The Road
Connor left his house in a huff. He had had it with all that was going on in the world. The frustrations of must-dos and can’t dos finally got him.
“Why can’t I be me!” he shouted to no one in particular. “Why can’t I live the life that I deserve?”
Of course, no one answered his queries.
So he left, and he walked to nowhere in particular. He had gone some blocks from his house when he came to a corner that intersected with a road, which he had never seen before.
The sign on the corner read Comfort Circle.
This shouldn’t be here. He had walked this route many times. Looking down the road showed nothing out of the ordinary. But what the heck, he had said he wanted to escape the angst and frustration he saw and experienced daily. Why not go down this road and see where it leads?
Connor took but two steps down the road when everything changed. The road cleared itself of all houses, signs, and people.
As he continued down the road, he could hear the musical sounds of wind chimes, ringing pleasant tunes in his head.
There was no sea or ocean nearby, but in his head, he could visualize the curl of an ocean’s wave. That too, was very comforting.
A field of wildflowers appeared before him and as he walked through the field, memories flooded his mind, walking barefoot on summer’s grass, the dew drop resting at the tip on leaf outside his childhood home, walking barefoot on summer’s grass with the girl he had a crush on in high school, and the sound of laughter as he hung out with friends and family.
It was as if the world was calling to him, reassuring him that all he wants and wants to be, is still within him. He just needed to open his eyes and see.
It was then that he saw the stranger walking toward him. The stranger’s smile was entrancing. She stopped before him and spoke.
“Connor, you’ve reached your place of peace.”
“What do you mean, my place of peace?” he replied, “Is this the end? Am I dead?”
She looked deeply into his eyes, “Not at all,” she said. “All that you see here are things that you have within you. They are your memories, what you would call your comfort zone. All you need to do is call upon them as you move forward, to calm the fears and frustrations that hinder you.”
Connor lowered his head and thought about what she said. Memories are sometimes hard to recall. Usually, when you do it is always the bad ones. But these memories, of the good times, did relieve the frustrations that he had. They didn’t solve anything, but helped ground him so that he could move on.
When Connor raised his head to thank this stranger, she was gone, as was the road that he had taken. He found himself standing on the street he had been on. There was no intersection in sight.
He turned around and returned home with pleasanter feelings than when he left. Try as he might, he never did have to find those crossroads again. But then again, he didn’t need to.
