Jet Lag
A story for you, written early one morning when jet lag had me in its grip.
A path to the beach, Vancouver Island. Photo: Tanya Clarke 2021
In 2016, my family and I came to Vancouver on a trip, a year before we moved here.
The flight from the UK is long and tiring, and jet lag had me in its grip. I woke up one morning at about half-past four. The rest of my family was fast asleep. I woke up with a story in my head. I had my notebook but couldn't find a pen. All I could find to write with was a hotel pencil. I sat by the window and wrote down the story in my head. I've found it and reproduce it for you here. It has some influences of Alice in Wonderland mixed with a fairy tale. I've no idea where it came from but there it was in my head that morning almost perfectly formed.
Aside from a few edits to make it more readable, here it is unchanged.
The Winding Path
In a land far away, a family lived - the mother, the father and a young girl. The girl was happy. She loved to turn cartwheels in the garden, play with her dog and could often be found gazing at the moon and the stars in wonder.
One day the father said he had to leave and go to war. The girl didn't understand. She watched her father leave with an emptiness inside.
Some months later the father returned, his face worn and his body marked with battle. He had changed. He seemed bigger than before, his voice louder and more severe. He shouted at the girl who stood firm in the wind of his anger, unable to say a word.
The following month, the father had to leave again. Another war. He was needed.
The girl watched him leave. She heaved a sigh and hung her head. She tried to tell her mother how she felt but the mother was lost in her own difficulties. The girl took it upon herself to find someone, someone who might help her with her feelings.
She left her home and followed The Path of Personal Growth until she met a Wise Woman. The Wise Woman listened to the girl's struggles and nodded. Eventually, she spoke.
"I'm afraid I have some sad news. Your father has died, killed in a war that wasn't his own. You must be a warrior now. You must learn to find your way."
The girl stared in silence. With a heavy heart, she returned to her mother with the terrible news. Her mother said nothing. She opened The Cupboard of Despair, climbed in and locked it. For days, she cried silently. She couldn't bring herself to tell the girl that everything would be okay.
The girl packed a small bag and left the place of her birth. She walked for hours until she found The Bridge of the Future. Tentatively she stretched out a foot and tapped it, testing it for stability. It wobbled a little but seemed strong enough to hold her weight. She began to walk.
As the sun began to sink low in the sky, the girl stopped and looked behind her. The place she used to live had become tiny dots on the horizon. She hadn't noticed how high she was. When she looked ahead, there was nothing. She continued along The Bridge of the Future, lost in her purpose.
Soon enough she came upon a tree with a small door labelled The Door of No Return. She turned the handle and pulled. The door opened with a rusty creak and the girl stepped through carefully. Finding firm ground, she began to walk again. After a while, water began to lap around her ankles and finally became so deep she had to swim. As she swam, she looked down under the water. The bottom of the lake vanished underneath her into dark chasms. She turned herself up onto her back to float and gaze at the stars. Finally, she came to shore and walked up onto a pebble beach. Tired from all the swimming, the girl rested against a smooth boulder. Ahead of her lay two paths signposted: This Way and That Way. The girl looked at each one and frowned. She closed her eyes and chose This Way.
The girl walked and climbed and walked and climbed. She turned sharply at the sound of snorting behind her. She came face to face with a large heaving bull. The girl lunged forward and grabbed its horns. The bull went quiet and still. For some reason that escaped the girl, she decided the bull should come with her. The girl and the bull climbed higher and higher until they reached the peak of the mountain. There they stopped.
The girl looked out across her journey. She saw in the distance her home. She saw her mother looking out of the window searching for her daughter. She saw her father pale, ghostly, waiting. The girl sighed. She sat down and wrote a letter to her mother. She murmured a wish to her father. When she'd finished she stood tall. She grabbed the bull once more by the horns and kissed it firmly on its cheek. In turn, the bull gave the girl a gentle push onto the winding, twisting Path of Now.
