[Lanrete]: 546.Meditations.Life

You wake up one morning, a while before sunrise. The world is still shrouded in darkness, but before long, a pink blush begins to illuminate the horizon. Acting on some ancient instinct, you ease silently into your car and start to drive, with no clue where you are going or why. There is a destination that is calling to you, somewhere far off and unfamiliar. The sunrise is beautiful, fiery fingers take hold of the whole sky and do not relinquish their grip for a long, long time. As you drive, you watch the world come alive around you. Great cities, vast expanses of crops, and wild, tangled forests slip past you. You marvel at them for a moment, perhaps turn to look behind you as they fade past the horizon. You are excited, joyous to be embarking on this great journey, and the hours pass quickly. You are rushing onward, to a place that seems better than the one you have left far behind. The beautiful day passes, and its end is heralded by a wondrous sunset. Dusk falls, and the temperature drops dramatically. The pull of that unidentified place is stronger than ever. Soon, a full, silver moon rises. You have seen many things over the course of your travels, but this is the most moving of all. Mesmerized by its beauty, you nearly drive off the road. You break the trance, and keep driving, occasionally taking long glances at it before it sets. Now, you are driving down a dark road, late at night, with no moon to guide you. Solitary to the extreme, you have not even music to pass the long, dark hours. To stop driving, to delay from reaching your destination would be unthinkable. Your field of vision is limited to what the narrow, dim beams of your headlights illuminate, only a small sliver. You know that to either side of you, there are vast expanses of land, beautiful and sometimes terrible terrain that the blackness obscures. It is possible to see it, if you really want to. You could stop your car, get out, and replace your fading lights. You have the equipment, but it is hard to reach. The night is cold, and you would have to do it in the dark. No, you do not need to know what lies beyond. It is far easier to sit in your warm, comfortable seat and drive on in darkness. But then the weather turns foul, the road winds as though planned by a madman. You wish you had stopped while you still could, endured the discomfort, and widened your field of vision, but it is too late. Your knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel, you hunch forward as though it will help you see the road ahead. Oh, how you long to stop and wait out the raging storm, to blast the heat and fall asleep at the side of the road. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you know that you cannot. The reason is veiled, but you must drive on, must reach your distant destination. Harrowing hours pass, you drive through treacherous, icy passes and along slippery ledges barely wide enough for your vehicle. Still, you drive in silence, in solitude. Not once do you meet another living being, as much as you long for support.
Finally, when you have no clue how long you have driven, or where you are, you give up. You pull over, take off your seatbelt, turn up the heat, and drift off into sweet sleep at last. You realize in your last moments of consciousness that this is your destination, that really, there is no better place to go. Your brain, as it shuts down, is flooded with memories of the better parts of the journey, of the sunrise, the scenery, the wondrous cities, the full moon, it all comes rushing back. In that tiny moment, you know that it was not the destination, but the journey itself that was carrying you onward. There was never any final stop, no ultimate destination, but rather there was every beautiful moment along the way, each a small destination in itself. With this knowledge, you can rest quietly. Will you wake? Probably not. But you are peaceful, at rest. All is well, and your long journey is finally at its glorious end.