A Secret Code Carved

I wake up beside this big gray rock. I feel fresh. I feel adventurous. I feel like today is a new day. I am not hungry, but I am not full either. I get up and look around. There is something familiar about this place, but I tell myself that today is a new day. I have no idea where I am, but somehow that does not trouble me. It looks like a forest, and there is an obvious trail ahead of me... a path on the ground. Was it made by man or just common usage? I can't quite tell if it's day or night; I can neither see the Sun or the Moon.

I start walking down the path and it feels great. I look at the fruitless trees and just feel happy. The trees look so green and beautiful. I keep walking and hope to myself that this feeling continues. Almost abruptly, I see the road split ahead. There is another trail branching off to the right. I stop at the center of the Y. I look down the new road. There is something about it that just looks so eerily familiar. Oh, the trees have apples! I look at the ripe apples, at their perfect balance of red and yellow and my mouth waters. Oh, they look so good. I was not hungry before, but those apples are sure making my stomach growl. I turn my head and look down the original path and am reminded of how green and happy it is. Where do I go? Should I keep going on the same trail or take this new, yet familiar trail? I hesitate for a split second.

So I take the new road and the first thing I do is reach out for an apple. I bite it. Oh, it's so juicy and sweet. I walk down the new path, with my mouth stuffed and my hands loaded with as many apples as they could carry. The trees are not as pretty but the apples sure are sweet. There is nothing that could possibly be better than this. I want to eat apples forever. Yet, some part of me deep inside misses the original road with the happy green trees. I don't think about it for long though. I feel a little tired from eating and collecting, but I almost feel hungry for more.

As I walk on, I see another trail branching off. I stop at the center of the Y. I look down the new road. Again, this new path just seems so familiar. I look closer and I see the trees teeming with the delicious fruit. Apples of all colours, even coming off the same tree! Red, yellow, green apples just so big and ripe waiting for me to eat them. With no hesitation this time, I go down the new trail. I jump around reaching for the apples. I take a bite off one and throw it away craving for the next. The juices flow down my chin as I chew with my mouth open. I walk and walk, eat and eat. I feel lost and tired, hungry with a full stomach.

I look at how big and sweet these apples have gotten, and I realize that I have lost track of how many side trails I've taken. I know that I will have to sleep very soon. My body is weary and I haven't gotten anywhere. I walk some more, carrying the apples, looking for a good place to rest. I see this little gray thing far away. For maybe the millionth time, a deja-vu strikes me.

I walk closer to the gray object while my brain tries to solve this puzzle, and while my body complains about its immediate need for rest. I see it now, so close and so clear. It's the big gray rock. I have been too stupid and too distracted to realize that this path is not man-made. Well, it is man-made if by 'man' you mean Me. My legs weaken, so I let go of the apples and drop to my knees leaning on the big gray rock. I look at it and smile, realizing that I have done this maybe thousands of times before. I lie on my back, as my brain and body shut down and go to sleep...

I wake up beside this big gray rock.......