The Traveler

The morning dew permeates to where the level of discomfort is enough to bring him out of sleep. Behind shuttered eyes, like he has done a thousand times before, reaches for Izzo before the thought of her not being there has his eyelids rolling up in taking in the predawn.

There is not a sound to speak of, just a gentle silence that has him slipping back to his subconscious reliving the moment of his first encounter being a purple bumblebee and a monarch butterfly sharing a flower that still has him wondering what is being said when what centers, is the roadside inn filled with sad looking people hugging kids that roll aside just so the woman can sit across from him. Two days, Traveler. Attached to all of this is Lilly playing nursemaid to a dog that has him deciding that he should get his day started by rekindling last night’s fire.

Prepping for the tea yet to be brewed, with this part of world still asleep, what slips up front is the three men transporting stolen goods. Picturing their bodies left for the woodland scavengers, the reward is having the child back to its mother. And as for Lilly, they will part ways which will leave him to the task of bringing preacher Tom before the council. The charge before the man is building an army made up of throngs of people who have walked for miles just to listen to him speak. Drifting back to where Izzo is walking with him to the great hall, she spoke of paying attention to the little things. Looking for shelter within the flames, he has no choice, and keeping tuned to the crackling fire, the sky is shifting to that deep azure that has him reaching inside his breast pocket. Tin in hand, one more leaf is pulled free before leaf is placed on the surface of the water. With tin capped, and put away, Lilly and the injured dog will slow him down. Outside of that, wonders how long girls her age sleep. Either way, both she and the dog will need nourishment and stuck with being out of smoked fish, feels obligated to provide but is held back until the shadows recede a little more. Filling the gap is his want of home and knowing it best, puts his want aside when out from the tent is a yip followed up with Lilly yelling about something. Fear of awakening has him noting that the tea is not even close to being ready and with nothing to curb either one’s appetite, frantic he becomes until the world within the tent quiets. Having a soft heart balanced against a hardened soul is not easy.