stairs coming from the kitchen. He sat up and
once again as before, went through the dream he
remembered - - every image and every word. He even
had a feeling that his shoulder felt sore caused by the
unusual movements needed to throw spears.


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Prosperity without love is like a
tree without roots


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Charter 18


He enjoyed his breakfast with the girls . They asked
him some more questions about the past, but strangely
enough he had the feeling that they wanted to know
more about him, and what kind of person he used to be
,and less about how Mary passed away. Sadly he also
noticed that he had never before talked this way about
himself to his children, open, honest, and to the point.

John walked out to the car and for the first time in
years did not feel like going to his office.
As he walked into the admin area Mrs Simmons
stood up from behind her desk and smiled... “Good
morning sir, before you start your agenda for today I
would like to…to give you something.„ She seemed very
nervous and unsure of herself , something that John had
never witnessed before during the years that they had
been working together. She reached down into one of her
immense drawers and took out a small cushion which
was embroidered with a golden heart and underneath the
words Courage to lead. “This is for you sir, I made it
myself. I have up till now never felt the need to give you
a present but over the last weeks I've noticed the change
in you, so that over the weekend I had this urge to make
this for you, I hope you like it.„ She pushed the small red
cushion into his hands, sat down again and started
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tapping rapidly on her computer keyboard, her face
almost as red as the cushion.
“Uhm… thank you Miss Simmons, its pretty and it
will have pride of place in my study so that everytime I
look at it I will think of you.”
Mrs Simmons became even redder and John
opened the door into his office. He sat down and started
taking notes preparing himself for the meeting he had
called together with all his aides, assistants and other
people who worked for him inside Parliament House. He
had a goal, a goal to clean up the whole administration
structure and he knew that there would be resistence and
maybe even some aggression, but to be honest he thought to
himself I'm just sick and tired of the dishonesty, intrigue and lack
of unity inside this system. I want to bring the heart into my way of
running this country. Why can't we be more honest and open with
each other, talk about the problems and difficulties that we have, not
only with the organisation but also our own feelings of not doing
enough, feeling inadequate or feelings of unsurity and yes! maybe
even sometimes feelings of hopelessness. Feedback is the breakfast of
champions! We need a spirit of working together, free of envy,
jealousy, hate or misunderstandinsg. Yes! of course this means more
communication, more exchanges of ideas but also creating the space
and freedom where people can express and create new ideas and
innovations to improve the quality of life on this continent. John
paused for a moment and took a few minutes to imagine
what things would be like in the future if these ideals
were implemented. He saw people becoming more self –
reliant, creating new businesses and jobs for themselves.
He saw the return of micro businesses and shops where
people could sell there ideas and products on a more
human level, free of shopping complexes and multi-
conglomerates. He saw the state of health improving
because people started to heal themselves through
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Complementary or Natural Medicine and the power of
mind. He saw a hospital system run as a business where
managers and workers could work hand in hand to create
a place where healing was paramount and not illness. A
place where normal medicine existed together with
natural/eastern medicine. He saw a country full of
windmills, solar energy projects and other energy
producing centers that did not poison the atmosphere
with Carbon Dioxide. He saw a land healing its rivers,
beaches and forests so that nature once again could
flourish in a balanced way . He saw Aborigines and other
minority groups working and living together with
everyone else in a state of harmony. He saw a country full
of people who were happy and proud to call themselves
Australian.

John went into his change meeting feeling light and sure
about his proposals he spent four hours talking and
debating with his people. There was strong resistence
and fear of change. But in the end there was a feeling of
hope and unity among his people, but the price he paid
was high . He had to let go of several members of his
cabinet, some of these people he used to call friends ,
but now they were unhappy, angry ex - employees. John
thought to himself ; Three weeks ago I would never have thought
that I would lead my people like this, its like fighting a battle
against an invisible army and the only way to win is through being
consistent, without any compromising or half promises, an approach
that goes against all the laws of diplomacy or political strategies,
what the girl with nine toes would call hard love. He closed his
office door and was looking foreward to once again walk
down to the river.


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Friendship is a tree that gives
shade
when the sun is too strong
Food when we hunger
Strength when the wind becomes a
storm
And silence when confusion
reigns


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Chapter 19


“Now is the time to jump to the next stone
Turawwa this is the stone of Friendship.” John was
staring out at the water listening to the girl’s strange voice
and wandering where she gets all this wisdom from. His
concentration went back to what she was saying.
“Friendship is a very special key that you need, to be able
to open doors to new worlds of experience. A friend at
your side is like a mirror reflecting that what you do or
say, back into your conscious way of thinking . Beware of
a friend that's always paying you compliments, for this is
exactly what he is doing - paying you to be nice back to
him. A friend is the best critique giver you will ever find.
He knows you in and out and has enough courage to tell
you what he thinks. In some ways a friendship is a more
important realationship than a loving realationship
between man and woman. There is no jealousy, no envy
and no divorce proceedings if they separate. You are now
standing at the junction of the track, your way will now
become more difficult, many people will try to roll stones
onto your path, some will even attempt to hurt you
through thoughts, feelings and actions. Even though you
must walk this path alone you will need energy, support
and minds that will guide you to succeed. This is the time
to bring your friends together .Some of them have felt
neglected in the past, during that time when you were
closed up. But they are still there waiting patiently for you
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to invite them into your future , all you have to do is to
call them by name. Remember, Turawwa , friends are the
water and nourishment that you need to grow your vision
tree - without them the roots will become dry and
neglected. Friendship is a two way track, giving and
taking in balance. Where there are no demands or
obligations, the spiritual tie is through the heart and that
is what we call love. Where freedom, trust and believing
in each other are the heart strings that create true
friendship.„
John looked at the small figure sitting on the rock,
she was smiling and waving her hand to say goodbye. He
turned up to the track leading onto the jogging path
thinking very deeply about what she had said, on one side
he felt very positive and