The Light

A ragged breath comes from a lone traveler. His heavy leather boots lift slowly, and fall back down to the ground with a hard stomp. Sweat protrudes from his brow as the heat beats against his skin. The drops of salty water slid down his dirty forehead and sting into his eyes.  Clang, clatter, clop, sings the leather sack that slides across the ground behind him, his aching arm clutching to its strings.  The sand shifts from under him. Constantly changing from rocks, to dirt, then to sand all over again. He’s forgotten how long he’s been walking. He’s forgotten how long it’s been since he has seen another face. The only thing that comforts him is that clang, clatter, clop that sings behind him. 

He never looks back. The light in front of him is all he can see, though lately he noticed that the once blazing light has now grown small into a little bobbing orb.  Sometimes he thinks he’s only a few more feet from it, then comes to the horrible biting realization that it still could be miles and miles away. 

Sand and dirt and rocks, that’s the only other thing that goes for miles and miles and miles. 

His mouth is dry now, his lips screaming in blistering pain. 

He just needs to get to that light. 

His mind wanders, contemplating the innermost demons inside of him. The weight of the bag grows with every fleeting thought.  His eyes wander back up to the light, his heart sinking lower than he could ever imagine.  

It had shrunk into a pin needle, barely visible to the naked eye.

His knees gave way, sinking deeply into the warm sand. His heart beat strongly inside his chest, causing the breath to leave his lungs.  His ears rang in the silence, and his sore throat let out a weak cry. 

It is over now. 

He sat there, tears streaming down his face, his eyes still looking at the little star of light that was an eternity away. 

“Cheers mate.” A voice broke the never ending silence. 

The man’s head slowly turned from the pin needle of light, noticing a glowing white fox sitting right next to him. 

“Greetings.” The man said, his voice hoarse and scratchy. 

“Nice day for a strowl isn’t it?” The fox said.  

The man didn’t know how to respond to this.  For him, it had been a milenia of walking, pulling, crying… Bleeding. 

“I suppose.” Is all he could muster. 

“Any chance I could get some water from you? I’m parched.” The fox said, smiling. Its eyes were kind. The man could tell that it wasn’t mischievous, regardless of what humanity said about its kind. He could tell the request was genuine. How could he explain to the creature that he had been without water for years. 

“Sorry,” The man replied. “I haven’t gotten any.”

The creature tilted its head, clearly confused. “Oh, sorry about that. I assumed you were a well prepared man, seeing that large sack behind you.”  The fox’s nose pointed behind the man, causing him to finally look back.

His eyes widened, a shuddered gasp filling his lungs. 

A large black mass sat behind him, towering over him.  The only thing that still resembled the once small pack was the chipping leather. 

The man’s head turned back to the fox. “I- I don’t know how… What.”

The fox nodded, as if knowing what the man was trying to say. 

“It seems you’ve been collecting some important things. I’m a collector myself.” The fox looked back at the pack. “But i’ve got to commend your strength, it’s got to be very heavy carrying all of that at once.”

The man noticed he was still tightly gripping onto the string of the sack, his hand now unable to loosen its hold. 

“Could I ask, could you just take a peek in that sac and see if there is any water? I wouldn’t be surprised if you accidentally misplaced some somewhere in that mass of a mountain.”

The man regarded the sac again, then looked back over at the fox. His eyes widened even more.

The creature that had been a fox was no longer a fox. It glowed like the fox and it sat like the fox, but what now sat in front of him was no longer a fox but a tall deer. 

“If it’s not too much to ask,” The creature said, still smiling. 

The man shook his head. “No, it’s not too much to ask.” 

He turned back towards the sac, ignoring the aching in his muscles as he moved.  He grunted in pain, his hand shaking as he willed it to open and let go of the string.  He rubbed it gingerly with his other hand, then slowly opened the sack. 

The deer sat up and walked over to the man, illuminating the things that were within.  Quietly the man got to work, reaching in and pulling out a jumble of miscellaneous things.  

“What’s that?” The creature would sometimes ask. 

“A coffee mug. My father would drink from it every morning.”

“And that?”

“A rock from my fireplace. On cold nights my family would sit in front of it and talk about our favorite part of the day.” 

“Oh that’s pretty.”

“This was my favorite Christmas ornament. Every Christmas I would play with it as my mother put Christmas decorations on the tree.” 

“Oh, what about that?”

“My wife’s wedding ring, we said our vows during a stormy night, but it was the most beautiful night I’ve ever had.”

One by one the things came out of the sac, cluttering all around the man.  

Finally the last thing came out of the sac.

It was a toy airplane, red in color, made of iron. 

The man’s arms fell in his lap, the little plane resting in them. 

“No water.” He muttered.

“I know.” The voice came from right next to him.  The man’s head slowly turned, sensing something different from the voice.  

His eyes met another’s deep gaze. 

Another man sat next to him, his hair as white as snow, eyes blazing like a fire. He had a sad smile on his lips.  

He lifted his hand and rested it on the tired man’s shoulders. 

“That looks like something special.” He nodded towards the airplane. 

The tired man looked down at the red toy. 

“It was my dream.” He muttered.

The white haired man nodded slowly, “I know.” 

He tugged the man’s shoulder, causing the tired man to turn and look into his eyes.

“Will you give it to me?” He asked. 

The tired man felt his heart rise up in his chest, an anxious and fearful feeling coming over him. He opened his mouth to shout ‘no’, but the cry died in his throat as another feeling bloomed inside his chest.  

He looked down at the red object, then slowly raised his hands and handed it to the man in white.

“You can have it all.” The tired man said. 

The man in white gingerly took the red plane, taking his white garments and rubbing them over the old grime that clung to the toy. He smiled. 

“You better continue your walk. The day is only going to get better.” 

The tired man noticed something that he hadn’t seen in a while.  His shadow grew further and further away from him, causing him to turn away from the empty sack and see a growing light ahead of him.  

He leapt up off the ground, eyes widening as the light grew into the horizon.  He looked down at the man in white, who sat amidst all of his old things.  

“It does look like a good day for a walk.” He muttered, the thirst that had been with him for years finally starting to leave his lips. 

He stepped forward,noticing that the shifting sand was turned to dirt.  He took another step, noticing a lightness overcoming him. Another step and he found his strength returning.  

After every slow step a peppier step would follow. Before the man could realize what was happening he found himself running.  The dirt turned to rock, then the rock turned to grass, and the grass turned to pasture.  The light extended through the horizon, flowing over him and behind him.  He suddenly stopped running, taking in deep clean breaths. The path before him is still ever growing, but no longer into a desert but a lush green paradise. He looked behind him, finding the path that he had come from to be lush and green as well, a small pin needle of darkness barely seen by the naked eye showed him where he had come from.

A presence could suddenly be felt next to him. He whipped around, finding the man in white standing next to him.

“I thought I’d join you.” He said, looking ahead. “Oh, would you look at that?” He pointed. 

The once tired man followed his hand, seeing a beautiful red taildragger flying high in the sky, just beyond the path.

“Let’s get a better look.” The man in white said, starting forward on the path.  

The once tired man let out a chuckle. 

 He smiled, then followed.

Matthew 11:28-30   28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”