They sat him on a pillow and the Chief from the other village told him that he needs to pay attention to what he was going to say:
„ Uluki, we believe that people go through a cycle in life: the same way they're born, live, and die, so
this all will repeat itself in a pattern. Same as you must go forward to go in reverse, you must see tour life through the eyes of an outsider."
„ What he means to say, Uluki is that you die as you lived. If you sowed good in your life, you will reap good. But if you sow with envy and mal intentions you're done for by your own hand."
„The point of this is to check your skills and test your faith."
„What now?" Asked Uluki.
„Now we have something for you to do, inhale from this pipe ."
The pattern was beautiful on the snake-shaped pipe. Uluki asked what it was for, they told him to do it and stop asking so many questions.
As he took his first breath, one of the chiefs' yelled out: „ Hey Uluki, look your mother is over!"
He started to cough like crazy, nervous about the thought They all laughed about him being worried about what his mother will think.
„ We have a long road ahead of us."
Uluki was still coughing and laughing about how he reacted. All those years at the Academy were for nothing.
„ What's this supposed to tell you about myself?"
„ You care too much about the opinions of others. You're an adult, you should act like it and not give in to your desire to please other people. In this life, all we have is this: our choices."
„ You're afraid... of your mother... a bit unexpected from a military leader, but understandable. I haven't had the chance to meet her yet."
„What choice do I have?" asked Hotnik curious.
„ Your only choice is not to care. Uluki, there are people who will want to ruin your reputation so they can lift themselves up. So instead of focusing outward, look inward for good council. You know what the good choices are, so put them into practice."
„Uluki, if there are 2 options for your choice, which are they?"
„ Smoke and care about what people say or smoke and don't care."
„What's option 3?"
„ What option 3? You said 2." Replied Uluki.
„Never mind what I say... your breath stinks now. People will judge you for it, dislike you and there will always be doubt about your will."
„ In short: you look weak. Do you know why you look weak?"
„ I see.. because I listened to you." Uluki realized.
„That's right! Let's play the questions game."
„ Listen Uluki, to become a good leader you gotta know how to ask questions."
„ But not just any questions: questions such as why? Who? What? Where? What if yes? What if not? A leader needs to be realistic. He cannot aim too high, or he's doomed and so are his people. Do you understand?"
„ Alright. What's the point of this game?"
„The point is that there is one more question you need to figure out on your own. What is that question you must always ask? Think about it.. don't hurry."
„Tell me again why a leader needs to be realistic with his goals?"
„ Because if he is not he will bring on destruction everywhere he goes."
„ You must stay in your little pond, and never venture outside."
Uluki looke at them with a glint in his eye and asked:
„ Why...not?"
„Because there are many dangerous places and people..."
„ So, what?"
„ That's right. That is the question we're looking for"
„ Bring me the staff." one of the chieftains said.
„ I'm going to teach you how to sit next: there are 5 positions in our religion: each representing an
element of the subconscious. The first position is the man's pose: straight back and legs firmly on the ground. The second is the woman: straight back and crossed legs. The third is the boy: exaggerated wide legs and dropped arms to the side. The fourth is the girl: crossed arms and exaggerated pouting. The fifth is the child: crossed legs on a pillow. You either evolve or you devolve as we go. If you start a man, you gotta end there too."
„Uluki, get into man's pose."
„ So tell us, what's it like to rule over an army or mercenaries?"
„It's very demanding work," he said. Keeping his cool.
„What do you think about lipstick?"
„ I like it."
„ So you like to put it on, is that what you're saying?"
„ What? I never said that!"He was starting to become irritated and his once husky voice started to sound like the yapping of a Pekingese.
„ Oh excuse us, Miss General..."
„ I wish I was such a pretty boy." They teased.
„Listen here! I AM TIRED of hearing these lies from you!" Uluki protested and when he did, his leg
crossed over.
„ I think the lady doth protest too much don't you think so fellas?"
„ Are you a man or what? He can't even keep his legs steady."
„Better than keeping them wide apart for us all to see.At least he sits like a lady."
„ What are you saying, you piece of ****?" Uluki was pissed, he grabbed the man by the collar.
„So insecure! I can't believe your behavior! Why can't you keep calm when we are speaking?."
„ Calm? CALM? Are you ****** serious right now?"
„Find your balance, Uluki. Remember lesson one. Only then can you grow back." urged the Chieftan.
„ Ok."
„...." the Chieftan took a break before saying: „ You are a child."
„ No, I'm not."
„ Are you a girl, or what?"
„ What do you mean? I'm clearly not."
„ Not what? A man? We can see it clearly, don't worry, or better yet, we can't see it at all. Did your mom take it with her, before you left?"
Uluki asked, „ So you're curious about.. it?"
„ What do you mean?"
„ It can't be helped then, wait I'll show you so you know for sure I didn't forget it at home."
„Wait-what?! No! Keep it to yourself!"
„ But you guys seemed very interested in it..."
„ We're not, stay away."
The chieftain was laughing like crazy about their little exchange. For the first time in a long time he felt like his life had a purpose. Could Uluki be the person he needed the most in his life? A little hope.?
„ Now let's teach him how to walk like us. Uluki, when you walk you keep your back straight and your chin up. When you're looking for anything, look up first and keep your head above water.
„ The best pace lasts one second and you must not rush or drag yourself."
„The best way to cross the road without grabbing attention is to look forward."
„ What do you mean?"
„I mean that there's always a reflection, somewhere to show you what's happening around you."
„That's stupid, don't listen to him, he's just trying to look as cool as he can.
„ Staying alive is more important than looking cool."
„ But if you focus too much on looking left-right , people will assume that you're anxious."
„Let them assume, when your enemy assumes, you have the upper hand."
„Bring me the broom, too."
„We're going to teach you how to clean up next: whatever you decide to do, take a step back and
observe. Think about what you want to do and start from top to bottom, left to right.
„ Anything else?"
„ Here's a coin, take it and multiply it, Good luck!"
„ I'm off then.. are there any rules?"
„ Don't come home empty-handed."
After a long road to the market, he finally arrived. He started with 1 coin and kept looking for things to do to increase his profits: he was asking people if they needed help lifting things, or moving them but alas everyone shooed him away. He looked around and noticed that the baskets weren't put away properly. He began sorting them out. The problem was that there was no reward to motivate others to do the same. He found an empty basket and took it to its place. The next one had a coin inside and he took it back and recovered the coin. He kept walking with the baskets and finally discovered something interesting: he had managed to collect ten times the starting value in one hour. The bar was low, but the profit margin was high. He thought that it was enough and remembered what the Chief said about
coming home empty-handed: „ I'll get something to bring back as a reminder of this day."
He stopped at the food court and looked around. He grabbed a pear, and when he asked how much it costs, he heard that it was 30 coins. „3 hours of work for a pear?! Are you kidding me?"
He soon realized he wasn't as clever as he thought before. He looked around and saw a small apple, it was in pretty bad shape: 20 coins, he began to worry that realistically, if he weren't born of high status he would have gone to bed hungry tonight. He kept looking around until he found a bunch of potatoes. They were overpriced and small, but among the pile, a special potato stood out: one in the shape of a heart. He found it amusing and decided to buy it as a souvenir.