So many miles. He had covered so much ground in his search. The weight of his belongings strapped to his back made his every footprint even deeper. The climate had thrown thousands of hurdles his way, but he kept walking. He trudged on, hoping to find her, his great inspiration. The picture she had painted was tucked safely away in his backpack, secured inside a waterproof bag. Every four steps or so, his hair fell back down into his face, forcing him to push the white tufts back into the band covering his forehead.
Her picture was his only clue. On it, she had painted him a beautiful picture of a sunset along a beach. She said that this is where she had decided to stay. She communicated this through letters, of which they had exchanged thousands. They had only once ever met in person, but he knew so much about her. And she knew everything about him. Every hardship he had run into, every existential doubt. She had kept him going. She urged him to focus on the beauty around him, and to fight to keep his love for the world alive.
Then one day, he didn't receive a response from her. He waited over a month for her letter to arrive. It never came. That was over twelve years ago. It had become his mission, his whole reason for existing, to find her. She had given him a reason to go on. He owed her at least the effort it would take to find her.
Using his cherished painting, he traveled every coast he could reach. So many dead ends. At first, the size of his daunting task discouraged him. He then remembered what he was told. Even if a destination was not the correct one, he took in the sights. Refused to use vehicles unless the terrain was impossible to walk over. The world truly was beautiful to him. Every tree, every leaf, every speck of dust moved in such a fascinating way. Often times, he found himself drifting away with a passing beams of sunlight. The sun brought the warmth and the colors.
This was her lesson. He was living it, even in her absence. Truly, she was divine.
With that thought, he snapped back to reality. The sun was setting and he was just outside the most recent destination on his map. He smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he could once again stop and enjoy the presence of other beings.
Walking off to the side of the road, he found a large mound of sand and slipped his bag from his back. Stretching his back, finally free from the weight of so many years of gear, he squatted down and set his left hand on the ground. A warm white light started to emerge from the gloved that covered that hand. A large doorway erupted from the ground, bordered by a thick translucent rock. Smiling, he grabbed his gear with his bare right hand and brought it with him to the doorway. Without a second thought, he pushed through the door. He disappeared into a bright white light that shed light onto a nearby sign for a brief second. If one had quick enough eyes, they could have caught the words "Welcome to Beach City" illuminated by the foreign glow before being hidden by the night once more.