The Boy With Stones For Eyes

a magical story from my collection The Teahouse At The Edge Of The World about a boy who was born with, instead of regular eyes, stones! he lives in a small village with his father and mother until he grows up and they pass on...then he decides so travel into the wide world and finds himself by a wonderful river and beside it. the Teahouse At The Edge Of The World where he meets the Mother Of Tea!

Transcript

THE BOY WITH STONES FOR EYES From the collection THE TEAHOUSE AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD By Solala Towler The boy with stones for eyes was,

Unfortunately,

Born that way.

When he first whooshed out of his mother's womb like a fish falling out of a fish basket,

The midwife took one look at him and fainted dead away.

And then,

When the recovered midwife placed the baby in his father's arms,

He took one look at him and immediately dropped him to the floor.

The baby began complaining vigorously and loudly.

But when the midwife laid him in his mother's arms,

His mother took one look at him and fell in love immediately.

She did not seem to mind that her baby had stones for eyes.

She thought he was the most beautiful baby she had ever seen.

She smiled at him,

And he stopped crying and smiled back,

Almost as if he could see her with his stony eyes.

Of course,

As he grew up to become a boy,

All the other boys and even some of the girls made fun of him.

They teased him unmercifully,

Running all around him and shouting at him,

Laughing at him,

Pushing him and even pinching him.

But the boy with stones for eyes never cried,

Even when they pushed him into a big pile of pig shit.

Maybe it was because he had those stones for eyes,

Or maybe it was that he was such a mild-mannered and happy boy,

Even with his strange affliction.

He would just smile at the taunting children and never complain and never cry.

This would drive the bullies crazy,

But no matter how much they tormented him,

He would never show any anger or even sadness.

He would just turn around and walk slowly to his home,

Where his mother,

Who continued to love him and see him as the most beautiful boy in the world,

Would welcome him with open arms.

She was very sad about the bullying and held him close,

As if she could shield him from all the bullies of the world.

But alas,

The world is filled with bullies,

Even grown-up ones.

The years went on and the boy grew older and larger,

So large that the bullies stopped bullying him.

Though he never seemed to mind their bullying,

They were afraid that one day he would,

And he was so large and so obviously strong that they were afraid of him.

He was so strong because his father,

Who,

Truth to tell,

Was more than a little ashamed of him,

Would take him out to the forest each day to cut firewood,

Which is how he made his meager living.

They would spend all day cutting up and stacking the wood,

And at the end of the day would pile the wood onto a little cart and drag the cart back to the village.

As the years went by,

The boy with stones for eyes got stronger and stronger and was able to carry bigger and bigger loads of wood,

And his father began to make more money and also began to feel,

Almost begrudgingly,

A little proud of his strange-looking son.

No one knew just how the boy saw the world through those stony eyes.

In some ways he seemed like a blind person,

Carefully feeling his way through the world,

But at other times it seemed as though he could actually see the world through those strange eyes,

Though what it looked like to him no one could say.

Sometimes his mother would ask him what the world looked like to him,

And he would say things like,

ÌItís all bright and shiny,

Î or ìIt looks like itís made of stone,

Even the people.

Î ìEven me?

Î she would ask,

Afraid of what he might say,

But her beautiful boy would turn his head toward her and smile and say,

ÌEveryone but you,

Mother,

You look like what I think the sun must look like.

Î Eventually the boy grew into a man,

And his parents grew into an old man and an old woman,

And eventually they left this world,

And the boy,

Who was now a man,

Was left alone.

But he didnít seem to mind.

He just acted like he had always acted,

And went through the village smiling at everyone he met.

Some people thought he might be simple-minded,

But he was not,

Just simple-hearted.

Some of the people were a little afraid of him,

And some of them liked him very much,

Some of them even loved him,

But they could never guess just why he was born with stones for eyes,

And just how did he see the world all around them all.

After some more long years,

The boy with stones for eyes,

Who was now a man with stones for eyes,

Disappeared from the village.

No one knew where he had gone,

Or why.

After all,

He had lived in the tiny village of his birth for a long,

Long time,

And everyone knew him there,

And he knew everyone,

And could walk through the village without feeling his way.

But he had gotten tired of his tiny village,

And he decided to go out and see the wide world,

Though what this wide world looked like to him,

No one can say.

But leave he did,

And after bowing deeply to the memory of his father and his beloved mother,

He turned his head toward the sun and began walking.

He walked and walked for a long time,

Until he came to a river.

Though he could not see the river,

At least he could not see the river the way most people see a river,

He could certainly hear it,

And could certainly smell it.

It smelled like fish,

And plants,

And water,

And a little like his beloved mother.

So he stood and smiled at the river,

And he could feel the river smile back at him.

Then he smelled smoke,

And liked the warm way it smelled and felt,

And he decided to go and see where it was coming from.

So he turned his stony eyes toward the smoky smell and began walking.

After a short while,

He found himself in the front of a small building.

It was made of old wood,

Worn smooth and even shiny,

It was so old.

And there was a short little chimney at the top of the building,

Which was breathing forth clouds of smoke.

He went to the door opening of the building and knocked,

Saying,

Hello there,

You smell good.

For a few minutes there was no sound from the door opening,

And he began to turn to go,

When suddenly a voice cried out,

Though very softly,

Please come in,

Good sir,

And have some tea.

He had often sat and enjoyed tea with his mother,

But since she had died,

He had not done so,

And when he heard the word tea,

He smiled and entered the building.

He sat himself down on a low cushion right in front of the little fire,

Which was dancing merrily under a kettle of water.

The water smelled even better than the river water,

And he began to get excited about what was going to happen.

He thought about the word tea,

And it almost sounded as good as the word mother.

The person who had been speaking all the while he had sat himself down and thought his thoughts of tea and mother kept on speaking,

But also began to make some tea.

Ah,

Thought the man with stones for eyes,

Maybe this person is the mother of tea.

Indeed,

It was the mother of tea who lived in that special building which was actually the tea house at the edge of the world.

The mother of tea kept talking all the while she prepared the tea.

She did not exactly listen to what she was saying,

But just let her voice wash over him like the music of the river which had led him there to the tea house at the edge of the world.

The sound of her voice was so soothing,

So comforting,

And so gentle,

It sounded like the voice of his mother,

Which he would hold him when he was a baby and as a young child,

And sing to him songs that she had learned in her own childhood,

And which always felt like a soothing balm to his heart.

Whenever he had come home with clothes torn and a face covered with mud or pig shit,

She would gather him up in her arms and wipe off his face and sing to him in a gentle and soothing voice much like the mother of tea was using right now.

He smiled a big smile and he felt that smile wafting over to the mother of tea,

Floating like the smoke that gently lifted from the fire beneath the tea kettle that was filled with the tea that she now served him,

Placing a small cup of warmly glowing tea into his hands.

He felt her smiling at him like the sun and he drank the tea slowly and carefully and felt the warmth of the tea flow through his body like a magical elixir.

Suddenly the mother of tea stopped speaking and just sat and looked at him for a long time,

Slowly nodding your head at him as if she were approving of him,

Just like his mother had done so long ago.

This tea,

She suddenly said,

Is a very special tea.

It will not cure your eyes.

I can see that you don't need curing.

You are fine and well just the way you are.

Your stone eyes show you the world as it truly is instead of the way most people see it.

You see the beauty of the world instead of the ugliness.

This is your gift to the world.

I am glad you have come here to visit with me and drink some of my special tea because you are a very special person.

Your mother knew this even if the world did not know it.

Your stone eyes can see into the deep truth of the world and how it really is,

Not just what it appears to be.

You are happy because you accept the world as it is.

You have always known this,

Even when you were bullied as a child.

This is why the bullies could not really hurt you.

Your spirit is so strong they could not harm you.

Your heart is so clear that the dirt of the world could not stain it.

She sat and smiled,

Her big son smiled at him,

And he smiled back.

His stony eyes began to light up from deep inside.

It was like they had transformed from stones to crystals.

And he could see all the light of the world rushing out to meet him.

And for a moment he felt dizzy,

And then he felt calm,

And he held out his cup for more tea from the mother of tea,

There in the deep,

Deep forest by the dancing river,

There at the tea house at the edge of the world.

Reviews

I just love your stories and to hear you read them aloud. Love the book too.😊🙏

This story really resonates with me. Having suffered bullying and abuse in my childhood my mother was my comforter and biggest supporter. The ending where she is speaking about his eyes seeing the world as it truly is felt so truthful for me as well. Moved me to tears of love and gratitude. My deepest thanks for sharing this and all your teachings. I’m grateful to have found your work on this app and books. Many blessings to you on your journey.