Author: zenor
Date:Jul 9 2008
It was such a usual day, nothing special had happened. Except... the sun shined; it was hot. A man was sweating, he just relaxed and watched very amazed at the sky. Could it be that he had just awoken? He thought he had slept hours, but the sun hadn't moved, not a bit. Time seemed to be still. Odd, he felt the wind, he saw flying birds, and only the sun was still. Beneath his feet he felt a soft ground waiting; grass softly touched his lower legs. His mind wandered and some thoughts flew. There was a sound, not so different than usual but enough. Hearing something unique is strange when everything dear to you seem to be lost. His body moved towards the sound, the feet moved without an instruction. Smoothly everything went past him. Some birches appeared waving some leaves for him. The path he walked without knowing where seemed to change screwy. It was wearisome to walk where stones became larger, hills matured higher, and the sun burned. It was such a surprising trip; only beasts surrounded him. He had walked this path so many times, and this was first time when he didn't meet any traces of man. No houses, no roads... he was terrified - alone in some mythic place. So vivid was everything around, the beasts walked in the same path - everywhere. A bear roared to him, birds chirped to him, snakes coiled... Something special it was, all those animals gawked at him like he was different from their usual routines. Nothing was as usual. The sun was still. He saw some nocturnal animals wandering in the wilderness in the daytime. He squinted, how could it be? Walking such a familiar trail and everything being so odd, it felt like a nightmare. As he walked on his trail, he suddenly stopped. He saw his friend's head hanging in a tree, nothing else, just the head! He stared into his friend's eyes, which were red like the demon's eyes. There was no blood, just the accusing stare. The sound - it came back and his feet strolled towards the unknown end of the trail. The trail was wild, only beast's tracks were found. He didn't have time to wonder what was going on. Everything was like before. Just the touch of human life was missing. There where houses were before, he found nothing, some trees, bushes, and animals. The sun was still. He was pondering at what had happened, when a large white bear growled him and rose to stand on only for two feet. His settled walk stopped and he tumbled against the bear. They rolled over and over. Now he saw, where the sound came from. It was from a building. When he tried to see the highest tower, he couldn't. As he tried to find a word to define its beauty, nothing came in his mind. And in the gate he saw pictures of human figures - the first after his friend's head. He now had gotten his body under control. He laughed loonily. The bear behind him watched him seriously, appraising him. The man's eyes followed the lines of figures. They were so familiar, he took some steps closer, and tears poured from his eyes. The first of the figures was his beloved, the second was his son. He took slow steps and tumbled before them. His wailing was reckless. No pleasure was near, the forest heard for a long time, the first human cries! Only sorrow flew over the trees, the hills, and the streams. He mourned in his spot hours, days. How could man be so alone? Time didn't have matter. The sun was still. When he raised his hopeless eyes to look again those painful figures, they were changed. They were statues of strange elegance, near human, but so full of love, the love of nature. As he stared into them, he was overwhelmed by their grace. He felt his pain was cleaned from his soul by the closeness of the bare nature. Over the gate were strange symbols. They didn't associate with anything he had seen before. As the beauty of the building grew and his interest in it faded he observed his surroundings. Many beasts had come to him, they all stared. The white bear was still closest, just at an arm's reach. He softly moved his hand to touch the fur. The bear came closer; its wet nose touched his chest. And the sun exploded. The sun whirled over the sky so fast that there was just a slight difference where the light came. It was like darkness avoided light. And nothing was still. In that spot were only the loneliest man on planet and the white bear. In no time he fell asleep. As he awoke, the bear was alongside him. He felt that the sun moved! Nothing had ever been so great! His horror retreated from his sore soul. But nothing else had changed. He felt the bear's touch and as he dropped his glance, the bear started to go inside the building. The man's soft guiding hand touched in the bear's neck, the bear turned its asking glare, and he thought that it couldn't be that nature is so harmonious there. But as he tried to walk away from the building, the beasts made a circle to block him. What had he done to deserve this life without others - human beings, alone? The bear pushed him gently towards the gate, and this time he took those footsteps. Nothing inside the building was proper. Corridor was empty, no furniture anywhere. Only one long corridor and a plain door were found. The walls were white, marble white. The ground was soft grass. He walked up to the door, touched it, and he burst full of emotions! The walls vanished, everything around him vanished, and his shock was perfect. His blind stare followed emptiness; only the plain door was spared from passing. Life was still. He tried to move away and failed. He had only one thing to do. He released his weak touch from the door. His mind relieved from soreness. There was no pain, no delight, nothing. There was nothing for him to be... his mind broke through the plain door, destroyed all the walls of the dream. Nothing was ever again the same. He felt the wet nose touching his back, turned... and life was again. The sun wasn't still. Life wasn't still. Everything was so whole. The man awoke to his usual day, in his side was the white bear, and he touched its beautiful fur. The bear growled a bit and gave one ingenious glance. He felt smooth words in his mind, the way of nature. "Nothing is better than life with others."