By late afternoon she had made it to the mouth of the cave.  The day's heat was tempered by the cool stillness of the dark, rocky shelter.  She dropped her pack at the entrance and explored her temporary home.  It was shallow and dry, but a number of full water jugs were tucked against the back wall.  There was a bundle of straw, a bit of kindling and a stock of firewood.  The blackened floor of the cave's entrance gave evidence of the many fires that had built in times past.  She briefly wondered who these others were that came before her, but set that aside as she focused on her own spiritual journey.

the weight carried

With her path clear and her end goal straight ahead, she no longer needed to focus on her surroundings. The quietness around her and her steady footfall lured her thoughts away from the present and took her to the past, the future, what was, and what might of been. Her looming choice weighed heavily upon her. Whatever she decided, she would disappoint someone. The more she thought about it, the heavier her pack seemed to become; the more her legs felt like they were treading through clinging mud. She snapped herself back to the present. Only now, only this moment matters, she reminded herself. She was surprised to see her destination was already in sight.

In the Morning

She drifted off and woke with the sunrise.  Sitting up, she noted that her body was losing it's stiffness.  She rolled up her bag and cinched it to her pack before eating a handful of dried fruit.  There was enough water it make it to the cave.  There she would find supplies laid in for the next part of her pilgrimage.  Better get moving before the sun started to bake both the earth and everything foolish enough to be out of the shade.  Her boots crunched quietly on the desert floor and she could hear the scooting and slithering of the creatures that made their home in this place, scattering at her approach.
The mountains started to grow as she neared them and her breathing seemed to match the rhythm she felt in the morning heat.

alone

In a way, she had never felt so alone. Although the desert was full of creatures, it was likely that there was not a human around for miles. It had been days since she had spoken to one, and she didn't feel like it would be so strange to slip away into a world of solitude- to forget language and human culture, and just live as part of the natural world. In this sense she felt more connected than ever before. That she was part of everything else- there were no separations between her and the rocks and the brush and the trees and mice and the moon. Even the things she feared- coyotes, snakes, starvation, thirst, the blistering heat of midday and the piercing cold of the night- those things were part of her, too.

The Story Begins

The stars began to emerge from the darkening sky as she lay on her back, watching the heavens. The heat of the day had dissipated and she snuggled deeper into her mummy bag, grateful for its comforting closeness. The earth beneath her was hard packed dirt, ground that had not felt rain in long months. A rich combination of dust, wild sage, and the distant musk of wild animal filled her nose as she breathed in, thinking of the events of the past few days that had brought her to just this exact place at this exact time.  As she watched the Milky Way appear in it's pale, swath across the deepening night sky, she knew she would have to decide.