Tuesday, Jul. 02, 2002 | 12:10 A.M.
short comings
lazyness of the days, and of the hand, cause great pain and anger in the future of ourselves. I often wonder if i believe in fate, luck, chance, or coincidences. they have always took part in my life and have had an equal amount of say.
Pain...pain, along with laughter and love, are one of the few emotions, feelings that bring people getter, or for events occured, bring out sides of a person not believe to be living.
Apathy....Sloth...or just fuckin lazy has caught up to many people, espically during the summer.
The forest is enormous and vast. People say that sunlight is a rareity in the deep parts of the woods. Creatures not known by humans live there, but no one knows for sure, since no one has entered this forest. Dark, blanketed, empty, shadowless....a place for no mortal man to tred.
A wonderer comes to the village just outside the forest and asks for directions. Many people tell him to turn around, for there is no road beyond this village, but the wonderer persists, he senses their is more to what these people are saying. While eating lunch, he spots a old man hiding in the shadows of the pub. The old man is slowly drinking a brew and puffing on a cigarette. The old man's actions are slow, cautious as if he is hiding sometime. The wonderer, who finishes his meal, gently walks over to the old man and asks if he could sit. "Why!?" the old man asks harshly. "I have asked many people in this town for directions out, but all have said the way I came is the correct way. I believe otherwise. I saw you sitting over in this corner and I thought to myself, this is the look of a man that is wise and could tell me what these people could not." The old man puffed on his cigarette and took a deep breathe. His eyes pierced through the wonderers gaze and asked the young man to sit beside him.
"So you seek other paths to take that the ones that ordinary folk take, huh?" asks the old man. "I have been on these trials, they do not hold what I seek" the wonderer claims. "AH, so what does you seek?" the old man asks curiously. "Honestly," says the wonderer, "I do not know. All I can tell you is these paths I have taken do not fullfil me, make me whole, bring answers to my questions...put me at peace." "So you seek adventure, do you? Well my young friend, you do not need to find new trials for adventure. For adventure, you need to create trials, yes. That is where the adventure lies" exclaims the old man. "You must look at the world and find your own trial, and I am sure, if you look hard enough, you will find your trial." said the old man.
Just before the wonderer could ask another question, the old man got up, and walked out of the pub. Puzzled by the old man's answers, the wonderer got up and walk outside. Bewildered by the old man's words, the wonderer runs into a sign. When he looked up, the sign is pointing to roads and cities. As the wonderer looks over the names, he reconizes all of them since he has traveled on all, but just before he turned away, he noticed smudge marks where it appears a name was. He took a closer look, but cannot make out what the name says. He looks for where the arrow points but the arrow is no where to be found. Frantic, the wonderer looks at where all the arrows point and where all the paths are until he spots to what appears to be a path, but has been overrun by lush greenery. The wonderer runs back to the sign and looks at it closely. He sees to where the arrow would lay and looks to where the path would be and sees where it all goes, a vast, enormous forest. The wonderers eyes grown wide as he looks at the majestic forest. The wonderer knows this is where he is supposed to go, the place where he can find himself.
As the approaches the forest, he hears whispers. At first they are soft and barely audible, but as he goes closer, they get louder and louder, until he reaches the entrance of the forest. There is a sign on a tree that says "All who pass into this forest will go through dark times, for the warmth of the sun does not pass through the lushness of these trees. If you do not wish to face darkness, then turn back now."
Fear begins to creap into the wonderers mind as he thinks if going through this forest is a good idea. As he turns away, a great light appears before him, making him fall to the ground and cover his eyes. Unlike the voices before that were filled with anger, this voice was filled with love and warmth. The voice said, "Hello young one. You seek to pass through this dark forest?" The wonderer says with a shakey voice, "I don't know.....who...who are you?" The voice responds, "I am a spirit, actually, your spirit. I am like what you would call your conscious or a guardian angel. I have come before you to tell you a special message." "Yes," the wonderer says, "What is this message?" "The message is, if you want peace within your mind, the forest is your answer." "The forest?!?" says the wonderer hestitantly. "But why, what is so special about this forest?" "These questions you ask me, I cannot answer, for you must find these answers on your own. But do not be afraid, if you keep your eyes, mind, and heart open, the answers will appear before you, along with help from unlikely visitors." The voice said calmly. "But what about the darkness, the no sunlight...how will I know how long I have been in there?" Asked the wonderer. The voice responded, "You will not know. This forest brings out many dark areas within man. Many men have entered the forest and have never returned. All succumed to the dark powers of the forest." "Dark powers?!?...you mean to say that there are powers...like magic, spells, ee..eevil??" The wonderer asks. The voice says, "Yes, dark magic is at hand in this forest." The wondere responds, "No way! No way am I going into that forest facing dark powers...no no no, no sir." "Please," said the voice "You are our only hope." "Hope?? what do you mean, hope?"
Just before the voice could answer, it vanished. Hope...Hope...I'm their only hope...who's only hope...why me...why me??? the wonderer kept thinking. He looked at the forest and kept thinking about the dark power at work and what the voice had told him, "You're our only hope."
The wonderer had been to many places, made some friends, but not many since he didn't stay long at one place. He thought, these people don't need me, they have their lives together. Now, all of a sudden, someone needs me? Needs for what though? While he ponders what just occured, a low growl was audible. He wonderer perked up quickly as he saw what appeared to be a black cloud coming out of the forest. All of a sudden, a voice was heard. "Turn back now. You are not welcome here, but then again, you were never welcome anywhere were you. You wanted to stay at those places, but the people kicked you out didn't they? They didn't want you there and neither does anyone. Just leave here before you get hurt like the other times!" Just like it appeared, the cloud dissappeared.
The wonderer sat down on the ground and started to cry. How did this voice know what went on in my life, let alone in my head?? Confused, the wonderer turned away to go back to the village, but as he turned, he thought about what his spirit told him, you are our only hope. I can make a difference the wonderer thought. My spirit told me this is the path I am supposed to take, and I will. NO more running from my fears. I will take this step and face them once and for all. With determination in his step, he walked into the forest with many questions running through his mind, hoping that in this forest, the answers would be waiting for him.
End of Chapter