Saturday, August 3, 2013

A past life

We stayed in front of the hearth for a time. It was quiet as I sat mindlessly staring into the flames. There is nothing so calming as fire. I think it harkens back to antiquity. It is safe, it is warm, it protects. It's primal nature is possibly the most calming thing I know. My solitude is unexpectedly interrupted as Reenie's chair comes to a halt.

"What adventure is it you seek, Clancy?"

"I have not thought about it." I clear my throat, wishing my own chair were a rocker. "I suppose it is a new horizon that I long to see."

"Every hill crossed offers a new horizon. That is a simpleton's way of looking at the world." My eyes widen at his blunt words. His chair starts up again, the rockers finding their groove. "Adventure is a new way, or at least a change in your ways."

"I suppose you are correct. It is new experiences, new places I wish to find."

"You will not find them here, Clancy. We are simply on the other side of the mountains."

"There are places I have heard of which I would like to see."

"Places? What places"

"I hear tales of men-folk and lands that are far away. Far from the valleys of my homeland." I blink, my thoughts beginning to come to the fore. What kind of adventure I seek I have never considered. "I do not know where to go."

The rocking stops and Reenie leans forward, his hands coming together as his finger entwine. He stares into the fire, the flames adding color to his face. The room darkens as the world outside is as black as it will become. Night has fully taken hold of the landscape outside these walls.

"The world of men in not for the fool-hearty."

My eyes widen as my heart nearly comes to a stop. The time between beats seems as an eternity.

"I have been there."

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