The Walk Through Life

Chapter four

Once we left the cold tunnel I was immediately hit with a gentle breeze and the subtle scent of
salt water. I looked around and it appears we are on a beach. But like the forest it was many
shades of blue. Light blue, dark blue, navy blue, any shade you can think of for this special
color. I looked over at cernunnos. He didn’t look very out of place because he was a very nice
shade of a light sky blue. Very lovely in my opinion. Cernunnos started to walk along the soft
sand. Well, it didn’t look much like sand because of the color but you could definitely tell it was
sand because of the texture. I decided to follow cernunnos at a bit of a distance. I looked at my
surroundings more. There were some trees about a few meters from here. Probably leading into
a forest with no ending. That’s what movies with these kinds of scenes are like anyway.
I eventually stopped and sat by the water. Letting its foamy, cotton-like edge sweep over my
feet. I take off my shoes and place them next to me on the grainy sand. I look out to the horizon.
What is supposed to be a colorful sunset with gradients of reds, oranges, and yellows is just a
handful of blues that replace the natural beauty of the dusk to dawn hues. Seeing this only
made me sad so I got up and walked along the shore. Letting the bubbles of the water hit my
ankles and then retreat back to its natural domain.
Cernunnos eventually joins me on my stroll along the coast. We both continued to walk for a
while. Subconsciously I was listening to the water roll onto the small desert of sand and then go
back into the deep embrace of the ocean. On the other side of me was the endless blanket ofjungle. Where I could faintly hear the soft coos of birds and the rustle of small animals and
insects running through the overgrown plants on the moist floor.
if i wanted to i could list off what animals were what depending on the sounds. For example,
according to multiple squawks there are a few macaws up in the trees. After a while I got a
headache from trying to listen and focus on multiple things at once.
I sat down on a rock and brought my knees to my chest. Sighing softly I look out into the dark
blue horizon. Where the cyan sun was casting its final shine upon the ocean before slowly
retreating under the drifting clouds. After a few minutes the soft glow of the moon could be seen
above the sparkling water. I decided to stare at the soft luminescence of the crescent moon as it
gracefully floated into the sky. Accompanied by the small stars that surround it. It was a nice
thing to see. A soft moon dancing slowly along the sky with the stars as its partner. But of
course the waltz will have to end.
It ended sooner than i expected. I must have zoned out because by the time I came back to
reality, the moon was setting and the peak of the sun rising could be seen. I looked around and
got up, then looked next to me to see that cernunnos was still sitting by my side. I smiled to
myself as I put my shoes back on. Technically one day has passed and we haven’t gotten very
far. I sighed to myself as I looked off into the distance. Cernunnos got up and stood next to me.
Obviously worried about how I felt at the moment.
“I see you are worried” he said as he went over to stand in front of me.
“Yes… it’s already been a day and it seems we haven’t made it very far.”
Cernunnos looked towards the direction I was and nodded. “Yes, it appears so. But we shouldn’t
worry too much just yet. We can always find another way out of this.”
I smiled at cernunnos’ outlook on the situation and relaxed. “You’re right. We shouldn’t worry
yet.”
I looked around to see if there was an alternative path we could take. After a couple of minutes I
saw an opening that led into the jungle not very far from here. I looked back at cernunnos. He
seemed to understand where I was going and started walking towards the opening.
I followed cernunnos and looked around once we were on the path. There was a clear path for a
while. There wasn’t anything in the way except some rocks and animals that worried scurry
across it now and again. Cernunnos eventually started walking on the path. It wasn’t very hard
to see what was ahead since he was pretty translucent. So it was easy to swerve any fallen
branches or uprooted plants that got in the way.
As they traveled through the thick leaves and trees, a clearing started to appear. In the distance
you could see a small hut surrounded by palm trees and small patios. Elizabeth couldn’t tell if it
was a trick or if it was actually there. How could she know? She’s been in this weird mindscape
for who knows how long and everything has been weird and random. Alas she eventually made
her way to the hut to get a better view of it. It was a decent sized house.It was made from very light wood and accented with dark oak railings, doors, and frames. The
roof was clearly made of some straw and sticks but looked surprisingly stable.
The patios were on either side of the house. It also had dark oak railing around it. It had a
canopy above it made of large palm leaves and some hanging vines. It was also nicely
furnished. There were some swinging benches and islands that had drinks and shelves. There
were also some small pools on the other patios.
The real question was “what did it look like on the inside?”. To answer this question Elizabeth
goes in through the dark french doors. Inside the hardwood floors were a nice honey color going
in a diagonal direction. The walls were different on the inside than the outside. They were darker
than the outside walls. Like a dark birch color.
The house looked a lot bigger on the inside to be honest. There were birch stairs that went up to
the second floor. Possibly a bedroom and other important things were up there. If you walked
through the very bohemian furnished living room there would be a good sized kitchen. There
was a counter that separated the living room from the kitchen. There were stools that lined the
outside of the counter and were about three feet apart from each other. There were about five
cabinets on the walls. They were the same birch color as the walls but lighter. There was an
island in the middle of the kitchen with two stools on each side.
If you left the kitchen and went up the stairs there would be a long hallway with five openings:
three doors on the left and two doors on the right. The two doors lead to a master bedroom and
a guest room. The three doors lead to a closet for storage, another guest bedroom, and a
second living room.
“This a pretty big house” I said to myself as I picked up some objects and looked around. “Why
is it here? Where..where did it come from?”
Cernunnos only shook his head. Indicating that he has no idea. He sat down in the middle of the
floor. “Do you know why you are here?”
I looked at him in confusion. “Not really. I don’t even know how I got here. I just…woke up here.”
Cernunnos got back up and came over to me. “Elizabeth. You are here because you are reliving
your life. Fate wants you to see how far you’ve come as a person.”
“Oh”
“But why?” I said as I sat down on one of the chairs.
“That is for you to find out”
“That’s not very helpful.”
Cernunnos gets up. “Life never gives you many choices. Never fair, never right or wrong, never
just.”
I got up as well. “Sometimes your quotes make no sense.”
“Then you’re not thinking about it sincerely.”After a few hours the sun starts to set. Elizabeth heads upstairs and lets the softness of the
sheets engulf her into a safe and warm embrace and lets her body sink into the cloud like
mattress beneath her. As she looks up at the ceiling she starts to wonder. “Everything has been
so… off to me lately. These places and the events that have occurred feel like a dream. Nothing
feels real at all. Maybe that’s because none of this is.”
The morning came quickly that day. The sun peeked through the windows of Elizabeth’s room,
greeting her and silently telling her to awaken. As she opened her eyes she looked out the
golden laced window and at the view beyond her. She sat there for a while, staring at the sky as
it filled with the sun's golden light. She slowly arose from the bed and walked over to the
window.
“Wow, i’ve never seen such a beautiful sunrise before” she sighed to herself as she pulled up a
chair and sat down. The coolness of the outside world slowly blew in and surrounded the room.
The slow, calm sound of the waves creeping up on the shore relaxed Elizabeth giving her a
protective feeling.
Elizabeth eventually gets up and goes downstairs, then enters the kitchen. It was even nicer up
close. She started going through the cupboards and taking its items out and placing them on the
nearby island. She was fixing herself a small breakfast of French toast, sunny side up eggs,
bacon, three links of sausage, and a small glass of orange juice. After everything was made and
ready she takes them to the small ebony table in the middle of the living room. As she sat down
on the soft couch she looked out the front windows. The sun was already pretty high above the
sapphire blue sky and quietly looming above the calm ocean.
⤘
“Maybe I should look around the island. You know in case we missed any kind of exit points.”
Me and Cernunnos were back outside. We decided it would be nice to take a morning walk to
refresh ourselves from the long night.
“That is a good idea. If we take a second look around we might find something we missed.”
I look over at Cernunnos.
“I couldn’t tell if that was one of your wisdom things or you’re being serious.” Cernunnos laughs
to himself. “I was being serious.”
OK, good. So he’s just trying to comfort me. It is a good idea to leave now. Time seems to come
and go fast here.
I got up and took my plates to the kitchen and washed them. After I put them away I grabbed a
shawl that was hanging on the back of the chair and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“So, where should we head first?” I asked cernunnos as I headed for the door.
“We should walk around the forest for a bit.”
“What if it’s dangerous? Like big animals and bugs. Ew.”
Cernunnos responded with a laugh. “Oh, well it is a forest. So those things will naturally be
there. It is their home after all. Like how your house is your home. With your family.”My family. I’ve almost forgotten about them.
“Right. With my family.”
Cernunnos looks at me as I solemnly open the door.
“You miss them. Don’t you? You haven’t really mentioned them since you got here.”
“Oh. Would you like to know about them?”
Cernunnos nodded his head. I looked forward and started walking out of the house. “Well, who
would you like to know about first?”
Cernunnos thought for a moment. “How about your mother? She seems like an inspiration to
you.”
I smiled. “Ah, my mother does inspire me. She is hardworking and resilient. She can cook well
and make amazing things.”
“What does she do?”
As we walked towards the forest my mind was scattered. “My mother does and did a lot of
things. She works as a painter for multiple businesses and rich people. She has artwork in
multiple museums around the world. Her most famous paintings are in France. She was from
there too. That’s also where she met my father. She told me all about that when I was younger.
She talks about my father a lot too. Sometimes I like to listen to her hum to herself when she
paints. Sometimes she would speak some French to herself and to my father. Although i never
knew what she was saying..she always sounded so calm when speaking it. She started
teaching me French when I was six. I remember some of it but most of the words were too
complicated.”
Cernunnos seemed intrigued. “Was she the reason you started doing art?”
“Oh yes. She always inspired me when it came to art. I’ve always wanted to be an amazing
painter like her. That’s why I left the house so often. I like making landscape paintings. My
favorite kind of painting would be ocean shores and sunsets. I was great at making those. I
never used the beginner art sets. I started with oil paints which I was surprisingly good at. I
actually have two art pieces in a museum as well.”
Cernunnos stopped at the beginning of the forest. “Well you must be quite famous.”
“Well not really. I’m not as famous as my mother is. But I like to think that I'm close to being as
famous as she is.”
⤘
After a while they both ended up in the middle of the forest where there were four openings.
“Huh, why are there so many?” I asked as we looked through each one. I couldn’t believe that
there were so many, I was honestly a bit overwhelmed by the options. Cernunnos clearly caught
my distress and started walking out of the forest. I followed and went back to the shoreline
where I sat down and let my feet wade in the water. I felt an odd feeling wash over me. Like a
chill almost.
“What is wrong?” I looked over at cernunnos and sighed. “I’ve just been thinking about what had happened a
while ago. Y’know… with faith?”
“Ah, I see. What exactly have you been thinking about that?”
That was a hard question for me to answer. I honestly didn’t know but for some reason I couldn't
help but feel a sort of odd hope.
“I just think she is still alive.”
Cernunnos was quiet after that. But eventually said something that set me a bit off.
“You know that isn’t possible Elizabeth.”
I got up and started pacing. “No! She is!! She has to be. There is no other explanation for this. If
I was able to communicate with her then that must mean she is still alive!”
I looked at Cernunnos. I have no idea what has gone over me. For some reason the moment I
put my feet in the water my inner feelings came out. Scared by this sudden knowledge I quickly
got out of the water and ran inside the house, locking myself in the upstairs bedroom for a while.
Hours have passed since Elizabeth went into the room after her sudden lash out. Sadly denial
can be a pretty complicated feeling and can be greatly misunderstood for poor anger control or
delusional thinking. Ever since she lost her dearest friend she hasn’t felt the same. Continuing
this journey is going to be difficult.