Dear Reader, I would like to share this story with you;

It will take you on a seemingly endless journey.
A trip that takes you places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives.

Click here to Start with Chapter 1

Chapter 10

Dear Reader, Did you ever feel that when you have finally found what you have unconsciously been looking for, it slips away like fine sand between your fingers?

When it slipped away did you realize that it could not have gone any other way?

Realize that you cannot keep something so precious with you.

Realize you can not hold on to such things?

But the realization will be stored in your soul for a lifetime.

Stretched out on the grass for a long time, we catch our breath, I put an arm around the boy's shoulders. Together we look at the immense mountains that surround the gorge. The starting green of the trees and the clear blue of the sky. Breathlessly we enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty that surrounds us.

"How can anyone explain all this as his possession? Can anyone climb all those mountains at once, and eat all the fruits that this land produces alone? It is a misconception of immense magnitude to reckon the whole world to be the property of one single man. He does not behold the beauty and the cruelty of the land he calls his own."

"Land belongs to the man who tills it, who in turn is morally bound to feed them without land. So far as the harvest permits. But even the farm laborer must acknowledge, that the land he tills was there before he was born, and that the land will be there even after his bones are dust absorbed by the soil," I pause and look at Numico.

Numico nods. "And yet this man thinks the world belongs to him. That where he goes and what he sees belongs to him. And he is so convinced that he has never doubted his ideas. It must be a lonely soul, who believes so firmly in his beliefs that there is no room for reflection."

"That's the main thing I feel, loneliness. Lost in a world without wishes, without dreams rudderless, emotionless, because nothing can measure up to him. Cold and frozen, scared of losing everything in the blink of an eye, everything that makes you who you are, because you only see yourself as the matter you own and the position you hold," he says.

"He sounds like a strange little man. I would like to meet him, a person like you or me could show him that the world has more to offer."

Numico agrees: "Yes, I feel deeply sorry for him, can we help him?"

"As soon as I know who it is we will try, such a person can cause a lot of pain and sorrow. Without being aware of it in the slightest. He who does not know feelings does not recognize the feelings of the world around him." We remained silent for a little longer and then we got up at the exact same time. Without a word, we both know it's time to return to the village.

When Numico walks in the direction of his parents' cabin, he turns around before entering. “Master, when are you going on a journey?” I can hear a bit of sadness, it´s in the way he asks it.
"Can I come with you, please?" I feel his wish not to have to let go of his newly found soul mate.

"I'm not going on a trip. What do you mean I have no such plans,” I say. I spoke true, I had no plans. “Master believe me, you are going on a journey. I too would like to make that trip. This village has few new things to offer me,” his eyes plead as he speaks.

“Numico my boy, I really don't know what journey you are talking about, but I understand your urge to get to know the world outside the village. I regard your premonition as a matter to be reckoned with. I promise you that as soon as I make plans to go on a trip, I will ask your parents if you can accompany me. But I have to abide by your parents' wishes. They might be reluctant to send their young son out into the world, from which so many have not returned. Please don't get your hopes up on this adventure. Your time will come. Patience is hard and patience is tested, but rewarded in the end."

I felt I was looking for excuses in the undertone of my answer. Numico probably heard it too.
Why was I looking for excuses, excuses for something I didn't intend anyway.

Tired and confused from the lack of sleep, I sit down at the low table in the corner of my cabin. I replace the last stump of the candle I blew out this morning with a new one, which I then light. Fire is a precious commodity, which 'makes life possible'. Musing on fire, its warmth, and the importance of such a gem to so many occupies me, until Numico's words come back to my mind. 'Master when are you going on a journey'.

Going on a trip, I wasn't planning that, was I?

The little man had said things before they were found to be true before.
Traveling?
Why, how, where would I go?
I had never been far beyond the village. Although when I made the map of the area I noticed that I was thinking about seeing all the things I documented with my own eyes. But I knew I didn't have the courage to actually consider such a trip.

I tried to distill the answer to Numico's question from the information obtained. But it turned out more and more that if I wanted to find the answer, I had to walk the walk myself.

Still, there was this urge to answer his question, it's like there's more to it than just the satisfaction of my own and Numico's curiosity. It's as if inaudible voices whisper; "find the answer." I feel a push as if the spirits attach importance to this quest.

The night without sleep must be catching up with me, making me believe in my own fantasies. While I know that my place is here, why should I go anywhere, I am no adventurer, no fighter.

The Next Chapter will be published in 2 days

Picture By Me And My Artificial Intelligence