Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A Seeking Wanderer

Linking up once again with Write on Edge. We were given a quote:
Still round the corner there may wait, A new road or a secret gate.
~J. R. R. Tolkien
and a photo :







Along with a few rules to follow. Which led me to write:

A Seeking Wanderer


The emptiness had all but devoured me. I went out, wandering. The lights and the sounds of the city streets trapped me. I felt abandoned, but from what? Friends had called it depression, others just a temporary crisis. My wandering led me to a building. The sign identified it as a church. I didn't pay attention to its name or religion. I sat. A song from inside brought me back to my childhood and family. Both were many miles gone now. Almost in habit, my head  bowed and words were whispered. The words simple, not full of emotion, not desperate. Just simple, "Where do I go? How do I change?"

In the morning, I awoke. I went through my routine and headed to the office. My mind shifted into gear and went through its pattern of the every day. The thoughts that sent me wandering were buried as usual to allow me to walk through the day. I nodded and mumbled as I walked by others. I would carry on...or so I thought.

 An email interrupted routine. The subject line...Your Answer to Destination and Change. My brain quickly shifted to the steps and the previous night. I opened it.

At the end of Highway 301 in the town of Brecksville you will find a country road. Walk it.

"Still round the corner there may wait; a new road or a secret gate."

It is where you should go and how you will change.

No signature. No further direction. But I knew...I needed to go. I shut down my computer and walked down the halls and into the street. I went home and took off my suit. I put on jeans and a t-shirt. I went to my closet and found a backpack from my college hiking days and packed it with some necessities. I left...and I headed to the end of Highway 301 in the town of Breckville.

The emptiness of the road was welcome compared to the noise of life I was walking from. The breeze carried over the golden growth beside me, energized me. It had a quiet push forward. It encouraged me on toward the road that stretched beyond imagination and dreams. That was my goal...to go beyond my imagination and dreams. To find purpose and meaning.

What was that I felt spread across my face...a smile? Foreign and strange it sat there, bewildering my heart. Anger and resentment had built walls, fear and confusion hid hope.

But now the echo of words I once read called me onward down a road to…to where?

The road or that gate somehow gave reason to move, gave motivation to plan, and the mystery of it allowed me to cast doubt aside and seeking and searching down a road I never knew, to a place still unknown.

As the sun was starting to set and chill came from the breeze I found a gate...hidden by overgrowth and sort of secret. I opened it and found a new road...