The Long Road

This just came to me today. I know what it means for me, but everyone sees things differently.
Just wanted to share it and see what you all think.

The Long Road


My feet were aching as I walked. They were literally dragging on the dirt road as I tried to continue forward. It felt like I had been walking forever. Every time I looked up to see where I was, I just saw more road. There was nothing else, just the road before me. I kept on walking though, because my destination was just over the next hill. I could see it barely in the distance. Just a slight peek,just enough to let me know it was there. This is the place I am trying to reach, the city where all my dreams come true.


I wipe face with my arm. Looking down at my shirt, I see some of my skin has wiped off with the dirt. Scared I am now. Is it really worth all this? My body is falling apart and yet still I walk. My legs numb, my stomach feels as though I haven’t eaten in months, and still I walk. My arms are dead weight at my side, my skin is falling off and still I walk. My mouth is so dry; I can’t even produce spit anymore. My lips are cracking and sore, my eyes are almost swollen shut because of the dirt that is getting in them, and still I walk.

I want to stop walking, but just as I am about to give up, I look over the hill, and I see my destination. Always just over the hill. Always just a little bit farther. Always just one more step.

For the first time ever, I decide to look away from it. Still slowly putting one foot in front of the other, I look to my left. All this time and I never saw her. She had been walking right next to me all this time. She is staring at the same spot that I was, the same dot in the distance. We have the same destination. She is like me. Her clothes are ripped and dirty, mouth dry, lips cracked, everything is like me. And she is slowly walking, looking forward, trying to make her way to the city. The city that we can never get to. The city that is forever taunting us, coaxing us to keep going, telling us that we are almost there, but never letting us get closer.

I look to the right. A young man is beside me. He is also trying to make it to the city. Pure determination in his eyes as he takes another step, just one more step is all than he will be there. Always one more step.

I decide to stop. Just stop walking. Maybe we are not meant to ever make it. Maybe that is why the road is so hard. Maybe we are supposed to be exactly where we are and go no further. I turn around and look behind me. Thousands of people are behind me, all looking at the same spot, all trying to get to the city. Just one more step, just one more step and you will be there.

I want to get there, to make it to the city, but I am almost gone now. My body is shutting down; I have no more steps to give. I am done. I look back at all the people, all just as desperate as I am to make it there. All of them on their last step, but trying to take just one more, just one more.

I see someone stumble. His leg bends from his weight and he falls to one knee. His head is bent down for a moment; I can feel his frustration at having stumbled. He is done, I see him start to shake with tears, as he knows he is not going to make it to the city. Then I watch as he raises his head to look at his destination, the city where all your dreams come true. He tries to get up, but the weight is too much. He cannot carry it on his own. He is on his last step too.

I don’t know what I was thinking really. I just couldn’t bear to see someone fall. After all the hardship, after all the pain and suffering I endured to get here, I knew he had done the same. He gave everything he had and just couldn’t make it. He couldn’t make it on his own and truth be known, neither can I. But, maybe…

I take a step back ward, than I take another. Oh god, two steps back, what am I thinking? I look towards the city, unsure if this is what I want to do. I should be moving forward. Just one more step is all it would be. But I couldn’t just leave him there, could I? I reach down and pick up the guy who fell. I lift him up and wrap my arm around his torso. Together, we start walking forward. Together, we take one step, than another. My feet are not so heavy anymore. I feel a new surge of energy with every step we take. I look over at the guy I picked up and see him smiling. I know he feels it too. Suddenly, we both start running towards the city, together, each pulling his own weight, but helping the other to advance. Within a few moments the hill has come and gone. The journey that had taken a lifetime for me to do alone, now is taking moments to complete.

We stop at the gates of the city and look up. The guard looks at us in astonishment. “I’ve been watching all of you trying to make it here for years. Thousands walk the path alone and no one makes it. How did you figure it out? How did you get here?”

I look over at the guy beside me and smile. “He fell, I picked him up, and I guess he picked me up too, because if we hadn’t worked together to get here, neither one of us would have made it.”

Blend57