I found this path in the woods. I can’t remember how I got here but here I am, smelling nature and listening to the birds singing in the distance, if I strain my ears a bit I think I can hear the sound of a waterfall, or maybe it’s my imagination. I don’t know. I’m too afraid to move too far from this path. Visibility is short and what I can see is limited to what is before me. The sun beams down through the foliage. At least I won’t get sunburned. But what am I doing here. I can’t remember. it’s peaceful out here listening to the birds chirping and the various sounds of nature tapping at my attention trying to draw me in. I think I’m on the side of a mountain though, the path curves at just an angle that my thoughts can’t help but go there. Its peaceful here, this place in the woods that I’ve stumbled on. I wonder if it’s okay to stay here for a bit, or is that a bad thing… running away from what lies further in the foliage. Why aren’t I curious enough, eager enough to go forward? What stops me from moving so close to something that progresses? Curious things to wonder, curious indeed…
I’m waiting now... waiting for something to happen. But why must I wait, when did I stop and just wait, can I start things, how do I start things. I’m confused now. How did I get here, here in the woods where the sun only catches me sparingly through the foliage? These questions fill my head with no answers in sight and still I stand unmoving in the woods, a path laid out before me, ready to be taken.
It is warm where I stand, the few spots of sun hit me not as hot as the sight before me promises. It must be the trees that shield me, the branches too now that I think about it. Why would I leave such a safe place that protects me from the heat and burn of the sun’s rays? But it’s also lonely here on the path, no hand to hold as I contemplate the things in my head.
Maybe one step is okay, no two steps because that’s even. There we go that’s okay. Forward is good. The sun hits me slightly more as I walk away from the protection of the trees. Is this a good thing, a bad thing or simply a thing? Who knows? But forward is good, right? …Right?
Maybe two more steps, because even is good, even is right and forward is right. I move along the path the trees fade away into the background and the sun catches my skin, blinding me slightly as it strikes me. The day is definitely hotter than I thought, the trees were far kinder than I realised. Maybe I should go back, maybe I should stay on the path were the sun only barely shines. But going back is not good, is it? No it is not. Then let’s take one more step forward, no it has to be two, remember.
The sun now engulfs me and my skin tingles slightly from the burn. The birds still sing softly in the distance and the sounds of a waterfall still echo somewhere far away. Nothing has changed but a few steps yet everything has changed as I drink up the warmth. Why does it feel so different? Why does it feel so warm and alive? Something has changed though everything is the same, what is it?
The steps come easier how many do I take; I don’t know the sun distracts me with its warmth and I listen to the birds singing as they grow louder. The path falls away as my feet move across it. Where do I go? I don’t know? But forward is good, isn’t it?
The sounds of a waterfall now become distinct and soon my steps become sure as if this was where I was going all along. The bird’s song seem to guide me as the sun‘s heat urges me forward to hurry. The path falls away and soon I hear humming join in with the bird’s music? Is that me?
The warm air slowly changes as a different scent begins to surround me. The humid air dampens my hair to my skin and the smell of algae brings a smile to my face. Almost there, there where there is rest, where the path ends and the trees will shield me once again. What is this feeling of sadness, this melancholy that sets in now that the end draws near? Where did it come from and why does it slow my footsteps? Maybe I’ll rest a little. Just a little here by the edge.
The sounds of the waterfall are prominent and hard to ignore, but I can’t help this feeling of panic that draws from within. Is this the end, the last leg of the race? What will become of me, how will I end this?
Maybe I’ll take one step, not two steps for now. We don’t need to rush, let’s not be reckless. Forward may not be that great after all, right? Right. The sun burns me now, there’s no more cover from the trees to shield me and the path has not come to a close and roughened. How did I miss this? Where was I looking? Things are happening too fast why am I still moving. One step is too fast maybe I should stop? But already I am here already at the edge of the stream that laps at my feet.
I look up and there it is, before I knew it I’d already made it. Before I knew it I’d stumbled on beauty. There before me rushed the waterfall, unbothered by my presence. How stupid to not want to see this. How stupid indeed. I take two steps forward, no more and no less, and into the water I find myself walking as I think what a miracle such things as these are, the rushing curtain of cool refreshing water that splashes in my direction, cooling my skin. This is where I am supposed to be. This is what the path has led me to. I am calm now as the water slowly rolls over my feet. I am sure of where I am and where I’m going, or rather where I’ve gone. So forward was right after all.
