storytime posts are posts that allow me to participate in one of my favorite hobbies – storytelling. They’re for you to enjoy as much as they are for me to engage my creativity. Look out for more of these short stories.

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“Are you sure this is the spot? I’m not the kind to complain but I may have overestimated how far I can walk with this foot”

“We’re almost there, I promise. Jake has always been accurate with his directions and I trust him on this. Remember the photo he showed us, that view is going to make all of this worth it”

The pair paused for a break. The Man turned around towards the Woman, leaned in and kissed her.

“I’m sorry about your foot. If you really want to stop here, we can always catch the sunrise instead.” the Man said.

“I’d much rather camp on a cliff today. We’ve already spent two nights in the forest. Don’t worry about it, I know when my foot is going to give and it’s not now.” the Woman replied, smiling.

“You better feel lucky you found me, I’m probably the only one that can stand spending this long with you and still beat your ass to this cliff” she added as she walked past the Man and onwards.

The Man laughed and followed behind her.

“I am a lucky man. This trip has me feeling even luckier” he shouted ahead.

“Shut up and try to catch up!” the Woman said, this time she too joining in the laughter.

___

It was 30 minutes before sunset as the pair finally broke out of the forest. The Woman was the first one onto the cliff.

“Wow” she said, staring out onto the view.

“Are we there…” the Man started before he too broke out of the forest and was stopped in his tracks.

The pair held each other’s hands as they joined the silence of the surroundings. It was a scene out of a storybook. Mountains towered above them and the forest enveloped the base. The rocks jagged upwards from the cliff, and the fresh moss on them added to the musty sensation.  The sun was about to set on the horizon and the beautiful orange mixed well with the green and silver.

“Jake said that just as the sun was about to set, he saw a flock of birds fly out of the canopy. I don’t think we’ll be that lucky, but let’s hope” the Man said, moving forward.

“This is more than enough. I can’t believe no one else is here” the Woman said.

Someone else IS here, a voice sounded.

Both the Man and the Woman quickly turned to their right. From around one of the jagged rocks walked out a strange man, brown-skinned with short hair and a deep voice.

“Such beauty is hard to hide from the world, but I’m glad it’s a reward only to those who truly make their way up here” the Wanderer spoke.

The Man and Woman looked quizzically at each other.

“You’re here for the view too?” the Woman asked the new stranger.

“You could say that. I’ve been here for a while,” the Wanderer replied.

“You mean, you live here?” the Man chirped in this time.

“No, no. How could I? No, I’m only here for a while. I wander around. This is just where I am now. And it so happens, so it is for you too”

The Man stepped forward and extended his hand.  “Well, in that case, my name is…”

“That’s not necessary, I’m not likely to remember it. But I will shake your hands, fellow wanderers” the Wanderer interrupted and shook both their hands. “Also, the sun is about to set. The best spot is right about 4 feet from the edge of the cliff there. It really is spectacular.”

The Woman and the Man went ahead and sat near the edge of the cliff.

“That’s a strange man.” the Man started.

“Shhhh. Let’s focus on this sunset. Look, you can hear the birds. They’re starting to come out of the canopy” the Woman pointed out.

As the orange sun melted into the forest, a large flock of birds flew out into the sky, screeching as they occupied the real estate amongst the clouds.

“Jake was right. His photo did not do any justice to this moment” the Man said.

“Yea, this was amazing,” the Woman said as she leaned onto the Man’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if it’s a sin that we’re not taking a picture ourselves”

“It’ll be fine. I don’t think this memory is going to leave me. Especially with you here”

The Woman sat up and looked at the Man. “Look at you being all smooth and stuff” she said cheekily. They leaned in and started kissing.

The Man stopped and held the Woman’s hand. “The Stranger could be watching us. Are you sure you trust him?”

“I want to say yes. Why don’t we talk to him? We have to cook our dinner anyway, we can invite him to share food with us. He might not kill us then” the Woman said, smiling.

The Man hesitated before finally nodding in agreement.

The Woman walked up to the Wanderer and waved her hand to catch his attention.

“That was special, wasn’t it?” the Wanderer shouted.

“Yes, yes it was. Thanks for the tip” the Woman replied, reaching closer to him. “We were about to cook our dinner and we wanted to know if you’d want to join us”

The Wanderer gave a chortle before replying, “I was about to ask you the same. I’ve already prepared a fire here. Feel free to use it to cook whatever you want.”

The Woman started laughing. “We were scared you were going to kill us but honestly, I don’t even know why we thought that”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t know how to kill you even if I wanted to.” the Wanderer said, joining in the laughter. “Come, I need to add more wood to the fire. Why don’t you and your partner help me?”

___

Dinner had been amazing. The Wanderer had collected a bunch of herbs from around the cliff and added them to their canned beef. The fragrance was already enticing but the taste made the pair forget that they were even far from civilization. They were now just sitting around the fire, sharing stories.

“So, what’s your story stranger?” the Man asked the Wanderer.

“It’s a long one. And contrary to what you might think, we don’t have enough time for it” the Wanderer replied, standing up to add wood to the fire. “If there is one thing to know though, it’s that I’ve been moving around for the past six years.”

“You’ve been traveling for six years?” the Woman asked, astonished.

“Not traveling. I’m not staying in hostels and eating good food. I think the term is closer to ‘wandering’ ”

“So you just left everything behind and became a nomad?” the Man replied, a hint of judgment seeping through.

The Wanderer walked towards the fire, added the wood to it and sat across the pair. “Let me show you something.” He took out some powder from his right pocket and sprinkled it into the fire. The orange flames turned purple, becoming more violent all of a sudden. They danced, moving from left to right before turning back to orange again.

“I don’t really know what the plant is called, but I burnt it accidentally while adding it to my food.  It was truly wonderful – not only the sight, but the feeling of discovery. I had chanced upon something beautiful here. Perhaps science has an answer to what and how this happens. But I didn’t really care – all I loved was that I had found this myself.” the Wanderer remarked before leaning back.

“I used to have a life in the city.  I used to work and it was a good life. I was paid well and I was able to travel decently enough… but I knew that this wasn’t my story,” he continued, “You know what’s the scariest thing in the world?”

“Death” the Man quickly replied.

“I used to think the same. But immortality is scarier, isn’t it? If we were to be able to live forever, what would we do? We’d never retire – there’d always be some way to make use of our lives to churn out capital. No, I realized at some point that the scariest thing in the world was beyond death, it was a life that was not my own.” the Wanderer replied, staring deep into the fire.

“So you left to travel the world?” the Woman asked.

“Not really. There were small steps. I disappeared first for 3 months before coming back to work. My boss was livid but he gave me back my job because I was good at what I did. My family was even more angry and I promised them I wouldn’t leave them in the dark again. I can’t afford to see my mom and dad in pain that way.”

“So when did three months become six years?” the Man interrupted.

“It just did. I disappeared again after another work trip, this time in Xi’an. And then I went north towards Mongolia. Next thing I know one week had become one month and then one year, and soon enough I was no longer used to one place for too long. But I wrote letters to my family and my friends. I didn’t want them to find me but I wanted them to know I was alive. The world must be a stranger place for them than it is for me because of that.”

There was silence now. The Man and Woman stared into the fire the same way the Wanderer was too. His stories seemed to dance along with the flames and now the silence was deafening.

“It’s late. Why don’t you guys call it a night? Not many animals come out here but I don’t sleep this early anyway. We’ll talk more in the morning” the Wanderer broke the silence.

The Man and Woman nodded in agreement and made their way towards their sleeping bags.

“That was a weird man, but he’s definitely not dangerous.” the Woman said to the Man.

“No, definitely not. But I’m also not sure if he’s even lonely. He seems like he’s found the life he wanted” the Man replied.

The Woman smiled at the Man and held his hand. It was time to sleep.

___

The next morning, the warm rays of the sun woke up the pair. The Man was the first to be up, and got out of his sleeping bag, stretching his arms. The campfire was dead and the Wanderer was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was an envelope and a note on top of it.

“Help me mail this to my folks, please. The wandering continues, for me and for you.”

The Woman also woke up and shouted across to the Man, “Is everything okay? The man didn’t do anything to us, did he?”

“Not quite. Nothing’s wrong, but wherever he is now, he’s definitely left a bit of himself behind,” the Man said. “I don’t think we’ll travel the same after this”

___

fin.