Facing the Wizard (part one)

Facing the Wizard   (part one)
When Laura of Oz finally came to face the Wizard, she suddenly had nothing to ask for.
And thus she realized how blessed she was.
"You've come a long way", the Wizard said. "What were you looking for? Girl, what's you request?"
Laura of Oz said: "In all honesty, Master of all Arts, i haven't got a request. I've already been gifted with all that could have possibly been there for me...  Didn't know what i was looking for...didn't even know what i was looking AT...or if i was looking at all...in the time i spent walking this long way. Guess i was just following the yellow ribbon... "
Here the Wizard interrupted her: "So, you're saying...you have nothing to ask?"
"No point to ask for anything more than i've been given. Treasured moments, now i feel they must be still within me somewhere... - Laura of Oz said - But yet, i shall dare ask a question for...curiosity..."
"Go on, ask", the Wizard said.
"Tin Woodman...my friend who came along - Laura of Oz began - did he get what he was looking for?"
The Wizard stared at the girl with calm, severe eyes.  He asked: "Do ya know what he was looking for?"
"His heart", the girl replied.
"That's correct - the Wizard said with a nod - and of course he's found it. 'Cause he had actually never lost it."
"He was only unaware to have one..." went Laura of Oz, like thinking out lout.
"Any further question?", the Wizard asked.
"None", Laura of Oz said.  And she turned her back, ready to depart, leaving the Castle.
A voice called her out loud, to stop her before she could go.
"Wait! - the Wizard said - I don't believe you... It's UNBELIEVABLE. No-one ever came here without a request, a plan, or just a dream to be fulfilled."
Laura of Oz turned to face the Wizard once again...and this time she felt tears in her eyes.
"Tin Woodman found his heart...what about mine?"
The Wizard stared at her in silence. She continued:
"Was i built for loving? For feeling?"
She broke up crying as she finally asked:
"Do i have a heart??"
Immense silence followed these few words. Then...
"The answer lies within you", the Wizard said.
Then he asked: "Laura of Oz, what makes you think you don't have a heart?"
Laura of Oz just shook hear head, and kept crying.
The Wizard stood up very straight as he talked again.
"Look back, look within, tell me your story", he ordered.
Laura of Oz suffocated a sight. She began telling...
"I had a friend...i thought i loved her. But i caused her all the possible pain. I thought my love was deep, not a surface thing...i thought we were meant to fly together, and grow together, and learn from each other. But i erased all smiles from her face. How come i did? How can i have a heart?"
The Wizard looked into her eyes, in such a deep way that she felt like pierced by his look. His eyes were clearer than the sky, and still they were something so hard to even see.
"Learn to ask the correct question, Laura of Oz - the Wizard said - This isn't about "how's"...that's about "why's". "
"WHY did i hurt my friend?" Laura of Oz suddenly asked, loud and clear.
"Because you were in Love.", the Wizard replied...and as he spoke these words, his eyes seemed to turn more human.
Laura of Oz could now look straight back into his eyes, as she said:
"Yes, i was in love...my friend and i were both in love with the same man."
For the very first time, the Wizard seemed to even smile…in a barely visible way.
"That's correct, Laura of Oz", he said. "And what do you think is needed, in order to fall in love?"
Laura of Oz suffocated a tear.
"A heart."
"You've answered your question yourself", the Wizard said.
"Laura of Oz, you DO have a heart."
"But then...oh my..." she was getting dizzy and confused. She suddenly cried: "Another question, please!"
"As many as you want", the Wizard said.
"Assuming that i DO have a heart...is it possible to love both my friend and...a man?"
"It all depends on what you've learnt from either of them", the Wizard said. "What did your friend teach to you?"
Laura of Oz said: "To love myself."
“And what did that man teach you?”
Laura swallowed one tear.
"The same...to love myself."
"Did you listened to both in the same way?", the Wizard asked.
"No...i didn't want to listen to my friend. Though she was speaking her heart out. She would have given her world away for me to love myself."
"But you listened to the man...", the Wizard said.
"Yes...i did, all the time...and i became deaf-blind. ‘Cause he was talking but not to me...telling his lesson not to me...he was speaking his big mind out. He had other treasures in foreign lands...and i lost myself by chasing his ribbon...far different from the golden ribbon which led me here...and in the end, i harmed and lost my friend."
The Wizard said: "Let's gather broken pieces together. You DO have a heart. You DID made mistakes. You DID come a long way. Your friend was the question...and you were the question...so, you and you're friend are like one...in your heart."
"She's in my heart..."; Laura said, and cried...she cried a lot.
"Can you feel her?", the Wizard asked.
"I'm not sure...still feeling deaf-blind...just feel a void, a loss, and a wish for her which is getting bigger than life.
"So, what are you still waiting for? - the Wizard asked - Call your friend. Simply call her by the name."
Laura of Oz closed her eyes...she listened to her heart, and for the first time in ages, she could feel its beating.
"Paloma..."
she whispered. And in that very moment, she happened to be lifted up to fly.
- To be continued -

- by Dorothy of Oz