Eth took another step and his foot sank into a
mushy cool substance. The river banks were lined with a brown clay-full goo
that liked to make him sink before he could step. It clung to his tennis shoes
like leaches. No wonder river going was so slow. The sun had disappeared, what
might have been hours before. He wasn't sure anymore. The moons were no longer
visible. The green mess of leaves blocked out much of the sky. Eth came to a
broad part of the river and finally saw the stars again. They were glimmering
so brightly. As he studied them he realized they seemed to be glistening at
different variances and balancing the light back and forth between them. They
looked like a song gently rolling through the very eyes of the sky.
"Keep up," Said Marcson. "The next
clearing is an hours trek or so and I want to sleep before dawn."
Eth nodded and kept on trudging. The night air was
cool especially with his socks soaked through. Time in this world was
different. It must be. He knew he'd been traveling all day and oddly he wasn't
too tired. It reminded him of when he was on vacation and each new site kept
him alert. However, time seemed different
in another way. It felt slower; a single rain drops ripples,’ on a pond. Eth
had liked the fast pace of the hospital, the movement of the city. But he liked
this new slowness more!
Sound was different too. There were still sounds (as there always are sounds in forests). But there wasn't the normal human sound. The
hum of people talking, or cars, or machines. He was far from the things of man
and he loved it! How long did this world go? How big? And why didn't he miss
anyone back on earth as much as he thought he would. Did they miss him?
“There,” Said Marcson pointing. Just ahead was an
opening in the trees. It led to what looked like tall reeds. Marcson and Eth
pushed the waist high rough weeds aside with long sweeps of their arms. Occasionally
a rouge weed would whack him in the face or scratch his arm. But Eth followed
his new friend’s lead. Short flowers replaced the tall reeds; they looked a bit
like clover. Marcson removed his satchel and began rummaging through it. Eth
found a bit of clear earth and fell upon it. The moment his back hit the level
ground his flesh wanted sleep. He was more tired than he realized. “Marcson….
Do we need to worry about wild animals or attackers or anything?” He asked.
Marcson had rolled out his matt on the grasses and
he took off his boots. “No, we should be safe here. But I do have
my sword.” Marcson removed his sheath and placed it between them. “In Dossint
it is a sign of honor to lay ones sword between ones self and ones fellow man.”
“Makes sense.” Answered Eth. It meant that if
Marson fell asleep first he was at his mercy. Eth was thankful he didn’t have
to worry about this man. He seemed trustworthy, kind and faithful. Part of Eth
wondered if he had been born in this place what kind of man would he have
become? How did he measure up? He couldn’t fight with a sword. He didn’t know
how to hunt. He couldn’t track. What really did he have to offer anyone in this
world? But sleep got the better of his eyes.
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