Little boy's Journey: Part 2

Little Boy was feeling disappointed in what he had discovered beyond the mountain. He decided to go back to the mountain for a while.

Unfortunately, he arrived only to discover the mountain to be an even darker place than his memory. He realized why conjuring his imagination had been an important daily task. If only things had changed, but time seemed to stand still on the mountain. He sat bewildered at the top of the mountain, wondering how he could fix things. The grief that he thought had dissipated with his journey east only returned. He decided that perhaps the grief would relinquish if he rebuilt the cabin he’d grown up in at the top of the mountain.

But the cabin was not ready to come down. He tried to burn it to the ground, but the logs would not catch fire. He then tried to bury it, but the feat proved impossible. After unsuccessful attempts to burn and bury the cabin, Little Boy was exhausted. He decided to live in the cabin for a while. Just long enough to rest until his next journey.

Little Boy looked for the front door, but there was no door to be found. He ran to the back door. But there was no door to be found. He climbed up to the windows. They were barred. He peaked inside the window to the room he grew up in. Everything was just as he had left it-The bookshelf filled with his favorite books. One of the dresser drawers half open. Like a movie set-everything was in its place.

But nothing was the same.

Little Boy’s grief engulfed him. He was exhausted, but it was time to begin another journey. He didn’t know where else to go so he headed back east in search of the familiar.

Salamander was there to happily greet Little Boy. She knew how difficult going back to the mountain must have been for him. Little Boy created new memories in hopes of overcoming the memories of the mountain.

Time passed and Little Boy was only reminded of the painful mountain memories every so often, and the journey that had brought him back. He had still not spoken to Fox. Little Boy and Fox lived far enough apart that they never ran across one another. Sometimes he thought of Fox, and missed him. But then he remembered how Fox had taken Salamander’s feet.

Little Boy began to grow tired of the village he lived in. He sensed he was being deceived by people in the village so he stopped confiding in them. Things were not much easier than they had been back at the mountain, but at least he had Salamander’s friendship.

Little Boy began making plans to explore new territory. He decided to journey out west. Eventually he would come back to the east, but his adventurous heart wanted to explore every possibility.

Once Little Boy finalized the details of his westward journey he excitedly shared the news with Salamander. She shared in his excitement as he recounted the plan. But there was still time yet before his leave.

Later, as Little Boy took his usual walk, he could see Salamander in the forest with some of their other friends. As he approached the group he noticed Salamander carrying the bouquet the two of them had collected throughout their journey together. He looked on, stunned, as Salamander burnt the bouquet and threw it in the river.

Little Boy knew he must have seen the scenario wrong. The next day he confronted Salamander about what he saw.

“Why did you burn our bouquet?”

“Oh, it doesn’t really matter.”

“But it took years to create.”

“Goodbye”, Salamander dryly replied.

Heartbroken, Little Boy decided it was time to begin the journey west.