The traveler named Kino is riding the motorrad Hermes down a gravel road. It is straight, slightly shaded by the trees to either side, and towards the horizon one can see the road disappear and reappear with the hills.
Hermes ponders aloud, "Hey Kino, Why is it that you can see the hills far away, but the road always seems flat?"
Kino's eyes narrow behind her riding goggles and after a brief pause she replies, "If I had to say, it would be that things seem bigger when you are expecting them than when you run into them."
"So then, they'd get smaller as you passed them?"
"That depends."
Slow down - Try your patience
Some way further along the road, the pair encountered a strange sign with the number four emblazened in large black paint. Up ahead the road crested a hill, where a gate and the top of a stone wall were visible. Seeing that the road ended here, the traveler pulled up beside a small booth at the side of the gate and knocked on the window.
"Nobody's home, Kino, let's hurry up and find a country with a good mechanic," complained Hermes.
After a while a man appeared inside the booth, and ambled over to the window.
"It's been some time since a traveler has visited our country," the man said. "Let me welcome you, I'll just open the gate."
Kino nodded as the man turned and dissappeared through a door to the side of the booth. After a minute he returned with an apologetic expression on his face.
"I forgot to mention it, but could you refrain from riding your motorrad once inside?"
"I understand," said Kino as the man turned to leave once again.
"Recrimination!" rebuked Hermes, once the man had disappeared.
"Do you mean discrimination?" Kino asked patiently.
"Look, the gate's opening."
Kino shut off the engine and wheeled Hermes out of the way, as the large, heavy looking gate slowly opened out onto the road. The entrance revealed a cobbled square. The road continued but narrowed considerably, with various footpaths marked on the cobbles with paint, branching out from the entrance and winding their way around small bricked-in gardens strewn everywhere and leading to and between each building. People walking these paths walked in groups no smaller than four or five, and if any of them had destinations within the square it was not obvious; their pace was leisurely, and their heads were turned towards others in the group as the sound of their wandering conversations gave the square a calming buzz.
"Welcome to the land of patience, traveler," came the voice of the gatekeeper as he rounded the corner to come into view.
"Thankyou, could you tell me of a place I could--" Kino's question was stopped short as a young man pushed past the gatekeeper and headed past Kino with some urgency. A step behind him was a similarly young woman. The pair did not look towards Kino, nor at each other, instead their faces were set and their eyes fixed on the horizon. They moved quickly but the way they moved seemed strange.
"They're walking," Hermes pointed out.
"They are," agreed Kino.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that," said the gatekeeper as the couple reached the sign and their brisk pace escalated to a run, "How many days will you be staying Miss uh..."
"I am Kino, and this is Hermes."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Kino"
"Please, call me Kino. If I can find a suitable place to sleep, I hope to stay for three days."
"Excellent, I'll go get you a tourist map"
"Kino..." insisted Hermes. She turned her face toward the motorrad for a moment, then turned back to the gatekeeper.
"Before you go, could I ask you a question?" Kino paused as the man's eyes fixed on her's, "is the sign on the road what I think it is?"
"Yes," he nodded, "In our country it is illegal to move faster than a certain speed," Kino glanced at Hermes, "Generations ago our country's hero was a skilled driver. He would be sent to represent the country in races in the neighboring countries and his victories gave us prestige as a nation. It was on the final stretch of a long race when his vehicle, having strained too much, fractured and separated, finally crossing the line only to crash. His widow, who was an influential politician at the time introduced a speed limit for the entire country."
"So the limit helps prevent crashes," Hermes surmised.
"It started as a safety precaution, but people soon began to realise that it's a lot easier when you're not in a hurry. As you can see, people enjoy simply taking a walk rather than becoming stressed trying to get to places quickly. So when our previous mayor introduced the new, lowered speed limit, it was about morality as well as safety." The gatekeeper turned to look at the large building on the opposite side of the square, then turned back to the traveler with a slight, but contented smile.
"Morality?" asked Kino.
"It's disrespectful to hurry past, ignoring the beauty in living. As they say here, 'If you live life too fast, you run out.' "
"I see."
It is now the evening and the traveler is placing her long coat on the back of a chair in the hotel room. Her hat, goggles and green jacket lie in a neat pile on the table. Unfastening the collar button on her shirt, she leans against the nearby wall, studying the room. She lets out her breath finally, and removes her holsters. Sliding down the wall into a comfortable sitting position, she lays the holster to her side and rests her left arm on her knee.
"You should get a new map," says Hermes from the corner.
"Eh, why is that?" Kino looks at the motorrad with mild surprise in her eyes.
"It lead us in circles! There's no way it was the shortest path here."
"I suppose so." Kino leans her head back to look out the window to her right and notes that the sky is clear, with more stars than have been visible for some time in her travels. "Have you heard the story of the tortoise and the hare?" asks the traveller, still watching the sky.
"The tortoise wins a race by always moving towards the finish while the hare goes to do other things, correct?"
"I sometimes wonder," Kino turns her head back to the inside of the room, "who enjoys the race more."
Author's note: New to fiction writing, somewhat unsure of how I want this, which is my excuse for the somewhat jarring tense changes. I wanted them to indicate a new scene essentially, but I'm undecided on whether it works. I'll probably be aiming for another two chapters of this size.