My Companion and I

Gregory Watson

Dry, dusty, and dirty, the well-worn road stretched deep into the ancient forest. It was almost familiar walking along this path as many clearly had walked here prior to myself, yet it felt eerie at the same time. An unsettling quiet seemed to travel as my companion—a silence that sent shivers down one’s spine. Usually, when on a path such as this, birds can be heard fluttering above, while critters will be scuttling to and fro, through the brush, up trees, and sometimes even in front of me. But today, there was nothing; not the tiniest crack of a branch or buzz of a bug could be found. Still, I kept walking along this dark, desolate path for what felt like hours. Just me and my silent companion.

During my travel along this path, the further along I got, the less light filtered through the green leaves above, leaving only slivers of sunshine where there was no foliage to block it. At times like this, somehow, I’m always reminded of how forgetful I am when it comes to bringing things on a walk, such as a light now that it was dark. Despite this, the talks I began to have with my companion brought almost a clarity to the whole ordeal. Sometimes, I wouldn’t even say something out loud, and it would still respond to me. Wonder what time it is, I would think.

Without missing a beat, my companion would answer, Well, you’re the one with the watch, why don't you tell me? Then, everything would go back to silence, as I realized it was right, and I would check my watch, take a bite of food, or solve whatever issue I had just asked about.

However, as my trip dragged on, longer and longer, my companion grew more restless, as if it were a dog having been stuck in a cage, and all it wanted was to get out. It went from this silent observer of my actions, giver of small wisdoms, to this voice, refusing my vow of inaction, my promise to keep going forward. If I stopped for the slightest sip of water, my companion would howl at me, screaming to do what it told me to, whether climb a tree, jump into that river over there, or do any manner of crazy things. Yet each time my companion would start up, I tried to tune it out by continuing along the path ahead of me. But even as my will to continue grew, my companion would not cease its efforts to derail me, whether for just a second or permanently.

I decided I still needed to push on, just one more step. Then another. And another. But time after time, step after step, regardless of my deepest desire to continue, my companion would offer up some ideas to me.

Hey, that looks like a nice tree to climb over there. No, the one with the clear shot from some branches to the ground.

Even though I wanted to ignore it, a break did sound nice. That will I had grown started to fade, leaving only my companion chuckling like he had just won a game even though there were still moves to be made. I made the choice to listen to my companion and head over to climb the tree and rest. My journey was over.