Aloha Little Dreamer and welcome back to Mana's Tropical World.
A place where you're safe and cherished.
All you have to do is follow the sound of my voice.
I'm here to guide you.
Find a cozy,
Comfortable place.
Snuggle into your blanket and let your body get warm and comfortable.
Now,
Take a slow breath in through your nose and fill up your belly like a big balloon.
And gently blow the air out through your mouth as you're blowing out a candle.
Very good.
Let's do that one more time.
In through your nose and out.
Feel your arms get heavy.
And then your legs,
One after the other.
Your eyes are closed and they can rest.
Tonight we're going on a brand new adventure.
Are you ready?
The island of Tahiti sits in the middle of the great Pacific Ocean,
Like a jewel dropped from the sky.
Its mountains rise so high they disappear into clouds.
Its lagoon shimmers in a thousand shades of blue and green.
Its forests come with birds and waterfalls and ancient secrets.
It is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
And on this island,
In a small village near the sea,
Live two children who didn't yet know how extraordinary they were.
The first one was Maeva.
She was eight years old,
With long dark hair that tangled in the ocean,
And eyes that tangled in the ocean,
And eyes the colors of deep water.
She was the kind of person who noticed things others didn't.
A bird with an injured wing.
A friend who went quiet at lunch.
A flower growing stubbornly through a crack in the road.
Her heart was enormous.
She just didn't always believe that mattered.
The second was Romi.
He was nine,
Strong and weary.
With a love that arrived before he did,
He could swim underwater longer than anyone in the village and climb a coconut tree faster than you could count to ten.
He was brave in the way that looks easy,
Until you knew him well enough to see how hard he worked to feel that way inside.
They had been best friends since they were small enough to fit in the same tight pool.
One evening,
An evening just like this one,
When you are warm and still and breathing slowly,
Something happened that would change everything.
They were sitting on the black volcanic rocks at the edge of the lagoon,
Watching the sun sink into the ocean.
The sky turned gold,
Then orange,
Then a deep burning rose.
And then Maiva said,
Romi,
Do you see that?
Far out on the reef,
Something was glowing.
Not like the sun.
Not like a boat light.
But like something alive,
Blue and silver and pulsing like a heartbeat under the water.
Romi stood up slowly.
His skin prickled,
Not from fear,
From knowing.
Some things call to you before you understand why.
We need to go,
He said.
I know,
Said Maiva.
They looked at each other,
They breathed,
And they went.
They paddled out on Romi's old outrigger.
Va'a,
The one his grandfather had helped him paint deep red and gold.
The ocean was calm,
Almost too calm.
No waves,
No wind.
Just the sound of their paddles dipping softly into black water.
As they reached the reef,
The glow grew stronger.
Maiva leaned over the side of the canoe and looked down.
What she saw made her breath catch in her throat.
The coral.
For as far as she could see through the clear water,
The coral was fading.
Colors that should have been brilliant,
Electric,
Blue,
Fire orange,
Living purple,
Were slowly turning grey.
Bleached,
Quiet,
Like a song going silent,
One note at a time.
And in the very center of the reef,
Pulsing with that silver blue light,
Was something she had never seen.
A creature.
Ancient,
And enormous,
And completely still.
A pulk.
An octopus.
But not like the small ones they caught in shallow water.
This one was vast.
Its arms spread across the coral like a guardian who had been waiting for centuries.
And it was hurt.
One of its arms was tangled in old fishing line,
Thin and invisible and cruel.
Oh,
Breathed Maiva.
Her chest ached immediately.
Oh,
We have to help it.
Rumi's heart was hammering.
The creature was enormous.
Part of him wanted to turn the canoe around.
He sat with that feeling for one moment.
He let himself feel it fully.
Scared.
Yes.
And then he asked himself the question his grandfather had taught him.
Is this fear telling me to run from danger?
Or is this fear telling me something important is happening?
He knew the answer.
I'll go in,
He said.
Hold the canoe.
Rumi!
I know,
He said.
I know,
But I can do it.
He slipped into the water without a splash.
The ocean wrapped around him.
Cool and dark and alive.
He dove.
Down here,
The world was different.
Down here,
The world was different.
Quieter.
The silver blue light from the octopus lit the reef in waves.
Like a slow breathing heartbeat.
Rumi could see the fishing line clearly now.
Wound tightly around the great arm.
Cutting into skin that should have been strong and free.
He reached for it.
His lungs were already beginning to burn.
He pulled.
The line was old and stiff and didn't want to move.
He pulled again.
His vision became to blur at the edges.
One more time he told himself.
You are strong enough.
You have always been strong enough.
He pulled with everything he had.
And the line snapped.
He burst back through the surface.
Gasping.
Maiva grabbed his arm and pulled him into the canoe.
He lay on his back.
Chest heavy.
Staring up at a sky full of stars.
Did it work,
She whispered.
Below them,
The water went still.
The light exploded.
Silver and blue and gold shooting out in every direction across the reef.
They grabbed each other.
And then,
Slowly like a dream becoming real.
Colors began to return to the coral.
A streak of orange here.
A flash of purple there.
A whole garden of blue blooming open like a thousand eyes waking up.
The reef was singing again.
Romi sat up.
He was shaking.
He was soaked.
You did that,
Maiva said.
We did that,
He said.
And from deep below,
The great octopus rose.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
Impossibly large.
Until one enormous glowing arm reached up out of the water.
And rested for one gentle moment against the side of their little red and gold canoe.
Not scary.
A thank you.
The deepest kind.
The kind without words.
They paddled back in silence.
Not the silence of having nothing to say.
The silence of having too much.
When they reached the shore,
Maiva sat in the sand and hugged her knees to her chest.
She was feeling something complicated.
Happy.
Obviously.
But also small.
Romi had been the one to go in.
Romi had been the one to pull the line.
Romi had been brave in the way you could see with your eyes.
What has she done?
And Romi dropped into the sand next to her.
He was quiet for a moment.
And then he said,
You know why I went in?
She looked at him.
Because you noticed,
He said simply.
I.
.
.
I never would have paddled out there.
I would have told myself it was probably nothing.
That it wasn't my problem.
That someone else would handle it.
You would have?
No,
I wouldn't have,
He shook his head.
You noticed the creature was hurt.
You cared enough to say something out loud.
You held the canoe so I didn't drift away in the dark.
He paused.
Maiva,
Kindness isn't small.
Kindness is what starts everything.
She looked out at the lagoon.
The reef was still glowing softly under the water.
She had done that.
Her noticing.
Her caring.
Her voice.
She had done that too.
She breathed in the warm night air.
Salt and flowers and something ancient.
And she let herself feel it.
Proud.
Fully.
Completely.
Unashamedly proud.
She pressed a hand to her heart.
She could feel it beating.
Strong.
I think we were supposed to find it,
She said quietly.
I think the island knew we would come.
Romi looked at her.
I think you're right.
That night,
As they sat on the shore and the stars came out one by one above Tahiti.
Something extraordinary happened.
An old woman appeared on the beach.
She walked slowly with a carved wooden staff.
And bare feet that left no marks in the sand.
She was wearing a dress made of tapa cloth.
Printed with ancient patterns.
Turtle.
Wave.
Fern.
Star.
And around her neck hung a single pearl from the deep lagoon.
She sat down beside them as if she had always been there.
As if she had been waiting.
Do you know what mana is?
She asked.
Romi and Maiva looked at each other.
Power,
Romi said.
Like strength.
The old woman smiled.
More than that.
Mana is the force that lives in all things.
The ocean has it.
The mountains have it.
The coral has it.
She looked at them both.
One.
At a time.
And so do you.
How do you get more of it?
Maiva asked.
The old woman held up one finger.
First pillar.
You know who you are.
She held up a second.
Second.
You are kind.
Not because it is easy.
But because you choose it.
A third finger.
Third.
You keep going when things are hard.
You breathe.
And you try again.
A fourth.
Fourth.
And you find what makes you come alive.
And you give it to the world.
And her fifth finger.
Fifth.
You believe.
In yourself.
In others.
In the fact that one child.
One moment.
One brave decision.
Can change everything.
She lowered her hand.
The lagoon was perfectly still.
You undid all five things tonight.
She said.
We were scared,
Rumi admitted.
Yes,
She said.
That is what makes it mana.
Anyone can be brave when it is easy.
She rose to leave.
Wait,
Said Maiva.
Who are you?
The old woman paused.
She smiled over her shoulder.
I am the island's memory.
I have been watching children like you for a very long time.
And I will keep watching.
She walked back along the shore.
And was gone.
Now,
My little dreamer.
We are going to come gently back.
To your room.
But before we do.
I want you to stay here on the shore for just one more moment.
Feel the warm sand under you.
Hear the lagoon breathing in.
And out.
Look up at the stars above Tahiti.
Thousands of them.
Close enough to touch.
You have five pillars of mana inside you too.
Let's name them together.
Take a deep breath in.
You know who you are.
You choose kindness.
You get back up.
You have a gift.
The world needs.
You believe in yourself.
Hold those five things.
They are not lessons.
They are not rules.
They are who you already are.
Like Maeva,
You notice things that matter.
Like Rumi,
You act.
Even when your heart is hammering.
Like both of them.
You are already changing the world.
With every act of kindness.
With every moment you keep going.
With every time you trust yourself.
You are a guardian of mana.
And the world is a better place.
Because you are in it.
Now my little dreamer.
You can always come back to this magical island of Tahiti.
All you have to do.
Is close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in.
And you'll be there.
Now my little dreamer.
It's time to rest.
Close your eyes.
And feel safe and loved.
Knowing that you have the power within you.
To be a hero.
In your own way.
