The Messenger of Hope
By Ashley Johnson
Dearest,
sweetest diary,
Today
was wonderful! Today was brilliant!
Today
was the best day since I've been held captive here in Lanka!
Today
a monkey came to me and he is now my best friend.
I
know I sound silly, but his name is Hanuman and he is tiny and white
and perfect.
At
first, I was suspicious of this strange little critter, but after I
learned who he was, all I wanted to do was pet his snow-white fur and
tell him my deepest of thoughts.
He
has brought me such hope, diary! I don't know how much longer I could
have lasted without his visit! Oh, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me
explain.
Today
began like any other day here in Lanka. I was sitting under the large
Sinsapa tree with the bright orange blooms when suddenly I felt a tiny
pebble strike the top of my head. This naturally startled me and so I
quickly looked up into the branches.
At
first I saw nothing, so slightly confused, I looked back down to the
grass bracelet I had been working on.
Then
I heard a whisper, "Lotus-eyes."
This
had been a nick-name of mine throughout the years, but no one in
Lanka had ever spoken this name. This piqued my interest and I looked
back up towards the orange blooms.
That's
when I saw it--a blurred streak of white moving so quickly that I did
not know which way to look. Within an instant, a tiny little monkey was
standing near my sandals. I must have looked frightened because he
immediately raised his tiny paw and showed me a large, golden ring.
Rama
Rama Rama. It was Rama's!
My
fingers trembled as I took the ring from the animal. I turned the ring
over and over again in the palm of my hand, not wanting it to
disappear. Then I gazed down at the small monkey, my eyes glistening
with tears.
"Who
are you, my friend?" I inquired.
"Dear
Sita, I am Hanuman, friend of Rama. He has sent me here with his ring
to find you. His description of your beauty was so detailed that I knew
at once that you were you. Hah! You were Sita--well, you ARE Sita!"
Hanuman grinned, his red face bright with happiness. "The great Rama
wants you to know that he is coming to rescue you! Do not worry, pretty
Lotus-eyes--can I call you that? Sometimes I get carried away with
myself!"
At
this point, I was weeping like a baby. I scooped up the little white
ball of fur and squeezed him tight. "Of course you can!"
Hanuman
and I spent the next minutes talking---talking of my jewels that he and
his king had found, the defeat of Vali, the journey of the animals, and
Rama. Oh, my dear Rama. I was enjoying Hanuman's company so much that
when he told me it was time for him to leave,
I nearly wept again. I asked him to stay a while longer, but he said he
could not. If it were anyone but this Hanuman, I would be afraid he
would
think of me as a terribly petty woman for weeping the entire time. I
just could not help myself today.
Oh
diary, Hanuman has brought me such hope. I always knew that my Rama
would come for me, but I never knew it would be so near.
Author's
Note:
While
reading the Ramayana, I noticed the close and special relationship that
Sita shared with Hanuman. I definitely wanted this relationship to be
an important part of Sita's diary. I thought Sita and Hanuman's first
encounter would be a great and natural way to introduce and establish
their friendship. I wanted to express how much Hanuman meant to Sita
and the hope he brought to her in her captivity. I also wanted to
incorporate Hanuman's goofy and contagious spirit in this story. In
Buck's version of this encounter, Hanuman remains in the tree so as not
to be seen, whereas in my version, he jumps down near Sita's feet so
she can actually touch and hug him. Also in Buck's version, Sita gives
Hanuman a message to deliver to Rama about the crow that clawed her
long ago.
Bibliography:
Buck,
W. Ramayana
(1976).
University of California Press: Berkeley, 249-253.
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