Echo taught us a new lesson.

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In our family, there were nine members: three brothers and three sisters, my parents, and I. My mother was a teacher, and my father was a farmer. My father had a car that he inherited from their parents.

My father was a good man who drove us to many spectacular locations. Because my family were so supportive and loving of one another, we never felt uncomfortable, even though we were all in that car. Two were in the front seat with the mother, and the rest were in the back. Except for three, the others were small. We have experienced numerous such journeys in our vehicle without ever feeling uneasy.

We learned many things from our father on such journeys. It has remained in our hearts forever since we learned it through nature. Today, I am going to share with you one such lesson we learned from our father.

According to my memory, I was about 7 years old. One morning, our father said, “Let’s go for a walk in the mountains today.” Our eyes sparkled since we adored the green hills and tall trees.

At my father’s request, my mother packed some food and water. We started the adventure walking up the mountain, carrying a backpack filled with water, sandwiches, and some snacks. On our way, we heard birds singing sweet songs. We saw butterflies dancing around the flowers. Not only that, but we were overjoyed by seeing the beautiful scenery.

We walked for a while before arriving in a high, quiet location. Tall trees stood like guards, and the wind was so cool. The scenery around the hill was lovely.

I was thrilled with the beauty of the environment and suddenly shouted, “HELLOOO!”

The same voice came from the mountainside, surprising us. My brother shouted, "Who is there?" in amazement. "Who is there?" the voice then asked.

"Dad, someone is copying us," I remarked, glancing at our father.

My father laughed gently and said, “That is not someone else. That is an echo.”

“Echo”? My brother asked, confused.

My father answered, "Yes, an echo is the sound of your voices returning to you." Shouting in an open, quiet area like this causes your voice to reverberate off the hills.

We were all amazed and shouted again and again louder than that. “Hello, we are family.”
The hills replied, “Hello, we are family.”

We said, “We love you.” Again, the hill said, “We love you.” We looked at each other and said, “It says everything we say.”

My father sat down on a rock and called us closer to him. Gave us some sandwiches and bananas and said, “Yes, echoes are like a mirror for sound”. My brother asked, “Dad, does the echo live in the mountain?”

"No, son, it is not a person or an animal," our father said with a smile. It’s just how sound travels. Our voice travels far and bounces back when there are no obstacles, such as trees or buildings, in the way.

I thought for a moment. “So, if I say something kind, it comes back. If I say something mean, does that also come back?”

"You're right, daughter," my dad responded. “Echoes teach us something important. In our lives, when we give something to others, it often comes back to us. You will receive love in return if you give it. If you shout with anger, then the anger comes back to you.

Then I nodded and said, “Then I want to give love to others.”

Everyone in my family agreed to it and said, “Yes, we also want to give love to others”. Everyone was happy with the lesson we learned.

In the meantime, the sun began to go down, and golden light covered the hills. My brother stood up once more and shouted happily, “Thank youuu.” We all followed him and shouted “Thank you….” Then the mountain replied, “Thank you…”

We all hugged our father and said, “This was the best day ever.”

Even though we said that today was the best day ever, we knew that there would be another even better day. So we walked back to our house. It was the way of my father.

Anyway, we were all delighted that day. "Words have power, and kindness always comes back" is a new lesson that our father taught us through the word "echo."

Thank you for reading my post.