The different colours have morphed into a blur of green as I race faster and faster along the path. Flashes of brown and bright spots of sunlight infiltrate my vision occasionally, but for the most part all I can sense is the green colours whizzing by me and the sounds my body makes as it moves. The deafening thump of my heart as it works to pump oxygen to my cells. The wheeze of my breathe as I desperately try to expel the poisonous gases building up in my lungs. The scratching of my shoes on the dirt path disintegrating beneath me. All these sounds creating a symphony of noise as I sprint through the overgrown trees.
I’m not alone here. That is why I am running. Here in this place where thousand year old trees shoot up toward the heavens past the field of vision of the naked eye, like the Faraway Tree of Enid Blyton’s fantasy. Some of their trunks are so wide, that once a fire has roared through and gutted their inner core, a car is able to drive right through. This place hangs precariously from the bottom of the Earth. Her roots bound by gravity, but her urge to break free and soar higher than the clouds is felt by everyone here.
But everyone shouldn’t be here. In this forest where Giants rule and we are but another insignificant creature scurrying through the undergrowth. The comfort that comes from feeling so small is ruined by those chattering tourists. By those children squawking like parrots for more food. Those guides explaining the grand role they have in making this forest special, their carefully projected voices echoing through the trees.
So I run.
I run as fast as I can away from the noises. Away from the people. Until I can find a place where I am alone. Alone with the forest. Alone with the Universe. Left with my thoughts and my thoughts alone. To contemplate our place here. To contemplate the grand plan of the Universe. How our lives are so fleeting. Meer half second sparks in comparison with the life of these Giants.
I find my comfort here, hanging on the underside of the world, cowering beneath the shadow of these mighty trunks. To know that they will see more than I ever will, even though they spend their entire lives in one place. To know that wherever your path takes you, however you end your story, these Faraway trees are still there, holding up the sky, extending the Universes grand plan. Extending the potential for our own species to grow and evolve. To be greater than we have been. To appreciate Time.
And so I keep running, keep moving to see where this path may take me. Because here I learn that no matter where that path my lead, the world neither starts nor ends with us.
