It was the journey that called out to him. It was the chant of adventure that drew him out of the walls of his once loved reclusive dwelling. Abandoning possessions and discarding those things that seemed so shiny and valuable once, but now just reflected all the wasted time and ideals that he once cherished. Rusty trinkets piled up on tables and dust-fogged glass mirrors and windows no longer reflected the glimmer of the sun. There were dank, musty curtains that hung as if they were depressed, slouched over the tops of the rods above them. They once kept out sunlight, but as of this moment, they were sheer and could not convince the shiny aura of the sun to keep to itself. The cobwebs that floated at the tops of the walls and stretched out to greet the ceiling were even seeming to indicate that the element of air was encouraging him to drift outwards into the world as they 'pointed' towards the door that exposed the outside world.
He took a glance around himself, noting the wooden walls were groaning in their old age, and recoiled within himself as he took in all of the worthless treasures he had stockpiled. "This is what I've amounted to. This is what I have deem the value of myself to be.", he thought. As he pondered the vanity of everything, the journey once again summonsed him. He thought that maybe one day all of this would be difficult to turn his back on. But that was not the case.
He took a step towards the door and absorbed the vibrating creak of the ancient wooden floor boards as they cried to him, "Don't leave us! Stay for a while longer and let us hold you up!" But he knew the untruths of the boards and was quite aware that they could not sustain him. So he declared to them, "Shhhh... Hush now. You have served me well all these years, and now, you can rest from all your creaks and strains. Be at peace floor."
He continued towards the door with several more steps and then he heard the candles whisper to him, "But we share our light and warmth with you. Do you not love us?" But he knew that the reality of it all was that the candles would never be able to bless him the way the sun could. So to the candles he smiled and gently whispered back, "Candles, you know how much I have enjoyed your warmth and light, and indeed, you have helped to keep me alive all these years. Your comforting aroma alone has kept me from being lonely on desolate, frozen winter nights. You have been a good mistress to me. Now be at peace, candles, and know that you have pleased your master."
Again, he began to move intentionally towards that portal of freedom, but as he neared the door, it sobbed to him, "But have I not kept you warm, too? Have I not held out the blistering cold winds? And have I not kept the scalding summer sun at bay in the heat of the hot months? Have I not kept you safe from wild beasts and strangers with ill-intent schemes in mind?" But he knew the door was just an illusion and that even though the door was not lying, it was also deceived. A door can be knocked down. A door can even be avoided if a window was accessible instead. A door could not save his life, nor could a door keep him from fate. He smiled a warm smile at the door and said, "Yes, door. You have done all these things and I am truly grateful to you for your service to me. You are a fine door and I do not regret choosing you. Now be at peace, door, and once I have passed through you, you too will be able to rest your weary hinges and let your knob release its springs and be at ease."
He could no longer linger. He dared not tarry. The journey beckoned to him. He was enchanted with the possibilities out there. He had long dreamed of the salty spray of the ocean mists clinging to his beard and long hair. He could hear the laughter of the Seagulls and the giggles of the wind blowing across the waves. He had envisioned the high deserts with the crunchy sands and the mysterious water-filled cactus that secretly held the sweet elixir of life within. He fantasized about the heaven-reaching mountains with their noble peaks in the clouds that were forest ridden and clear stream striped with the wildlife prancing and dancing along the slopes. He had even dared to conjure up ideas of other planets, dimensions, solar systems and the like. There was no limit to him of the infinite possibilities the journey had to offer him in exchange for his 'comforts'.
As he turned the knob of the door, a choir of cries rang out to him from his treasured possessions that had become his burdens, pleading with him, "Don't leave us! Don't leave us! We will serve you! Don't leave us!..." But he had already made his peace with all of them. So he raised his hand to his mouth, kissed his palm and blew a kiss goodbye to all of them. He hoped that his treasures would have journeys of their own now, too. But in the end he was convinced of only one thing and only one thing made any sense to him at all- he had to journey...
