The White Hare That Sits at the Crossroads on Midsummer Night

Everyone in Mira's village knew the rule. On Midsummer Night, when the sky stays light until midnight, a white hare appears at the crossroads. It sits very still. If you ask it one honest question, it will answer you. You do not hear words, but you feel the answer in your mind like a memory.

The old people said: 'Do not ask what you are afraid to know.'

Mira was seventeen. Her brother, Dani, was very sick. The doctor was worried, and her parents spoke in quiet voices. Nobody told Mira the truth. So, Mira went to the crossroads.

She walked for twenty minutes. The night was warm and the sky was deep blue. She saw the white hare in the center of the road. Its fur was very white and its eyes were dark. Mira wanted to ask: 'Will my brother get better?'

But she stopped. She thought: 'If the answer is no, I will carry that sadness in my face every day. He will see it.'

She closed her mouth. Then, she asked a different question: 'How do I stay with him now, in the time we have?'

The answer came into her mind. It was simple: 'Put down your fear. Give him your attention. Just be there.'

The hare blinked and walked away into the dark field. Mira walked home. She still did not know if her brother would get better. That was still difficult. But the next morning, she sat by his bed. She listened to his jokes and she laughed. She was not pretending. She was just there with him.

The hare answered her question, but it only answered the right one.