Fragments Gallery
Slowing Down
His feet fitfully scuffed the crisp grass and dry earth as he wandered absentmindedly along. Shadows followed or led him alternatively, sometimes both, as he strode beneath the towering street lights. The shadows were solemn as they grew or shrank in the orange light. He was thoughtful as he walked along with his legion of dark followers.
Brightly lit vehicles whooshed past on the road that he walked alongside but he paid them no more mind that he would a pesky mosquito. Instead he remained lost in his thoughts, his hands idly playing with a few links of steel chain he kept in his pocket; it was his lucky chain. The darkness was soothing, just as the atmosphere, the very feel of the chill air surrounding him, helped him relax.
A nearby rock shifted and he sharply glanced towards it, his eyes softened when he realized it was actually a rabbit. He gave it a wide berth as he walked past; he had no intention of scaring it out onto the road. All that rabbit wanted was space and that was what he fully intended to give it. It was a courtesy the young man wished humans would extend to him.
It had been months since he had last taken a day off for himself. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he just never felt like he could. Every time he intended to take a day he ended up feeling pressured to "do this", "continue with that" or ask himself "why hasn't this happened yet". So instead of taking time off he continued working. He always thought "I'll take some time soon" but it was a never ending cycle that left him feeling drained. It were as though a blanket of exhaustion had been thrown over him, a blanket he could never shake off; that blanket muted everything that he felt and made it... difficult to keep working.
He drew in a lungful of the crisp air. When the pressure grew too great it was nice to be out here just… walking. Here he had no expectations; he had some time to think. Out here he finally had some peace of mind. If only it could last.
Up ahead, just across an intersection in the road the lights vanished and the world went dark. It was there that he was headed. That was the edge of the park. He waited patiently for the lights to change colours as cars whizzed by before him. After an eternity of idleness the light shifted and he found himself on his way across the road. The darkness loomed ahead but he pressed onwards, eyes intent on that emptiness. The ground beneath his feet shifted from concrete to grass abruptly but he continued to walk. He knew where he was going. His eyes quickly adjusted to the moonlight and he stopped well before the ground dropped away to a grassy cliff.
The moonlight illuminated shapes in the park far below; logically he knew those shapes were trees but in his mind’s eye the muddled fantastic shapes took other forms. On the tapestry of the valley he spotted an eagle swooping towards its prey. Alongside the eagle a shark lazily swam. Beneath it a rugged mountain stood its rocky cliffs badly scorched and barren. He closed his eyes and let the shark change direction to follow the eagle across the valley. The eagle effortlessly swept along, easily keeping ahead of the shark, before finally vanishing behind the mountain. The shark followed and only the mountain remained on his mental canvas. When his lids again lifted the animals were gone and in their places again rested nondescript shapes.
There were wondrous things out there to see if he could just slow down, but often these days he got too caught up to see them. Still, even as rushed as he was he could still see these wonders; he just had to look in the right place.