By Nikki
Date: 3 July 2000
The Traveler
A weary traveler passes through this world, covered in dust from the road, paying no attention to those that pass her by. She searches for that one bright moment that will make it all worthwhile. She holds tight to the belief that there is something out there that will wipe all the pain away. There must be something in this world; some place that this weary traveler can call her own. She has to think that there is one who will mend her heart, a place that will mend her soul. Without these beliefs, what is left? Why go on, if this is not to be?
So on she travels, through town and country, forever searching for that one thing which might bring her peace. Day after day, she walks along, sometimes pausing at what might be relief. Then she moves on, finding once more that it is not what she seeks. Night after night, she tosses and turns; dreaming still of that one who might make her whole again. With the dawn she wakes, only to begin again.
If such a time should come when hope can be no more, she will lay down her bag and give up. She will pass from this world to the next, only to begin a new journey. Will she be missed? It’s possible. Will she be forgotten? Some will, some won’t. There have been many that have touched her life, molding her into the person she is. She hopes that in some way she has also touched a few lives, offering what small part of herself she can.
This traveler before you has made friends, and enemies. In all of the places she has been, she takes memories from each, to remember not only the good, but also the bad. She has been knocked down and stepped on. She has also been helped up and dusted off. She carries the pictures of many in her head. Some she will remember forever, some will fade as time passes. The important ones will never be forgotten.
While there is still hope, the strength to go on can still be found. Deep down inside, in a place that no one has been able to touch, there is a hidden spring of strength, matched only by those who have traveled this road before her. Every now and then, she passes some sign that others have passed this way. These signs serve to give her courage to go on.
At the end of her journey, she knows what she will find. She will find the peace and comfort that she has been seeking. She will find the love of friends and family that she has turned her back on. She will find that special person waiting for her, arms open.
She will find all of these things in the most unlikely of places. She will find all of these things back at the beginning. From the place she started her journey, she will return. She will come full circle.
Even as our weary traveler knows how her tale ends, she cannot merely turn around and go back. She knows that in order to appreciate the things she had, she needed to leave them behind. For only when she left these things behind, could she ever truly realize what she had left. The pain and the torment she suffers on her journey only makes these things that much sweeter.
I look into the mirror, seeing our weary traveler, realizing that this one is me. I turn away, and step out onto the dusty road. This is one journey I will happily take, as I know that it will bring me back to the place I belong.
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