Never look back

Where am I going? Do you really want to know?

I'll tell you where I'm coming from. See those mountains? I'm leaving them far behind.

Why?

They trapped me with their beauty and their awesome views. I was dwarfed by high peaks and deep valleys, stifled by the calm in their sheltered recesses where even the winds never blew. I was dying. I wanted to be a part of life not some mere observer snug in my rocking chair where nothing new ever happened. Until it did.

What happened? I met someone. I was content to die before I met him.

Him? Yes, Him. He'd traveled a thousand miles to alight on my porch, tired but thrilled to have found a refuge and a perch on which to rest. Neither of us was in a hurry so we talked.

Who was he? Just a common seagull.

Yes, I know. Seems odd, doesn't it. I shared my sardines and crackers. He shared his stories. We understood each other. Here I was an unmovable mountain man; he, a winged being of mutable seascape and shore. We spent a week chatting about nothing and everything.

Repeat that? Hmm... I spoke of smoke rising in the autumn as if to send a signal for others to join me, to amuse me, to lighten up my solitude. He spoke of uncertainty and how the winds blew him wherever he needed to go. He'd seen my smoke signals before a thermal lifted him up and a storm tossed him about and brought him there.

How could he trust the Wind? How could I trust the calm that cocooned me! He left when a brisk breeze came down the canyon as if to freeze him in place. Looking around I imagined a landslide bringing it all down. So I followed. One footstep at a time. Motion equals life. The direction doesn't matter. I cherish his last words: Don't talk to strangers. Make everyone your friend.

Yes, each footstep is a new adventure, Stranger. The future lies before me, no need to retrace my steps. Here, take these crampons. You'll need them. I'm never going back.

© 2022 Kåre Enga [179.115] (31.desember.2022)

For "Chapter One - CLOSED till Spring 2025"  ~360 words