PEPI'S NEW HOME

Pepi had lived in this tiny village all of his life.  For as long as he could remember his family had lived, slept, ate and played in this minuscule one room hut near the edge of the river.  It’s walls were made of mud and straw.  The floors of the hut were nothing more than the  ground on which it was built.  The roof was thatch and was always needing to be re-treated and repaired to keep out the rains.  In the eyes of most of us, this would have been a horrible place to live.  In Pepi’s eyes it was simply home. 

Pepi however had a dream.  I guess you could say his dream was passed on to him by his older brother.  For all of his life his brother had talk about this wonderful place that they would all go someday.  As they sat around the fire at night, he would tell the stories of this far off place where instead of huts the people lived in massive houses.  The floors were not made of dirt but made of beautiful wood which shined and looked clean and beautiful.  Other floors, in the same great house, were as soft as the moss in the forest.  “And the roof” he would say, “the roof is solid and will not let in the rain”. 

He told of streets there that were constructed of firm, solid materials that Pepi had never seen.  No walking through mud and water, no stumping your toe on rocks and limbs, but clean stable streets and roads would lead you to the homes of others who lived near you.

“Don’t forget the walls” his brother would say.  “The walls have beautiful paintings hanging there”.  The only thing hanging from the walls of Pepi’s home were his older brother’s bow and quiver and a few cooking utensils.  Pepi was told of the  windows in those homes.  Windows made of crystal clear material which you could see through.  In Pepi’s home if you wanted to see outside the hut you had to walk outside. 

“What a wonderful place this must be”, Pepi had thought as his brother told these stories over and over.

“Yes.  One day I will go there, Pepi and I will send for you and you can come and live with me”.  His brother told him. “ Work hard, don’t forget what I’ve told you and promised you. I will prepare a place for all of you and when the time is right I will call for you to come to be with me.  I will not forget you”.  Those were the last words his brother had said to him before he left for that wonderful place. And Pepi vowed to never forget those words. 

But the years crept by with no word from his brother.  Pepi grew up and married.  He and his wife had a fine family.  Pepi and his family lived in the same little place where he had always lived.  They worked hard and enjoyed their lives there.  Pepi made a little garden in which to grow vegetables for his family.  He loved his time there beside the river and loved the time he and his family spent together.  But always in the back of his mind was “that place” that his brother had told him about. 

Pepi would tell the stories to his children as well.  He tried his best to describe this land as his brother had described it to him.  He instilled in them, as best he could, the desire to go to this wonderful place someday.  “When the time is right”, he would say, “When my brother sends for me, I will go and then dear children, he will prepare a great house for you as well.  You all can come to live with us there”.  

The older Pepi got the more it seemed that the time would never come. His back grew weary from the work in the garden.  His eye sight grew blurred from the long nights of trying to see in the little dark hut.  His hands grew callused and sore from all the work he had to do. And the vision of that wonderful place grew dim. It seemed that his brother had forgotten him. It seemed that the place he was told of and promised was just a dream that would never come true.  "Why not just forget about the promised place and be satisfied with what I have here by the river".  He thought.

 Until one day a courier came to Pepi’s house.  Pepi had never seen a courier before.  He had a letter for Pepi. Pepi had never had a letter send to him either. The letter was from Pepi's brother in that far away land.  It simply said this:

“It is time my brother.  You house is finished as I promised and ready for you to move in.  Don’t bring anything with you. I have all you will ever need.  All if prepared.  Come as quickly as you can”.

Pepi was so excited.  “Finally, after all these years I can go to that wonderful place”, he said. 

But suddenly, as soon as his family heard that Pepi would be going to join his brother, they became sad for him. 

“Pepi”, they said, “What about your hut?  What about your beautiful garden with all the good vegetables?  What about your children and your friends?  Are you going to leave all this to go to a place where you have never been before?”

“Yes”, Pepi replied, “I have been dreaming of this place and talking of this place and preparing to go to this place all of my life.  I must go now.  You all can come later when your place is ready.  My brother will send for you”. 

“But Pepi, we will be sad to see you go.  We will miss you.  Who will take care of your little garden and who will re-thatch your hut when the rains come?  Pepi, we need you to stay with us.”

“That work is left to you now, my family.  I am going to a place that has been prepared for me.  I have dreamed of that wonderful place all of my life.  Yes, we will be separated for a short time but soon, very soon, your house will be ready and you all will be able to come to where I am”.

Some of Pepi’s family grew angry.  “His brother had no right telling Pepi all that stuff”, they said.  “He was just building him up for something that can never be. Pepi will lose all that he has worked so hard for, for no more than a promise.  I will never believe in some magical, place that none of us have ever seen.  That is foolishness.”

Others said, “Pepi is being selfish.  He is not thinking of those of us who are left here.  We will be left to do his work”.

Still others said, “I would never give up my hut and my garden and my place here by the river for something that I am not sure about.  As for me, I will just be satisfied with what I have here in my village”. 

Soon the day for Pepi’s departure arrived and his friends and family gathered around to see him off.  There were a few tears and some long hugs.  But Pepi was ready to leave. 

“I will see you all again soon”, he said.  “You too will have a place and you will get a message when it is your time to come and live there.  Keep doing your job.  Keep loving each other.  Keep working hard.  Brother will send for you when the time is right.  I am going to my new home.”