I Trudge On

I Trudge On
Cracks in the sole of my shoes began to manifest themselves as I tread on wet ground. The ground I usually encounter while on a walk isn’t usually wet, but because of frequent rains, it was quite wet today. Water began to seep into my shoes; soon, my socks were soaked in water, and so were my feet. Anyway, I trudge on simply on because there isn’t another option before me.

I don’t know what would have happened had I had a lot of options before me; what I know is that I must trudge on. I don’t have the slightest image of my destination. I don’t need one now. All I know is that if I pause at this juncture, I face the predicament of being comprehensively soaked in water. So, I move on. It does get a bit uncomfortable in a while. Water gradually begins to drag me down to the ground where I stand, but I am determined to move on to a destination I can’t see.

The invisibility of my destination makes it all the more exciting and enticing. I really don’t know what reward awaits me at the end of the road. It is shrouded in a mystery.  The mystery gets deeper and darker as I move on. All said and done, there is certainly a hope that it is something quite exciting and good I shall encounter at the other end, and this is what pulls me towards it.

The very consciousness of it being sought by others makes it all the more precious and desirable. There are times when I rush ahead in the hope of getting to the other end sooner than anyone else. I really don’t know if it is worth any importance I give it. The anticipation of getting to a lot of excitement rises over and above everything I know.  I begin to doubt if touching  a destination is more important than the journey.

A lot of water has found itself in my shoes over a long period of time. It is bogging me down. The journey has begun to become quite uncomfortable. I only have to take off my shoes and the feeling of being dragged down won’t be there, I know. But then, I’m not sure if I want to get rid of the feeling of being pulled down to the ground. It is one of the elements that make me want to fly high, and I really want to fly higher than anyone else.

I don’t think I would have harboured such ambitions had I not been bogged down by so much water and muck accumulated in my shoes. I wouldn’t have wanted to soar high, and I wouldn’t have wanted any wings to fly high. As it is, I want some wings to enable me to fly to a higher point every single day. A lust for these wings is what is going to propel me to fight against the exigencies of the world I live in. I don’t know if it is as important to soar high in the sky as it has been made to appear to me. I don’t know if it is as important to develop some wings to fly high. I sometimes wonder if I should thank Allah for the cracks developed in the sole of my shoes.

Dissonance generated by water beneath my feet has reached a zenith. I shall certainly take off my shoes  when I reach a dry spot, but there  doesn’t seem to be a dry spot in sight. The ground I’m walking on is completely drenched in water. Apparently, it rained a lot last night. The only consolation for me is the sight of a fellow mortal who also finds it difficult to walk because of the intense humid conditions. My heart leaps up through the proverbial rainbow when it spots the shape of a woman pulling herself along. Apparently, she finds it difficult to walk along too.

This is quite like Adam feeling lonely in paradise, and discovering a companion in Eve. My heart skipped a beat, but renewed its daily toil in a while. As I discovered, her progress was also hampered by virtue of her coat which was rendered heavy because it was drenched heavily in rain. Virtually, both of us were waiting eagerly for the clouds above us to clear away and a bright sun to shine.

It is the only way out of our problems, I realised as several aeons of time went by without a ceremony. More and more time is going to pass by, and ultimately, the sun is going to shine in the horizon. Even then, it is going to take some more time before life limps back to normal, before any of us can walk normally.

I sometimes wonder what made me wander out of the security of my home that brought me to the plight I find myself in. I don’t know what prodded her to wander out in such bad weather. Apparently, we were destined to meet in adverse conditions. The latter add weight to the values of our meeting. We met when both of us were pining for the sun to shine. Sorrow makes strange bedfellows, it is said. The bad weather certainly brought us together, and I hope it is going to keep us together for  a long time. It would certainly have been a different story had the weather been good.

I managed to wriggle my feet out of my shoes, while she threw away her wet coat in disgust. I found myself barefooted in the swamp around me, while she found herself battling elements of nature with only her clothes that were getting wet with every aeon of time that passed by. My shoes were not in a position where I could find myself in again, while her coat was wet beyond any point of recovery. Practically, we were helpless before whatever Allah had destined for us. I have never had powers to counter my fate; I didn’t have them now either.

I simply trudge on in quest of a higher zenith.