Inspiration for this story came from two sources--a quote by Ella Winter "Don't you know you can't go home again?" and Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken
Two Paths
When we started our journey, we were more or less together. You--a little ways ahead. Me--a little ways behind. But together. Seeing the same trees. Smelling the same flowers. Feeling the same breeze.
The path forked. You continued on the same path. but I thought--. I thought maybe I could try this new path. This path took me over hills and past mountains. I saw the ocean and explored sandy beaches. It was very different in this new place, yet it felt like home. I felt more myself there than anywhere I'd ever lived. I grew. I changed. But I didn't forget the old path. Though I saw arbutus trees; I remembered birch and maple. Though I tasted blackberries; I remembered the smell of lilac bushes. I can always go back is what I thought.
One day I retraced the steps I'd taken so long ago. With each step I took I told myself that it would be nice to see maple trees, smell lilacs and see you again. I thought you, everything would have waited for me unchanged like in a time capsule.
But... A thick weaving of weeds obscured the path. I tripped over the vines. The thorns scrapped my hands and I bleed. Though I tried very hard I couldn't get through. I'd waited too long to go home. And this realization hurt.
Now when I think of you I know I'm flipping back pages. I know I'm remembering what was then but isn't now.
But what I've come to realize is that these changes don't diminish the happy times we once shared. Once upon a time... is a magical place.
photo by ldyck
Photo by Byron
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February on this blog
Sunday, February 23
Grandma's Knitting Needles Sing (children's story)
This children's story celebrates the bond between grandparents and grandchildren, introduces the art of knitting, and explains how wool is produced.
Please excuse me for getting political...
