Walk With Me

“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