Читать книгу The Great Mystery - Travis Ph.D. Slone - Страница 10

Eva knelt down to admire the craftsmanship and time required to construct such a beautiful and sturdy path. To her, it was a work of art. She ran her hand over its smooth stones as she dreamed of what the nearby town must be like. What a village it must be to have the luxury of time, she thought. Surely, much time, and a certain necessity, had inspired their people to build the stone path.

Where Eva had come from, such time and reason were nonexistent. Her family had spent the majority of their time hunting and gathering food, yet they were unable to store large reserves without spoilage. Such difficulties seemed to have been mastered by these mysterious new neighbors.

Having been sidetracked by their recent discovery, Eva had not noticed the tiny stream flowing in the woods on the other side of the path. She turned to Amir, hoping he would have the answers.

“So…what should we do now?” she asked.

“Well,” replied Amir, “if you’re asking me, I say we keep searching for the familiar paths from which we came. I’ve never seen this path before, and I don’t know where it goes.”

Eva was confident that his advice was sound, but could not resist the temptation of finding something new and exciting. Surely, she thought, there must be a village of some kind nearby.

In her mind, she rationalized why the new way was better. She felt that her simple life had little to offer, and that this fancy path would bring exciting adventure and meaning to her life. All she needed to do was convince Amir.

“We’re certainly nowhere near the other paths,” persuaded Eva. “We’ve been walking east for hours, and would have crossed one of them by now.”

Amir replied, “Perhaps we should go back. We must have walked over it in the storm last night without noticing.”

“No way,” argued Eva. “If we go back, we’ll be stuck out here again tonight. We should just take this path wherever it goes. You aren’t going to leave me out here alone, are you?”

She could see him thinking. Knowing she needed to pounce on the opportunity to bargain, she decided to offer a deal.

“I’ll tell you what,” she said, “you can choose which way we go. Shall we go left or right?”

A puzzled look crossed Amir’s face, letting Eva know that he was at least considering the option. He knew for certain that they would not find their paths before dark.

“Perhaps survival should be our primary consideration,” he said. “We need food, water, and shelter, and will most likely find it on this well made path.”

Strangely, Eva noticed, while the path seemed to have been made to endure heavy traffic, there was currently no one in sight. While it picked her curiosity, she wasn’t sure what to make of it, and had no reason to be suspicious.

“Fine then,” he said. “Let’s get going. We’ll go right.”

Amir was careful to observe the surroundings and not move out in haste. In doing so, he noticed the small stream in the woods on the other side of the path. The water flowed to the right, and Amir saw this as a clue. He explained his rationale to Eva.

“We’ll follow the way of the rain,” he said, “and make our way back home. Your village is by the water and so is mine. This stream surely feeds into a larger river. Perhaps even the one on which our villages lie, if not, we can ask for food and directions along the way.”

Eva was convinced and ready to go, so they stepped out onto the path together. Each glanced briefly to the left, and then followed the path in the direction of the flowing stream. As far as their eyes could see, they were alone in the forest. However, as they turned to head right, a frighteningly familiar voice whispered to them from behind. The eerie sound crept through the woods, causing them to stop in their tracks.

With shared emotion, they glanced briefly into one another’s eyes as they turned to see who it was. But to their surprise, no one was there.

They became uncomfortable by the mere thought of the mysterious voice, and goose bumps arose on their skin.

They paused to consider the possibilities. Could this be the same voice who had tricked them the day before? they thought. And if so, why was it calling to them?

Knowing the results of listening to the wind the first time, they would not make the same mistake again. After hearing nothing for a few moments, they looked back at one another, wondering if it had only been their imagination. But as soon as their fears had dissipated, it spoke to them yet again.

“Wait,” whispered the voice. “Do not run.”

This time, as they looked in the direction of the voice, an elderly woman appeared on the path, calmly walking toward them from the distance. Eva and Amir stared in awe at the unique characteristics of the woman. They had never seen her before, or anyone like her for that matter. Surely, she had not come from either of their villages.

Then, with a chilling likeness to the voice of the wind, the old woman called out to them by name. Amir and Eva stood frozen in the center of the path, their bodies trembling from both fear, and admiration.