New Day :: New Path

The path was a twisty, crooked, overgrown, shrinking road. Broken branches lie underfoot crackling softly beneath the weight of my feet. Green leaves wet with a light summer rain brush across my shoulders. A small stream idles ahead dammed with dead twigs placed there by adventurous boys. Gnarly trees reach down to tickle my lithe form.

Along the path I find a mug. A blue and white splattered paint covers the mug. There is a large chip in the lip which you can see the corroded metal underneath. I pick it up gently and rinse it in the stream. The water washes over the chip cleaning it out. Now, it shines silvery in the sunlight.

While washing the mug, something gleams on the rocky bed of the mountain stream. I reach down into the cold awakening waters and feel around smooth round polished stones. I grasp something flat and hard. Quickly, I pull it out into the light. Unlike the mug, it was neither corroded or colorful. It shiny, gold, and slippery. I put the golden key into the mug.

Crossing the stream, a dark form sidles out of the underbrush loping along. Its' rough and shaggy coat covered with sawdust. Standing still, I let the smiling bear pass me. Slowly, its' tousled head bent to lap up the clear, unpolluted water. After satisfying his thirst, he raised himself elegantly on his hind legs and shook the sawdust off. Then, bounded away majestically.

Taking the golden key out of the chipped mug, I dipped the mug beneath the bluish peaceful waters. My reflection shone up at me faintly. A skipper bug glided through its' ripples breaking my reflection up into little spots of color. I drank deeply of the cold water. Its' essence refreshing and replenishing my body. And like the bear, I too stood and shook my body, bounding over the stream.

Suddenly, a large wall stretched towards the pale sky ahead of me. Dark grey granite - An immense foreboding wall. The wall's surface was rough to my touch. Feeling along the wall, there was a hole. A key hole. I inserted the key into this hole cut expertly into this scratchy granote. The wall pushed itself aside. Streams of yellow radiant sunlight floated past me, warming the world. The path rambled on over green mountains past white waterfalls gushing. A new world to explore. Ahead, the bear waved me on.