The Long Road

I am walking down a road. In the beginning, there is heavy fog, and I can only see a tiny stretch of the road in front of me. I stumble on a few rocks at first but I quickly get back on my feet and soon enough I'm walking at a steady pace.

As I move forward, the fog lifts, or maybe my sight sharpens, I don't quite know. As a consequence, I begin to see a lot further ahead of me. I can see that the road goes on for much longer than I originally expected. At times, I stop walking and look back. I can still see the beginning of the road. I've made progress and that pleases me. But then I look forward again and I see that the road goes on for so long... I find that a little depressing at times...

I do not travel this road alone. Often I spot other travelers heading in the same direction. Sometimes, on sinuous parts of the road I manage to speak with those who are ahead of me. They tell me about the sights I have yet to see, and sometimes I wish I could just skip these parts of the road and hop along with them. But deep down I know that it's not worth cheating over. I will always know that I haven't traveled the road all the way if I start taking shortcuts.

There are travelers behind me also. Sometimes I'll let one or two catch up with me and we travel together for a while. Sometimes, in the sinuous parts, I cross people who are way behind and I try and encourage them with a few words of wisdom learnt along the way.

I reflect that some travelers move faster than others. They seem more dedicated, or perhaps they simply have more talent for walking. Once in a while, I meet up with a traveler who has stopped and settled down. I often think that they will be depressed or bitter about not having been able to travel further, but really most of them are happy. They stopped because they felt they had traveled enough for their own satisfaction, and simply don't wish to go further.

At first, the road was pretty straight, there was only one route so to speak. But as I move along, I realise that there are more and more alternate paths, and it's sometimes hard to choose which one to travel on. It's hit and miss mostly. Sometimes I choose a long route only to realise that it didn't get me much further down the road, sometimes I put a lot of effort on what looks like a hard path, and it really pays. But after a long while, I start to realise that the further I go, the steeper the road as a whole becomes, no matter which paths I choose. It takes me a lot more effort to cover the same distance than it used to.

There are distractions along the way. Some of the alternate routes end up being dead ends or winding paths that lead back to where I started. There are also many inns by the side of the road filled with laughter, seductive wenches, happy toddlers to entertain. So sometimes, I myself stop along the way. At first that made me feel guilty, but after a while I realise that I need those periods of rest to find confidence for the rest of the journey.

I can see the road all the way to the horizon now. I think I've finally figured out that there is no end to the road. No matter how much I walk down the long road, there will always be a longer stretch ahead of me. I have also realised that I will stop one day. There are those dedicated travelers who I believe will always keep walking until the day they die, and I truly admire that dedication. I think I don't have the willpower to do that myself. For now, I'm happy to continue to walk, but I know for a fact that I will settle down one day, and I'll still be happy with the journey I've made...

Comments

[christophe minier]

Hi Ben,
happy to walk with you now. From the beginning of that ride you have showed me so many roads I couldn't imagine before and met so different and fine people. I hope that walk will be continuing for a long while. therefore I'll keep you high in my heart.
Fucking bloody english, I could write you so more in french ;-)

[Bobbiegentry]

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

Your beautiful metaphoric text (a moving short-story) made me think of that poem by Robert Frost. It seems that you traveled a long way (maybe the one less traveled by), and you’re still on the road! You took unexplored paths, not just the expected itinerary, and henceforth you help travelers such as me, who are at the very beginning of a long route, sometimes lost in a foggy uncertainty, and show us how to keep our chin up.