The River Beyond

Chapter 5

After Mother and Father had returned from the main part of the village and from their mission, I knew spending time with them was vital before their next journey. As I had grown from a young girl into a young woman, I have gained experience on the wariness of the world I inhabit. I am always on alert, my sight unwavering, my thoughts never faltering, as I choose to be on guard in each waking moment. The Province is not a haven for violence, as the elders and the Strongholds have never believed in such intolerance, but the justifiable actions of peace are somewhat left astray.

Once the air cleared from its cold abode above, the clouds giving way again to the moon's bright glow, I decided it best to stay outside with my parents a while longer. We talked about the journey ahead for both of them, and they realized, despite my age, I still longed for their company.

I couldn't help but stand there in admiration of all my parents have built, fought for, and striven through. From when I was young, I would remember their time of leave, and their hopes to return safe and sound back home. However, this was not a promise they could make in certainty. There definitively was not a way for them to come home without journeying past the River, for the mountainside lay beyond that into the next civilization.

I would not know what peace is, nor what it may look like if it were not for the legends of the River beyond the mountains. Although a break in its stream runs from our pasture down to the rest of the Province land, I realized then, lost in thought, it would not be soon that peace could inhabit our land in its entirety.