He stood carelessly on the jagged cliff edge. His limpid eyes
slowly scanned the ancient horizon in hopes of catching a brief reflection of a
time long ago. His mouth curled upwards into a serene smile and I watched as he
drew a breath… almost as if he was savoring the last drag of a cigarette. I
shivered as a cool breeze whipped across the rock face and came in contact with
the stagnant sweat that had collected on my lower back. He seemed unphased by
the December air and continued to listen to the prehistoric language the
Appalachians were softly whispering. Like the elementals of old… he desired
nothing more than to wander valleys, ford rivers and haunt mountaintops.
Men climb to visit summits but cannot reside a top of
mountains and for good reason. The conditions are oftentimes unfavorable and
harsh… water is scarce and the ground not bountiful for growth. Mankind belongs
to the valley. Man wasn’t designed to wander this world alone but instead to
live in harmony with one another. Man needs community to not only perpetuate
its species… but as a means to create… to inspire… to thrive. However; equally important… the spirit needs
its moments of solitude. The spirit can become diluted when the persistent and
never-ending clamor of the crowd takes precedence of life.
My stomach rumbled deeper than rolling thunder across vacant
Midwestern plains. I peeled open and broke off half of my white macadamia nut
breakfast bar and extended the other half to the wild spirit hopping around in
front of me. He smiled and silently declined... continuing his gleeful mountain
top dance along the cliff side.
I slumped against a rock and turned my face towards the
heavens to bask in the morning sun. Hours had passed since we tiptoed out of our
room and spilled into empty predawn streets for our first strides. We had
silently bounded alongside swift moving rivers before intricately lacing
together different footpaths leading us to our current location high above the
city.
I continued my detailed observation of this unique entity who
was joyfully celebrating life among the clouds. I gazed upon him with envious
eyes. He was completely and utterly blissful. In the few moments where he
actually stood still… I saw his spirit at peace. I observed a man that was free.
One not bound by the complexity this realm boasts. He wasn’t simply reacting to
the environment but unconditionally aware of his motives. He was in competition
with no man. He longed for something more meaningful… a deeper respect… one
that was not tied into contests among men. He yearned to receive the same
reverence from nature that he continuously poured into these mountains. Nature
will mercilessly beat you down. She will humble you in unimaginable ways. Ways
that are so unforgiving… so ruthless… that it will make one swear off revisiting
this type of darkness. He not only understood this concept and accepted it wholeheartedly…
but it haunted him... leaving him
continuously returning to the mountains to try to capture nature’s heart and
admiration.
The glimmering smile from his adventurous eyes indicated it
was time to continue our journey. I pulled my stiff, rigid body from my rocky
chair and peered out over the horizon one last time. He smiled before darting down
our elevated path. He was always one step ahead… playfully verifying his
superiority. We descended the mountain together… hugging close to the
ridgeline… in constant captivation of the expansive views. I found myself fascinated
at the way he gamboled about in an elegant fashion. His movements were free
flowing and ghost like as he scurried near sheer drop offs and navigated the
well-worn footpath with ease. His laughter was as pure and genuine as a newborn
baby playing peek-a-boo with its mother.
I felt a change in the air as we took a seat on a fallen
evergreen. His eyes had transitioned from a radiant green to a dismal grey. We
were a handful of miles from our final destination and he knew it would be many
moons before we returned to these mountains. He was content with the time spent
wandering the forests but yearned for the days where this type of outing would
be a daily ritual and not simply a visitation.
We arose in silence and quickly synced our strides as we
meandered along the heavily traversed section of trail. We were greeted with
smile after smile as we moved closer to our destination… each one softly articulating
a friendly unspoken greeting. We paused
momentarily along the final vantage point to soak in the Appalachian topography
one last time before our final descent.
I stepped down from the ledge onto the soft packed dirt and instantly
felt his absence. Other than silent communication and laughter, there had been
no exchange of actual dialogue between us. I turned and shielded my eyes from
the sun as I watched him slowly dissipate into the still mountain air.
Instantaneously I was engulfed in a cool breeze in which
carried a simple phrase. The two words slipped in through the openings on each
side of my head, trickled down my spine and resonated within my chest cavity.
“Stay haunted.”
Dear Lord,
If Heaven doesn’t have a vacancy when my time comes to bid
adieu to this realm… I pray You allow me to wander Your sweeping valleys, ford
Your flowing rivers and haunt Your prestigious mountaintops as a ghost within Your astonishing creation.
- Fiction -
