Ahead

The steps melted away beneath feet clad in cloth boots, worn but cared for with stiff leather souls bearing the scars of a thousand miles. The calm wind blew down from the mountain range before him to ruffle his mop of sun blond hair as the forest shed auburn leaves around him.

The man's misty blue eyes set on a cleanshaven but weather-worn face squinted up at the tree-covered peaks as the wind pushed oceans of rolling fall hues towards him as uncountable leaves took flight.

The hint of a grin pulled at the corner of his mouth as he thought he'd never seen these trees before and might never again. Because that was the point of all this, wasn't it?

Dexterous hands tightened around a sturdy stained walking stick as the man took another step towards the mountain, confident in the secret no one else seemed to have figured out yet. The peak wasn't the point, nor was what was on the other side of the mountain. It wasn't the last peak, the valley before that, or the untold number of prairies, ponds, vales, glens, swamps, or cities; because they were all the point. Another sure step because he knew.

Curiosity doesn't need a destination.