The God Out of Time

A Shrine in the Mountains

The mountains are a beautiful place, they reach into the sky almost like they reach into the heavens themselves. Life flourishes near the foot. Cherry Blossom, Red pine, and Loquat trees all scatter the warmer, foot of the mountains. This is contrasted the further you rise into the mountains. The life slowly thins out, until nothing can survive the brittle cold temperatures and thin atmosphere found closer to the peak of the mountains. Well, almost nothing.

The day was warm, with a gentle breeze, the trees moved lightly in the wind and the air was filled with the serene sounds of nature. The day could not have been any better for a walk. But the man walking was enjoying none of it. As he walked from the town the edge of the forest a certain gloom seemed to follow him. The mountains seemed so close, yet with the forest between him and it, the man felt as if it would be an eternity. The path the man took was old......very very old, likely not used for at least a generation. The man seemed to be overdressed for the forest, wearing a heavy trench coat, carrying a large hiking bag, and a small satchel, which seemed to jingle with every step. His heavy clothing was beginning to make the man sick with heat, but the man knew that he simply had to persevere.

After one long day of walking through the forest, the mountains seemed to remain stationary. The man knew that he'd walked at least 10 miles through the forest, yet they seemed to grow no closer. The man decided it was best to rest for the night and continue in the morning. Before climbing into his sleeping bag, he mumbled a few words to himself, grabbed the satchel, and went to sleep.....never losing a grip on the satchel.

The man woke, and immediately returned to walking along the path. This day the mountain began to grow. Well, it wasn't actually growing, but when the man approached the mountain, the sheer size of the mountain overwhelmed the man and he perceived it as growing.

Then, the forest seemed to just suddenly end. It was as if there was some invisible barrier preventing things from growing passed this point. The man saw the stairs he had been waiting for, and proceeded to climb the mountain. The steps were clearly in disarray, having not been seen by any human for countless years.

The man was glad he had dressed warm for this trip because the temperature had just dropped drastically and the wind had easily doubled in strength. He knew that he would make it before the end of the day, well, at least he hoped, because the temperatures would drop even further at night. The day went on, the sun got lower and lower, just as the man thought he wouldn't make it in time, he saw a faint light.
"Is that.......Is that a lit a candle!?" the man said out loud to himself. As he approached the light he was able to see more clearly that the light was coming from a shrine.

The man, still in the cold and dark rushed towards the building with excitement. He gripped the satchel tightly as he ran. The very moment he stepped within 20 feet of the shrine, the wind seemed to completely stop, the cold vanished, and he was suddenly overcome with a sensation of warmth. His gaze immediately was pulled outward towards the forest from which he came. With the wind gone he could clearly see the horizon. The view from the mountain was the greatest thing he'd ever seen, with wonderful shades of auburn, the sunset seemed to reflect light from the trees below. While he stood, gazing out over the forest he heard a calming voice directly behind him say "Beautiful Isn't it".