Sunday, September 9, 2012

Hopeful Wanderer

Aikaterine walked swiftly on the path, silently traveling through the active forest around her. Colorful dragonflies flew past as bright red birds with gold-tipped wings shot after them. Ancient owls hooted boldly from their perches in the purple hued trees that were spread across the hills. Small luminous plants grew on the trunks of the trees and were sprinkled around on the ground. As she advanced further down the mossy path, she began to hear the violent smash of the salt water waves onto the rocky shore. Quickening her pace, she passed through a monumental archway, engraved with many engraved runes that told stories of the ancient forest and its inhabitants. The way was illuminated by the outstanding marker and its tales of the past. She stopped, tapping one of the runes, and felt connected, in that instant, to a past people and time.
A few yards ahead, she caught sight of a grouping of small buildings on a hill. After passing by a multitude of small cottages, she began down the other side of the hill, and saw a glimpse of the coast. Running rapidly down the hill, all she could hear was the cool wind whistling past her ears. A pale white fox dashed out in front of Aikaterine, nearly tripping her. But she regained her balance and soon enough reached the shores of the great ocean.
The strong winds that blew off the waves whipped through her loose red hair as she walked beside the sea. In the distance she could see the boat docks. As Aikaterine neared the docks, she could see several of the citizens of the town she had just passed through fishing off the docks. The docks stretched far off of the shore, so it took Aikaterine awhile to reach the end. She greeted the fisherman, who politely greeted her back. Walking to the boat dock just a few feet ahead, she greeted a fellow traveller. They conversed, and determined that they were going to the same place. Aikaterine, tired from her extensive journey, sat on a nearby crate and set her bag beside her. She stretched her feet in her tall leather boots.
After a short while, the ship that Aikaterine was waiting for became visible on the horizon. Within several minutes, the ship began to turn as to approach the dock sideways. She stood upon its arrival to the dock, and waited to board until it had been cleared for loading.
Once she had found the small cabin that she had rented for the two day trip across the ocean, she rested in her bed. Waking with an abrupt bump from the ship, Aikaterine got out of the bed and groggily went out into the deck. A beautiful sunset shot color into the sky and reflected over the calm ocean waves. The brilliant sun colored everything a dim red as stars began to peek out at the edges of the grand display. Aikaterine stayed out on the deck, even after the sun had sunk below the waves and the stars dazzled in the dark sky. The moon was just a sliver of light in the dark, calm night.
As Aikaterine came closer to a new destination and drifted farther away from her home, she felt at peace. For wherever she could ever go, the beauty of the world would never cease to show itself.

No comments:

Post a Comment