The Traveler and the Lost Soul

A short story about the raw power of nature and the unexplained. A journey into the Aether.

He trudged on. The bottoms of his boots were soft with packed cold snow causing him an even greater irritation. He could feel his feet beginning to numb. The small burlap sack slinked over his shoulder weighed down with snow accumulating on top and began to sag him down. Cursing under his shakey breathe, he removed his scarf to rub his frozen nose. It was a very unpleasant feeling putting the scarf back over his mouth due to the wetness from his breathe. He was miserable.

Yet still he trudged on.

The wind carried a lost murmur on its shoulders as it brushed through the barren valley where the young traveler explored. A blizzard continued to rage against him, the snow traveling from its own origin : snow capped mountains not too far off in the distance. Defiant pines stood proud as the traveler burdened forward past them, their great trunks creaking and their entire bodies shuddering. Yet he could only hear the howling of the wind.

The sun had abandoned him not so long as an hour ago, and the cold strengthened, determined to bring the young man down. It consorted with the fierce weather and a strong gust bellowed. The traveler stumbled, causing a fresh pile of snow to fill his boots. He shivered as his ankles froze, his nose, his cheeks, his ears froze. He frowned, giving his deep grey eyes a sharper edge. The cold was not pleased and issued another, stronger gust. This time the traveler fell down to one knee and uttered a cry of anger. His burlap sack plummeted into a deep trench of snow, the contents near the top spilling out. He looked in dismay as his personal belongings, all he had left, were slowly burried under the falling snow.

He placed his strong hand onto his knee and tried to lift himself up, but to his surprise found his body wouldn't respond. He shuddered and began to lose all his feeling in his lower half. Falling forward onto his stomach, snow dug into his scarf and he felt the icy sting against his cheeks and nose. His eyes began to water from snowflakes which blew at him. He blinked the tears away, which were beginning to freeze on his numbing face.

As he blinked he saw a shadowy figure approaching him slowly. He began to grow very nervous. This mustn't be right. Nobody was in this desolate barren landscape. He panicked thinking he was hallucinating, or worse, falling asleep which meant death out here. he forced his eyes open, but found that they already were. And still his vision was blurring, fading. The figure held out its hand before he blacked out completely.




The traveler was in a field with long grass that swayed with the gentle wind. He laughed as he watched the clouds form into animals, objects, and people he knew. His brother was there in the clouds, waving. Then as the wind blew softly, his brother disappeared. His smile faded and he noticed he felt warm. Very warm. There was another soft murmur on the winds. Slowly everything began to transition into a small room with a fire pit as he awakened from his dream.

He blinked and felt a thick blanket upon him. He was sitting...
" Welcome. I'm glad you're awake. " a man said to him in a voice which seemed to fill the room with a strange aura, " It's terrible weather to be out, alone, in such a place as this...". The traveler groggily tried to mumble "where am I?". He cleared his throat and asked the question with clarity.
" It's obvious... you're out of the storm" the man smiled. His expression was somehow sad to the traveler even as he smiled.
" Thank you. I would've been finished had you not found me out there. Is this where you live? " The traveler asked. There was a slight uncomfortable silence until the man finally spoke.
" Not quite.. " the man laughed, again giving the traveler a sad uncomfortable feeling, " How are you feeling? "
The traveler grunted and looked down at his hands, which were curled into the grey blanket.
" I feel dizzy..." He hesitated and then asked, " Why did you choose to live here? ". There was another silence as the man appeared to be lost in deep thoughts.

The traveler directed his attention in the fire, going in and out of focus. His entire body was tired, and after a bit of examining, he noticed he was trembling. He looked down in his chair and noticed a small bowl of steaming water. He took it in his hands, which barely obeyed his commands. trying carefully not spill searing water on his lap, he took a sip and felt the hot rush against his tongue and down his throat. He looked up again at the man.

" You may not know ... but this mountain hasn't stopped snowing for aslong as I've been here... " the man said as he gazed at the delicate weaving of the hut's inner walls.

" Snow is a beautiful thing, don't you think? So delicate but beautiful nonetheless... ". He continued to stare the wall and frowned slightly.
" You shouldn't be wandering in such a place as this... one could easily become lost here. " The words struck as very odd to the traveler. He wondered who this man who had mysteriously come to save him could be. He had long white hair, almost silver, but didn't look older than twenty, perhaps thirty. The man smiled his sad smile once again at him.
" Yes, I can see that.... Not many people ever travel this far out." The traveler responded.
" Where are you headed traveler? " the man asked, genuinely curious.
" I am not sure. I go in whichever direction the wind blows against my face. " he said quietly. The man's eyes seemed tolost for a moment, unnerving the traveler. He had never met anyone so strange before. Not even the merchant from the last village he had visited. Indeed that was a strange man, but the one before him seemed unnatural... he couldn't wrap his mind around this feeling.
" I hear there is a rather strange desert past these mountains, and thick jungles beyond that, and even tales of mountains that belch fire and smoke in lands on the other side of the world. I would like to see them all. I travel from place to place to see what this world has to offer. In exchange, I give everything I have to the people I meet. It's my way of thanking the world for sharing with me it's beauty, and its challenge. " The traveler said proudly. The man nodded, seeming to understand exactly how he felt.
" That is a strange thing for a young man like you to say. But humbling in its own way. However... " he paused for a moment to regain his thoughts, and continued, " One only needs to look closer at his surroundings to find what it is you're looking for. You can travel the world and see every landscape it has to offer... but you cannot see the spirit of the world unless you look hard enough. Sometimes, the spirit of the world will look hard on it's own and find you ". This made the traveler a little irritated, but he was curious as to what the man meant.
" The spirit.... of the world? ". The man nodded.
" Yes. you speak of strange lands, of jungles heavy in life, of mountains that rain fire. Yet have you ever seen the glowing ribbons of the forest which breathe life? Have you heard the wind's murmur against your soul?". This excited the young traveler. He had never before heard of such tales.
" Where can I find such things? " he asked eagerly. The man pointed his head toward the door, motioning for him to go look.
" What... out there? I came from the valley, I saw no such things... " he said, his heart sinking. Perhaps the man was simply out of his mind and speaking in rambles.... But the man smiled once again.
" You will see if you look. ". The traveler, his curiosity peaked, slowly rose from his chair. He was remarked by the strength he had in his legs, which dared not move but less than an hour ago. He eyed the man in the corner of his eyes, who was still smiling his sad smile. The traveler walked to the door and realised he did not hear any wind. He opened the door to the hut and peered out. What he saw amazed him, surely his eyes were playing tricks, or he was simply still delirious. The snow had stopped, but in its placed gently fell glowing orbs of blue light. A strange glowing ribbon, exactly as the man had said, was seen twirling around the wind, around the tree trunks. Suddenly he noticed a hand on his shoulder, and felt eyes staring into him.
" I thought you said it never ceased to snow here? " the traveler asked in a voice that seemed distant.
" Where you came from, the snow is still falling. But here the snow takes the form of its other."
" Do you mean... these strange globes of light that fall and disappear into the snow? " he asked. The man nodded.
" This is no place for you to be traveler. You are very lucky however to have glimpsed a world which most may never see in all their lifetimes. Once you return to your world, the gift will not be lost. You say you thank the world for its sights by giving to strangers you do not know. Consider this a return gift from the world..." the man said as he placed his hand on the travelers shoulder. He suddenly felt weak once more and fell forward, losing vision before he hit the ground...



He woke in the spot where he had fallen. The wind had died down, allowing snow to fall gently. He felt strength and warmth return to his body and he got up on one leg. Brushing the packed snow off his arms and body, he picked up his belongings and placed them back in his burlap sack. He looked up and notice the faintest glimmer of a light, streaming through the air like a river. He noticed suddenly that the snow which fell gave off a faint blue glow. The night didn't seem as dark anymore.

Since the blizzard had calmed, he saw in the nearby distance a small hut. Excitedly, he ran through the snow, which piled into his boots once again. Had it not been just a hallucination? He bent over, wheezing from the strain of running through snow, leaning one arm against the hut. he called out to the old man, but heard only a few whispers in the wind replying to him. He went to the entrance and found it quite worn...

He peered inside but to his dismay found it completely barren. Snow had blanketed the floor and there was no fire in the pit. It was completely deserted. A strange sadness filled him as he slowly walked into the dark hut, looking around and trying to make sense of the situation. He sighed, watching his breathe in the frigid winter air. Suddenly an idea formed in his head.

The traveler bent over and with his gloved hand he drew into the snow " Thank You". He turned to leave and watched as the glowing snow fell upon the mountainous valley. Clutching the pack slung over his shoulder tightly, he waited at the entrance of the hut. There was no direction to the wind. He looked at his tracks in the snow which were beginning to be lost from the piling snow. Before him was a crossroad. He wondered which way he should take, when suddenly he felt a small breeze against his cheek which seemed to tell him. He smiled and understood. The traveler began to walk once more never looking back.

And so, he trudged on...

Author's Note

This was a work of love :) Any comments and suggestions appreciated.