The Shapeshifting Guardian: Long Bedtime Story

This bedtime story is about you finding yourself walking through a forest. You head to a clearing where you hear a wolf in the distance. You follow a stream before setting up a tent among the trees. You see the wolf walk into the clearing, before it leaps from the ground, turns into an eagle and flies away. The next day, you continue to follow the stream to a lake, create a raft, travel across the lake and continue on through the forest. Eventually, you find ruins of an ancient city in the forest. You find an obelisk with pictorial writing on its surface. You read the writing. That evening you set up camp, planning on exploring the ruins of a building in the morning. The shapeshifter comes to you and talks with you, explaining about the history of this place and showing you what this place was once like. The next day, you explore the building and find some scrolls. After your find, you journey home to write up your research, before drifting and floating deeply asleep.

Transcript

So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close,

And allow yourself to begin to relax.

And as you begin to relax,

I don't know whether you are going to drift to sleep faster to the spaces between my words,

Or whether it will be to the sound of my voice.

And as you gently begin to drift and float comfortably asleep,

I'm just going to tell this sleep story in the background.

And this is a sleep story about finding yourself walking through a forest.

And as you walk through this forest,

So you can hear the sounds of birds around you,

You can hear the rustling sounds of the leaves and the sound of each step that you take.

And while you continue to walk through this forest,

Climbing over fallen down trees,

Stepping over branches,

Noticing the way that moonlight manages to shine down through the canopy above,

Creating silver shards of light cutting diagonally across your path,

You continue to gently walk through the forest.

And after some time walking through the forest this night time,

You find a clearing,

And as you carefully walk out into that clearing,

You hear the sound of a wolf howling in the distance.

And as you stand just on the edge of the clearing,

Noticing the way the environment has a blue hue where everything appears illuminated with that silvery light of the moon,

And you can feel the breeze tickling your cheeks,

You listen carefully for that sound of the wolf again,

And you hear that howl of the wolf a second time,

And the distant sound of movement within the forest off beyond the clearing.

And you follow the edge of the clearing,

You head down towards the sound of gently running water,

And you arrive at a calmly flowing stream,

You walk into that water,

Splashing through that stream.

Following that stream along between the forest and the clearing,

And after some time,

The water of the stream begins to deepen,

And as that water from the stream deepens,

So it flows calmer.

And at just the right point,

You head out of the far side of that stream,

You climb up into the trees,

And as you prop yourself in those trees and balance yourself between some branches of the trees,

You begin to set up a camp up here in the trees,

Tying a tent between some trees before entering that tent,

And this tent has a clear window in the front,

And so you enter the tent,

You zip up the tent,

Leaving the clear window to look through.

And you sit in this tent quietly,

Looking out from this angle over the meadow,

Over the stream,

Along the edge of this forest,

Over to the area of forest the other side of the meadow.

And after a while of silently sitting and waiting patiently,

You see that wolf heading out into the clearing,

Walking slowly through that clearing,

Heading towards the stream,

Seeming to sniff around the area of the stream where you entered the water,

Before walking back out into the clearing a bit further,

Walking through that clearing,

Sniffing around,

Looking around,

Turning around,

Sniffing the air some more,

Continuing to walk through that clearing,

And you continue to watch that shadowy wolf under the moonlight,

Walking through the clearing,

Until all of a sudden you see that wolf burst into a run,

Leaping off the ground,

And in what looked almost like a flash of smoke,

Turning into an eagle,

Flapping its wings and launching higher up into the sky,

And you continue watching as it flaps its wings,

Rising higher and higher,

Until you can barely notice its silhouette against the night's sky,

Only being able to see it due to the occasional recognition of its shadow,

Of its figure passing across stars,

And watching closely for other stars blinking out and then back again,

As it circles and crosses those stars,

And then seeing it circling in front of the moon,

Circling overhead,

Until you watch as it seems to fly in a straight line,

Following the stream and heading off from this area,

And as it heads away from this area,

So you settle down in the tent,

You allow yourself to just drift and float deeply,

Peacefully and comfortably asleep,

And the next morning you awaken in your tent,

You look out from the tent,

You can see the meadow illuminated by the morning light,

The green of the trees,

That water flowing along the stream,

You exit the tent,

You pack the tent away and continue to follow that stream,

And from time to time you take a look at a map to make sure that it seems like you're on the right path still,

You continue to follow this stream until you arrive at a lake,

And when you arrive at this lake,

You take a look left and right,

Noticing how large the lake is,

How dense the forest is around the lake,

And you think to yourself about whether you're going to trek around the left or the right side,

Noticing how far and how long that'll take through such dense forest,

And you decide that the best course of action would be to try to go straight ahead across the lake,

And so you head just into the edge of the forest beside you,

You chop some wood,

Chopping some large branches off of the trees in this forest,

You scrape the smaller branches off the large branch,

You begin to shape that wood,

Choosing branches that require as minimal shaping as possible,

And then using some vines you begin to bind the branches together,

Creating yourself a raft,

And then getting another branch and chopping and slicing into that branch to shape one end of it into a paddle with a flat surface,

And then pushing that raft onto the lake water,

Walking into the water and climbing onto the raft and kneeling on the raft,

And then pushing from the side with the paddle and then scooping that paddle through the water,

One side of the raft then the other,

Then the other side and the other,

That sound of the paddle as it pushes through that water,

The feeling of pushing that paddle through the water as you traverse this lake,

And it takes a while but eventually you reach the other side of the lake,

And glide the raft a little way up onto the shore,

Climb off the raft and continue walking on into the forest,

Taking some time to push your way through this dense forest,

Until after some time of travelling,

You begin to notice that the forest floor seems to perhaps have rubble that's been grown over and mounds,

Rather than the smoother flat forest floor where the only obstacles were protruding roots,

Branches and fallen down trees,

You continue through the forest until eventually you notice through the trees,

What at first looks very similar to the trees but you recognise that it's not circular like the trees,

It's tall but it's got edges and flat surfaces,

And as you get closer you realise that it's a giant obelisk,

It's got vines and roots wrapped around it,

It's got cracks in it,

The top of it is lying on the ground on it's side,

Almost unable to be seen due to all the foliage which has grown over it,

And you go up to that obelisk,

You get out a knife and start cutting those vines,

Cutting roots and revealing that obelisk,

You recognise that it seems to be covered in pictorial symbols which seem to be trying to tell a story,

And you read what you can and translate what you can of those symbols,

And you try and uncover more of that obelisk,

Pulling on vines and roots,

Clearing branches that are blocking higher up the obelisk and recording all the different symbols before you then start on the piece on the ground,

And you've managed to record the story as conveyed on the upright obelisk around the four sides,

And then you clear the top and the sides of the obelisk piece that's on the forest floor,

You manage to transcribe the pictorial symbols but you don't know what the symbols are,

On the back side of that piece of obelisk that's on the ground,

You get some large branches,

You begin to dig underneath this large piece of stone obelisk and you manage to wedge those large sticks underneath the stone and lever it up with a lot of effort until it reaches tipping point,

And tips onto its side revealing the underside of the obelisk,

You clear off the mud from that side and record the message on that side,

And then you sit down on the fallen down piece of obelisk as you go through everything you've recorded and you begin to place it in order so that you can read from the top all the way to the bottom,

And you realise the way it has been recorded is that each face is read from top to bottom and it's written almost like four chapters and you read down through the first chapter and it talks about the beginning times,

The creation of humanity,

You read down the second chapter and it talks about the development of civilisation,

You read down the third chapter and it talks about a shape shifting protector that oversees the civilisation in this land,

And you read down the fourth chapter and it talks about the prosperity and the growth of the civilisation and you assume that these are the ruins of that civilisation and you explore around for other ruins,

And as you explore so you mark on a map the different types of ruins that you discover and what you think they are,

Whether you think it looks like the ruins of some basic walls,

Perhaps some basic dwellings,

The ruins of something more substantial,

Perhaps the ruins of a city boundary wall,

And you think about where the most important building is likely to be,

You suspect that it would probably be in the centre,

And so you head towards where the centre would be,

You notice that the forest rises up as if you're climbing a mound and then near the top it dips down,

And you wonder whether this was a large building whose roof had caved in perhaps from the reclamation by the forest of this long lost city,

And so you head around looking to see if there's any way into this building,

And as you search the day is still ticking on,

You notice that the sun is approaching sunset and you'll have to set up a camp some point soon,

It's a camp the night,

And you find what seems like the entrance and decide that you might see if it's safe to explore in there in the morning,

But for now you'll set up a tent,

A campfire,

And settle down for the night,

And as you settle down for the night,

Listening to the crackling sound of the campfire,

The dancing flickering flames,

Cooking and eating some food,

The night time sounds in the forest,

You just rest there enjoying the environment,

And then you get your notes and re-review your notes again before settling down,

And as you're reviewing those notes,

So you notice a light coming from in front of you,

And from that light seems to be small balls of light like fireflies spreading out moving around the forest,

Around this area,

Before finally from the light as it clears,

You see a wolf walking towards you,

And you sit quietly motionless watching,

And as that wolf is moving towards you,

Suddenly it seems to leap in your direction,

And you gasp slightly,

But at the moment that it leaves the ground,

It turns into the most beautiful looking bird of paradise,

And flies and hovers over to you,

And as it lands,

It lands looking like a person right in front of you,

Who then crouches down and sits down the other side of the fire,

And at first they don't say anything,

They just sit there looking so friendly,

So incredibly calm and relaxed,

And you notice that something about their breathing seems to help you feel calmer and more deeply relaxed,

As if they're somehow emanating peace and tranquility,

And then they begin to talk to you and you can understand them,

And at first it surprises you that you can understand them,

But you continue going with the experience,

They explain that they're a shape shifting being that protected this community,

And they explain how there was only one thing they couldn't protect the community against,

And that was themselves they were able to protect the community against any invading creatures or other invading humans,

But they couldn't protect against the communities desire for expansion,

Increased wealth,

And the destruction that they were doing which was going to impact on themselves,

That their expansion lead to topsoil washing away in great floods,

Rather than being held in place by trees and plant life,

And so after the floods they couldn't grow anything,

As they expanded their water became increasingly contaminated,

And so with time the community dwindled and was no longer able to remain,

And over a period of time everyone left,

But they've remained in this area,

They continue to protect this land,

Even though there are no humans here anymore,

And this shape shifter holds out their hand,

Turns their hand palm up,

Gazes at the palm of their own hand,

And you watch,

And they gaze up and make eye contact with you,

And then gaze back at the palm of their hand,

And you feel this compulsion to reach forward and touch the palm of their hand,

And so you reach,

Leaning slightly forward,

You place the palm of your hand onto the palm of their hand,

And as you do,

There's a flash of light,

Like suddenly turning on a light switch,

Brightly illuminating a room,

And as that light clears,

You find that the two of you are sat on a large stone,

In a zen garden surrounded by manicured sand,

They move their hand from beneath yours and for a moment,

Your hand just seems to remain floating there in space,

As if you haven't yet realised the hand has moved,

They stand up,

You then notice your hand as you stand up too,

And you follow them down,

Off that rock,

Carefully through the zen garden,

And as you look around,

You see what this place used to look like,

In its heyday,

You see community of people milling around some farming,

Some selling items in a market,

Someone sat,

Washing some clothes and hanging them up,

Someone else appearing to be making clothes,

The sight of some children playing and running around,

And this shapeshifter shares with you that this is what this place used to look like,

That this is just an experience of what has been,

And that they will remain protecting this area of land,

They were here before people,

They'll be here long into the future,

They're timeless,

And they just absorb knowledge of how things are and how things have been,

While they protect those who want to make this area their home,

And the two of you walk through this land and find your way down to the river which comes off this side of the lake,

And it's a wide and deep river,

It weaves for hundreds of miles until it reaches the ocean,

And they talk about how ships used to come up and down this river,

Bringing items here and taking items away,

Connecting this place with other locations,

And as they talk about this so you notice a sailboat appearing on the river,

Mooring up,

The two of you watch as people begin to load items onto the boat,

And as you watch,

So people,

So someone walks straight through you and you get taken aback just for a moment,

And the shapeshifter explains that this is just a representation of the past,

They don't notice that you're here,

You're just observing it playing out as it did,

And once that sailboat is loaded,

It leaves that mooring and begins its journey along the river,

And you ask about this place and what they knew here of the shapeshifter,

And the shapeshifter explained that they walked among them,

Looking like they look,

Taking on many forms,

And they were never able to identify that they were a shapeshifter while they're in human form,

But they were aware that this being would protect them,

Would be one thing and then another as needed,

That sometimes what people need isn't what they are,

And so they have to be something else,

Almost like playing a role,

And after exploring,

The shapeshifter and yourself head back towards that zen garden,

Sit back down,

And the shapeshifter gently rests the hand on your shoulder,

And as they do in a flash of light,

You find yourself back together in front of that tent,

And they remove the hand from your shoulder,

And they explain that they'll always be here protecting this land,

That you're the first person since the end of this civilization to find this location,

And perhaps you can share about the location,

Not about the shapeshifter,

But share about what happened here,

They explain that inside the building behind you,

There still exists some scrolls that explain something of the life of those here,

All the way through to when there was only a handful of people left,

Including the scroll that was placed in a chest,

That explains that they're the last ones to be here,

That they are now leaving,

And if anyone finds this scroll to read their history,

And don't make the same mistakes they did,

That they had everything and ended up with nothing,

And then the shapeshifter stands up,

Turns around,

Leaps in the air and seems to become a firefly,

As other fireflies swarm around it and then they all fly off,

Spreading out in different directions,

You can't notice and recognise which one is the shapeshifter,

And you settle down in the tent,

You drift and float comfortably asleep,

The next day,

At first light,

You manage to find your way into the building behind you,

You can notice that it's a tight entrance in,

Where the entrance has collapsed,

And most of the building is quite open on the inside,

But the centre has collapsed in,

And that there was more than one floor in here,

And although the centre has collapsed in,

It seems to have only collapsed in onto the floor above this ground level,

And so this ground level is quite clear and easy to navigate,

And so you explore and you find the records you were told about,

And it's so dry in here,

And the records have been stored so well that they haven't deteriorated,

And so you take the key records that it was recommended you take with you,

And then you see that chest,

You open the chest and you see that simple note in the chest,

And you notice holding the note down in the chest is a wood carving of a bird of paradise,

And you stand that wood carving of the bird of paradise on top of the closed chest,

Having taken the note,

Before heading back out of this location,

And finding your way all the way back through to that meadow,

Finding your way back all the way back to the lake,

Crossing back across the lake on your raft,

Heading through the forest on the other side of the lake,

Following the stream up to the meadow,

Heading across the meadow into the forest,

And finding your way all the way back,

Eventually arriving after a few days of hiking through the forest at the nearest town,

And then leaving that town after a good nights sleep,

And on arrival at home,

Beginning to type up what you learned about that old civilisation,

About their rise and their downfall,

Including information from the documents that you'd found,

Which are going to be housed in a museum,

Just a few days journey from that civilisations location,

And as you finish typing the last of the document,

And you press in that final full stop with a sense of achievement,

You head to bed,

Hoping that your story about that place will intrigue others,

Interest people,

And help people to learn from the mistakes of the past,

And you settle down,

And you drift and float so peacefully,

So comfortably asleep,

Sleeping so soundly all night long.