The Steward - Part 7

Adam begins his journey

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Adam was lost, well and truly lost. He was in a huge forest that was so dark he could hardly see the sky above him. He moved slowly so as to find a way round the low branches. He feared he was getting further and further away from where he wanted to be. But he had to go on. What else could he do? Maybe he would stumble upon a sign to reassure him that he was not too far off course. Something that might offer hope that he could get back home before the sun went down and it became impossible to see in front of him.

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Adam was a tall and good-looking young man of 17. He was a few weeks into the long summer break from school. Another month and he would be entering his final year - and the dreaded exams that marked the end of his schooldays. After that, who could tell? Maybe he would go to college. Maybe he would take off somewhere exotic and bum around for a while. He did not know and, to be honest, he was not too pushed one way or the other. Adam had inherited his daddy’s relaxed attitude to life, and he had turned out OK, hadn’t he? So Adam was not worrying about his future.

Unlike most of his schoolmates, Adam had not looked for a job while he was off school. He would not let thoughts of work and money prevent him from enjoying this precious time away from the books. Anyway mam and dad were not concerned about their son being jobless for the summer. So he felt no parental pressure to do what the other boys and girls were doing.

Adam liked his own company. It wasn’t that he was shy or lonely. In fact, he was a friendly chap, always smiling, always in good form. He just preferred being by himself, thinking about things and marvelling at the natural world around him.

One bright and sunny morning Adam decided to go for a hike. His parents had gone to the city for a few days and he was all alone in the house. So he felt under no obligation to be back at a given time. Adam set off with a knapsack on his back containing, among other things, some food and drink for his lunch. He had no particular destination in mind but he thought he would try a new route, somewhere unfamiliar. He did not expect to be gone for more than a few hours. So he reckoned he would be back in his familiar surroundings long before it got dark.

But now Adam had no idea where he was. Maybe he should have concentrated harder on the direction he was taking. A compass would have been handy, but he’d left his dad’s one at home. On the plus side he had his raingear and some food left. So, even allowing for a worst case scenario, it would not be disastrous if he had to stay out overnight.

Then he stopped suddenly. There was a funny-looking shape about 20 metres ahead - and it was moving! What was it? Something blowing in the breeze? But there was not a breath of air in the dank woods. Maybe it was an animal – hungry for prey? As Adam peered at whatever it was, it did not look like either of those things. It was difficult to make out in the gloomy forest - but it began to look like a man sitting under a big tree.

As Adam drew closer he could see that it was indeed a man, just sitting there! Whoever it was seemed preoccupied with a flower he must have plucked from the ground nearby and which he was turning aimlessly in his hand. The man did not look up as Adam got nearer. Maybe he was deaf? But no. As soon as Adam was beside him, the man spoke.

“Hello there. I was wondering when you’d show up. I knew you would, but I have been waiting quite a while. Anyway you’re here now. I’d like to tell you what you need to do in order to continue your journey.”

To say Adam was shocked by the stranger’s words would be an understatement. The very fact that anyone else would be in such a remote place was enough to give Adam the jitters. But to hear the man say that he had been waiting for Adam to appear was totally absurd. Maybe he, Adam, was hallucinating. He had been lost for hours and it was getting late. He had heard about people in similar situations going mad. Is that what was happening to him?

Then there was the man’s appearance. He was dressed in a light brown overcoat tied at the waist with a similarly-coloured belt. He was also wearing plain trousers and ordinary shoes, both a darker shade of brown than the coat. In his overall appearance the man looked a bit seedy, like a tramp perhaps or someone who had fallen on hard times. It was difficult to estimate the man’s age but, if Adam had to guess, he would have said mid-forties. Mousy hair and a soft face completed the picture.

Why was this strange man, who looked completely out of place, sitting here under a tree in a remote forest twirling a yellow flower in his hand? Adam just stared at the stranger and said nothing. What could he say? The man still made no eye contact with Adam, but continued to speak.

“I’m real alright. I’m here to help you find your way home. You can dismiss me as a mirage if you want, but that would be your loss. Why not simply listen to what I have to say and then make up your mind? Or you can just turn around now and go back the way you came.”

Adam kept quiet but glanced quickly over his left shoulder to see what was behind him. Instead of the darkening forest through which he had been journeying, all he could see was a kind of grey nothingness. He could not go back into that, could he?

As he turned to face the stranger again Adam noticed something in the undergrowth nearby. A few metres away a butterfly or a moth - no it was a butterfly - was fluttering and dancing on the air as it flew in and out of the leaves and branches. The thing that struck Adam most of all was that the butterfly was entirely white, dazzlingly so. In fact he had never seen anything so brilliantly white in all his life.

Adam then looked at the stranger, still sitting under the tree, still playing with that little flower in his hand.

“OK. I’m listening. Who are you and why are you here?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am and how I got here, but I do want to help you get back on the right track. So listen carefully. If you go down this trail here behind me it will lead you out onto a big road. If you follow that road you will find what you are looking for.”

Adam looked at where the man was indicating. Yes, there was a kind of pathway to the right that led off into the trees. Maybe he should go in that direction? But just then he was distracted by a movement to his left. That white butterfly was a little nearer now, still fluttering about, as if trying to attract his attention.

Adam thought for a few moments and then made up his mind. He spoke again.

“No, I’ll go this way”, he said, pointing towards the butterfly. “Wouldn’t you like to come with me?”

He smiled as he spoke to the man sitting on the ground in front of him. This time the stranger put the flower down on the ground and looked up at Adam for the first time.

“I’ll stay here, thanks.”

“But why?”

“I have no choice. I have to stay here.”

“No you don’t. Just stand up and we’ll get going.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I can’t stand up. My legs don’t work.”

“That’s ridiculous! How did you get here if you can’t walk?”

With that, the man vanished! One minute he was there, the next there was…nothing! Just a crumpled flower on the ground.

Before Adam could register his shock at what he had just seen, the butterfly came closer and Adam couldn’t avoid its wings flapping in his face. It seemed to be saying he should leave now.

So Adam turned and started walking as fast as he could away from that strange scene.

More in Part 8.