Tales and Journeys

Throughout my life, I have often been deviant. There are things I never understood, interests I never shared, phases I never visited. Luckily, I didn’t mind much being left alone, to do the things I wanted the way I liked.

Still, I have often contemplated on having missed out on several years of my life. Years I could’ve learned what all the others did, years I could’ve understood them and the world better. Instead of being alone in my room, I could’ve been in the company of good friends, doing something we all liked doing together. And in the presence of these good friends, I could’ve grown more as a human being.

But no. Read the rest of this entry »

Flight was less frightening than he had foreseen; it was also a whole deal simpler than he had imagined. Shifting and flapping a little, he made an upwards halt, and — here, it is important to note that this world is much different from our own — he found himself able to stay aloft by grabbing the air with his wings. It felt so natural and sensible, that he never thought twice about how such a thing could be possible. He took this perfect opportunity to gaze down at the landscape below.

Vast forests had spilled into sight as soon as he had taken flight. He could see no end to this dark green. Only occasionally broken by light green clearings and orange-brown cliffsides, the forest seemed very dense. He could also spot a river, cleaving its own way through the landscape. A good distance below him, he could see it run close to a cliffside. He had, in fact, come into this world flying along the very same cliffside. He decided to seek out its top, so he peeked up so far he almost flipped over.

It was a cliffside like no other, that’s for sure. It had some sort of huge spikes coming out of it. Not to mention that the wall was a very unexpected twist in the landscape. And the rock was odd. Then there was all the green. Why was there green on a cliffside?

“But of course! It’s a giant tree!”

The moss-covered rocks were looking more distinct than usual; much like when a distant window reflects the setting sun, it was as if this very moment made the rocks more relevant… to the extent that he was starting to wonder why he was still thinking about them. It was then he realized that this might be what the old man had been talking about all along.

Dropping the bag, he slowed his pace so that he could take it all in. Leaves were dropping all around, some caught in the wind, some whisping across the ground. Looking up at the sky, he could see them swirl, adding an element of life to the treetops and the clouds, in a succession of beautiful moments. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he focused on the sounds instead. He could hear where the leaves rustled and where they fell. In his mind it was as if he had never closed his eyes at all.

And just like that, the connection was made. Throughout his whole body, he could sense it. He could not explain it, but there was no doubt as to what it was. All that remained, was to move out of this position. He started by shaking his arm. It felt both natural and not at the same time, and nothing like he expected. It was more like hitting a branch and sense it sway. The movement belonged to the thought, but not so much to the body.

Of course not. His body had nothing to do with it. The thought flowed through his consciousness along with a suggestive notion; why, then, would the body that is not present, set the limits for what he could do?

Whispering his farewell, he flew into another world.

A little valley, a sink in the landscape. A tree on a tiny hill. Nature around me, teeming. A clucking stream bending around the hill.

I lift my arms, take it all in. Hanging from a branch in the tree. Effortlessly. Nature is coming. Animals approach. A deer, many birds.

A fox. I understand. I follow her.

The stream is bigger here. A waterfall. She jumps over, I follow. It’s ridiculously easy.
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