“Walk with me. Hold my hand and
trust me like you do your eyes”, he said.
She trembled as she held his
hand. She had only known him a little while but still trusted him.
“Where is he taking me? Is it
really okay to trust him? All the stories I have heard tell me that this could
lead me to my grave.” Her mind kept racing as she put one foot in front of the
other.
He was more of a stranger. A familiar face in
the photos she had seem of him, a voice she had gotten used to listening, but
seldom had they met. She hadn’t even met him in the company of his friends.
The sound of twigs breaking, the
smell of rains that were going to come and visions of everything that could
possibly go wrong. He did not say a word, kept walking and guiding her. She knew
he was walking in front of her. The only thing she could really feel was his
hand in hers.
Although she felt secure holding
his hand, she still could feel paranoia seep in. What if he let go of her hand
in the middle and she might not know the way out? She tightened her grip and
with eagerness to find out what lay at the end of this path, she almost urged
him to walk quicker.
Suddenly she sensed him pulling
her forward. A loose branch hurt her arm but she did not want to draw his
attention to it. She almost gulped her cry of pain and followed him with the
eagerness to see the end to this.
He finally stopped but did not say
a word. She let his hand loose. She removed her blindfold and tried to soak in
what lay in front of her.
Before her was a clear lake and
she could see snow covered mountains at a distance. The sun peeked through the
clouds. The light that touched the lake seemed to add to the beauty of the
place. The water was still and she bent down to see her reflection. Suddenly realizing
not seeing his face in the water she turned with alarm only to find him
crouching at a distance, looking at her.
The feeling of having found him
again took over her and she ran down to him to hug. Withdrawing herself slowly
she asked him, “Why did you bring me here?”
He smiled and looked at her as a
parent looks at their inquisitive child with adulation.
She urged him to answer and then
he finally said, “I at first wanted to bring you here just to show you the
place I found most serene. But then, I thought I might as well test you while
doing that.”
His smile broadened and turned
into a witty one as he knew what she would ask him next. Which, she did. “What
test?” She asked as she took a step back.
“I wanted to blindfold you at
first just for the surprise element, you see. But then I thought, I might as
well see if you would trust me to take you someplace safe. I knew you would
have doubts but I wanted to see what was greater, the trust or the doubt. I
could have got you from another route, but I wanted to cross the forest with
you to see if you would just drop your blindfold midway or ask me repeatedly
where we were going. I wanted to see if you also trusted me to save you from
the branches and all that could have been in there. But now I see I haven’t
done a good enough job.” His voice had a pang of guilt as he touched her arm
where she had been hurt.
She simply asked him to go on
with his explanation.
“Then I wanted to see your
reaction upon seeing the place. It was all planned, except the part where I
would want to see you from a distance rather than show you around. When we got
here, something in me wanted to step back and let you discover. I was almost
mesmerized when you kneeled down by the river. You made this place more perfect
for me somehow. And when you smiled at me and hugged me, I just realized that
this small walk, test or surprise, whatever you may like to call it, was a small
journey for me. I know I might have surprised you a little with the place but
you, you surprised me more. By not letting my hand go, by trusting me, and
letting me walk with you through it. Thank you for all of it, especially for
trusting me.”
When he finished talking she held his hand and made him look at their reflection in the water. She then put her arms around his neck and said, “Thank you for beginning this journey.”
THE END
