Somewhere, sometime in the past- I can't remember where or when, or even who- someone said that history is like a circle, like a ring. That it circles around and around and around, repeating itself over and over again.
I wish I knew if that was true or not.
Things have changed so much from how they used to be. We used to think that the world was a big exciting place- big, but not so big that it wasn't safe.
The villagers say that Dad can't let go of the past- that he just needs to give up and come home already.
You definitely aren't in the mountains, waiting to be found. I know you haven't been there for a long time. I don't know where you are, but you has to be out there somewhere- somewhere in the world that's bigger and scarier than we ever realized.
The villagers say that Dad's obsessed with the past, and it's true that he's always looking for someone in a place where he won't be able to find them, but the villagers themselves… well, not all of them, but a lot of them- seemed to have tossed the past out of the window. The future doesn't seem to be something they think about much either- it's always the present that they're focused on, always the right now. They were always in such a rush, but they weren't even going anywhere…
For the past, I remembered fondly how things used to be. For the present, I try to keep my eyes open as I look around, trying to make sure I figure out the best way to do what I need to do. And for the future, every time I grow out of my clothes and I have to get myself a new pair, I get another pair in exactly the same size.
A pair for you, Claus. So that, when time circles around and we're back together again, I have something to give you, something to show you that we never forgot you during those long years we were apart.
OoOoOo
Hey look, I'm not dead. Kinda feel it though, yuck. But nope, still alive and the next chapter of With these Hands is coming. Eventually. (groan).