Author Archives: waywardsoul

The Alchemist

”When you want something, all the universe

conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

 

As I was searching for a novel to read for this assignment in the library and scanning the shelves of books written in English, I instinctively felt a force pulling my hand towards Paulo Coelho’s copy of The Alchemist, published in originally in Portuguese in 1988 and later in English in 1993. I didn’t think much of it at first, I was simply glad that I had been able to find a book that seemed fairly interesting and not excessively long. But now after having read the novel I can honestly say that it made me reconsider so many things, having a profound effect on me and my view on life. So maybe it was destiny that made me reach for this book in the first place.

The Alchemist tells a story about a young shepherd named Santiago, who travels with his flock of sheep through Andalusia, Spain. The boy was supposed to become a priest, but his lust for traveling lead to him becoming a shepherd. After seeing the same dream twice, he heads to a gypsy woman to interpret what the boy had seen. The woman tells the boy about a treasure and that it is the boy’s fate to seek it. This leads to a chain of omens, events and encounters, all of which bring the boy closer to realizing his dreams. As the boy learns to understand the universal signs that guide him on his path, he also learns how to listen to his own heart and even how to harness the elements of nature.

The book asks many mysterious, philosophical questions, giving answers to some while leaving others to the reader to figure out on their own. It tells about the importance of dreaming and not being afraid to pursue your passions. There were countless bits in the book worth quoting, but what I feel captures this message the best was the following: ”There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

What I loved about the book was the overwhelming feeling of magic, consistent all through the story; the omens, the forces of nature, the pursuit of happiness and the attempt to understand the Soul of the World. At times I could almost hear the desert winds blowing in my ears and envision the glimmer of the stars shining upon the dunes. There were many recurring themes that were repeated throughout the book, giving it depth and working as lessons, making it a learning process for the reader as well as the young shepherd in search of his own destiny.

Even though the book was very brief, it taught me more than anything I’ve ever read before. It is in fact quite difficult to explain in words the impact it had on me. Reading The Alchemist felt like a spiritual journey, prompting me to seek out my own destiny, fulfill my dreams and find happiness, the greatest treasure known to man.

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A Means to an End – Supernatural fanfiction

”I think dad wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business.” – Dean Winchester

Supernatural is an American fantasy horror television series created by Eric Kripke. The first episode aired on September 13, 2005 and in January 2015, it was renewed by the CW for an eleventh season. The show focuses on Dean Winchester and his little brother Sam as they follow their father’s footsteps, traveling through the United States and hunting down any evil supernatural creatures in order to save innocent people. The brothers’ relationship could be described as codependent, as they are willing to do anything to save each other’s lives, even risk their own. As they get deeper and deeper into the world of demons and monsters, they find themselves smack in the middle of a larger scheme of things, involving angels, reapers and the Four Horsemen.

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Dean knew a lot about guns, probably more than he knew about anything else. He knew how to unload and disassemble rifles, revolvers and pistols correctly in order to clean the gun barrel, and how to load it in a matter of seconds, a crucial talent to any hunter of his kind. These actions had become ingrained in his brain through relentless repetition over the course of his life. Now, at 29, he couldn’t even recall the last time he hadn’t held a gun for a full 24 hours.

He liked the sense of security guns brought to him, up to the point where he felt too vulnerable and exposed for his liking whenever he didn’t have a loaded gun under his belt. He liked his gun arsenal, too, and kept every single one of them in immaculate condition. On the occasional tediously uneventful night like the one he was having, he would spread his weapons across the bed in the room of some secluded motel and clean each individual with meticulous attention to detail.

It had been his father who had initiated this interest to guns, by taking 6-year old Dean to an empty field to shoot tin cans off a fence. Dean could still remember the look of pride that lit up on his father’s face when Dean had hit his first bull’s eye. Making his dad proud was something Dean had sought – still sought for. Even though his father was no longer around.

What Dean hadn’t understood back then, though, was that his father hadn’t taught him all he knew about guns just to get to spend some quality father-son time with him. He had done it in order to retaliate the unnatural and untimely death of Mary, his wife, Dean’s mother. In order to find the thing that killed her while offing as many supernatural creatures as possible along the way. In order to raise Dean as a hunter so he could continue his father’s legacy and most importantly, protect his little brother Sam.

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