skid
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once again he found himself on the road. the next one, he told himself. the next time, ill get it right. shouldering his pack, he bent his head and trudged on. the gravel crunching beneath his worn out sandals, his coat, torn and tattered, flapping in the wind. the sun set silently in the distance, colouring the landscape with a slight pinkish hue. yet all the beauty around him, he did not see.
this time he had been lucky. it was he who had made the decision to leave, climbing over the city wall in the dead of the night. other times, not so. more often than not he found himself waking to the stench of a drain or stable, only to remember getting thrown out the night before. each time he felt the sting less, settling into the rhythm of it all. he would travel from town to town, searching for a place to settle in. get a job, a home, maybe even a family. but somehow he was never satisfied. each time he seemed to fit in, distant rumours of a town that was better, richer, happier, seemed to drift in. tempting him out onto the road again. he could still remember, no, thought he could remember the day he decided to seek out his own fortune. leaving his home behind, confident of finding a place for himself. surely there was somewhere out there where he would be happy. yet, after 5 years of wandering and searching, he was beginning to wonder if that place even existed. if his dreams could ever come true. maybe the old stories were just that. stories. tales of an imagined past. of warriors and kings that could never survive in the real world. the world with its dystopian horrors and conflicting ambitions.
he looked up. there was no one else on the road, at least not in these deserted parts. ah the road. once a symbol of hope. of dreams. the proud guards at each checkpoint, the glowing lanterns that lit the way. but now it was just a relic of the old empire. a silent remember of times past, fallen into disrepair. just like so many other things.
he didn’t always travel alone, as he did now. companionship came and went. some of them left him, getting tired of his so-called escapades. others he left, feeling they would only weigh him down with their lack of stomach for adventure. either way, he was now by himself. the lone traveller shuffling down that long road, softly whistling a haunting tune.
and as the last rays of the sun passed behind the mountains, he thought he glimpsed a reflection of a tower. a shining tower atop a hill. could it be that in the distance lay what he sought? that the years of searching would eventually pay off? that it wasnt all for nothing?
no matter. he had time to spare. the questions could wait for another day.
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picasaweb.google.com/danielyeews/OCS
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chapter 139 of naruto. i blame zhang for getting me addicted to a never-ending series.
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maybe, just maybe