Whoops on purpose

Rishi sat along the edge of the higher portion of the chamber, watching a small stream glinting slightly in the eerie green light of the cave's algae.

The old man had said, "Be quiet and let me work this out!" a long time ago and Rishi had not dared to ask about further progress.

The old man sat in the stream of water. The cold flowed across him and helped his focus on the array of bananas. He had spent the better part of an hour examining the possibilities. Always he kept his teacher's warning in the forefront of his mind.

"Once you find your talent," said the old man's teacher, "know that it is foolish to attempt to master every possible future. You merely need to master the moment and the future will take care of itself."

He had pushed aside many shades of yellow and umber, but still wondered at the best hue to choose. Blue for safety, violet for growth and knowledge.

Rishi sighed and the old man heard it. The old man was a little bothered but compassion welled up in his heart and he said, "Tell me Rishi, which color: blue, green, red, or purple?"

Rishi sat up a bit straighter and said, "purple! That's the color of the fire in the stone!"

The old man smiled and chuckled. "Yes in deed," he thought, "that was very obvious."

The old man broke off a banana from the bunch and offered it to the Goddess of knowledge. "OM AIM" he said as he opened it. "OM AIM" he said just before he took a bite and "OM AIM" he said after he swallowed. He closed his eyes, watched the green hued bananas disappear.

The old man focused on the task. The banana tasted better than anything he'd eaten in more than four decades and fighting the desire to desire more, he forced himself to take another bite, repeated the mantra "OM AIM" and watched as the red bananas disappeared.

He repeated this process another time, using the last bit of banana to eliminate the green hued possibilities.

All that remained were purple hued possibilities, about 400 million of them.

"Is there a way," asked the old man to himself, "to insure that he faces his fear and increase his likelihood of success? That would be a balanced outcome."

Shifting the bananas this way and that he caught a glimpse of a gold banana.

"What was that?" he thought.

He twisted his view around and around, caught sight of it a few times and then zoomed in on it. When his consciousness touched it, he realized that it was the solution he sought. The Goddess had turned this banana gold because it was the ideal action for this moment.

"Yes!" he said out loud. He opened another banana and ate it slowly and methodically. Before each bite he said, "OM AIM" to show his devotion to the Goddess of knowledge. After he finished the last bite he shouted, "Manifest Manifest Manifest!"

The rock outcropping immediately behind him, from which the water flowed, caved in, smashing hard into his back and thrusting him forward into the slide of rock. He had just enough time to lay back as he passed through the narrow opening.

In a matter of seconds he was laying beside the small pond with Rishi squinting at him. Even though the old man couldn't see it, he knew Rishi's face expressed utter astonishment.

The old man's back hurt. Perhaps he bleed, but at least he did not have any broken bones.

They both listened as the sound of crashing rock rumbled down to them through the cavern.

The rumbling above them stopped and a few small rocks and stones tumbled and slid down coming to rest just behind the old man.

The old man sat up and said, "Perhaps I should have examined the fruit of that golden banana before I removed all other possibilities."

Rishi did not understand but asked, "I thought you were afraid."

"Oh don't be confused. I don't wish to be here."

Rishi asked, "I thought you said you wouldn't come down here."

"That is true, partly because of my fear and partly because this cave is sacred. It held that stone for one who would need it for so long and we are not allowed to go in here. But, obviously that does not hold true any more. That tradition ended today."

Rishi paused, changed the subject and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"I may have some cuts and bruises on my back, but I think I'm relatively unharmed, considering how much I could have been hurt by the cave in."

"Why did it happen exactly after you said, 'manifest, manifest, manifest?'"

"That isn't important. What is important is that we are both caught in a cave that is likely to flood sooner or later. Although the cave in may spare us from torrents for a while, while the upper caves fill, sooner or later that rock debris will spirit through here taking everything with it."

The old man closed his eyes and requested the possibilities. After a slight pause, while he relaxed and allowed the adrenalin to leave his system, an entire crop of coconuts appeared before his inner vision.

"Coconuts," he murmured.

Feeling the bananas still on his lap he picked up the three remaining, said, "here have some lunch, I won't be able to use these any more" and tossed them to Rishi.

Rishi ate them and laid the peels next to him while the old man sat very still.

"He seems to search himself a lot," thought Rishi.

After a few minutes the old man faced Rishi and said, "I understand now. We are stuck in this cave, the only way out for now is forward. You and I must both swim the distance here if we wish to survive. We might have only a few days, there are too many external factors to be sure, but odds have it that if we leave right now, we will be doing the best we can. Every minute we wait we are decreasing our odds of survival."

"You understand I'm petrified of water," said Rishi.

"And I am petrified of caves," replied the old man. "Yes I know full well what you are feeling, you must rise above it: it is the only way we can survive."