The sun had gone
down behind the horizon once more and Robert found refuge under a large
evergreen tree for the night. When
morning came, he continued on his journey as he had done every morning for the
past decade.
Sometime in early
morning, Robert heard the voices of men calling out to each other and the
sounds of construction. A hammer beat
down on metal, an axe chopped at wood, a river rushed nearby, and there were
several other indiscernible sounds emanating from the forest around him. He followed the sounds as they got louder
and stepped from the cover of the trees into a clearing.
A river passed
through the clearing and there were six men bustling around building a bridge
across the waters. The bridge was near
completion; it seemed safe enough to cross and the men were doing so to bring
supplies across the expanse of moving water.
All the men
looked hard at work except for one who seemed to be taking a break. Robert stepped towards the man, who didn't
seem to notice the cloaked figure's presence.
"Good day, sir," announced Robert.
The man looked
up in shock, finally realizing that he wasn't alone. "Well now, you startled me," he said as he placed a hand on his
chest to make sure his heart was still inside; that it hadn't bounced out of
him.
"Sorry," said
Robert, apologetically.
"You know, it's
not customary in these parts to go around scaring people. It's quite rude in fact," said the man,
pointing a finger in Robert's face.
"I did say I was
sorry," Robert pointed out.
"Is that
right? Can you prove it?"
"Well, no," said
Robert, finding this whole conversation quite frustrating, "but if you like, I
could apologize again."
"I think you'd
better, or you'll have a lot of trouble in your hands, Mister."
"I'm sorry,"
said Robert again.
"That's better,"
the man calmed down and pulled a sandwich out of his bag on the ground beside
him.
Robert watched
as the man took a few bites and swallowed.
"What can I do for you?" the man asked finally.
"Nothing really,
I was just passing by and wondered if I might make use of your bridge to cross
the river. What river is this, anyway?"
asked Robert.
"This river?"
asked the man, pointing to the river behind him as though Robert may have been
referring to some other river in the clearing, "That's the Essenkani River."
Robert had heard
of it, but he had never knowingly seen it before. He was sure he had crossed it countless times, but never realized
it. To him, it had always been a river,
nothing more. "I see," said Robert,
finding that the man had totally avoided the whole subject of him using the
bridge to cross the river.
"It's a mighty
fine river, if you ask me. I'd say that
anyone falling in it would most likely get dragged all the way down to wherever
it ends," continued the man, "I don't think anyone actually knows where it ends. Someday I plan on finding out. I call it 'My Lifelong Quest.'"
"That's all very
interesting, but the thing I'd really like to know is whether I can cross
your bridge," said Robert, unable to contain his irritation with the man.
"Oh, the bridge? Sure you can, that's what it's there for,"
said the man as he took another bite from his sandwich.
"Thank you,"
said Robert, trying to mask his contempt.
Robert crossed
the bridge quickly. He was keen on
getting away from the strange man and the other workers who would probably
prove to be equally as annoying. He had
a quest of his own and was anxious to reach the end. He felt he still had a long way to go.