Forgotten Dreams of Eternity: Lost Odyssey: Thousand Years of Dreams

(Short Story -VII.) *The Upstreamers*

These are people who have fallen in love during the long winter,

Or boys who dream of travel,

or grown-ups who have tired of town life. Such are the reasons the townsfolk look upon the Upstreamers with complicated gazes.

The little girl's mother was one of those who joined the journey mid-way, and he girl herself, some years from now, might fall in love with someone in a post town somewhere. She might choose to live in the town, or she could just as well invite her lover to join her on the road.

She has no idea at this point what lies in store for her. The girl's father calls out to her: "Time to go!"

Their brief rest is over.

She seems sorry to leave and stands up reluctantly. "Too bad," she says. "I wish I could have talked to you more. But we have to get to the next town by the time the snows start."

Constantly exposed to upwinds, her cheeks are red and cracked, her lips chapped, but her smile is wonderful a she wishes Kaim a safe journey.

It is the serene smile of one who believes completely in the purpose of her life, without the slightest doubt. "Will I see you again somewhere?" she asks.

"Probably."

Kaim answers, smiling back at her, but he can never match that smile of hers. He is now in the midst of a journey that will take him beyond the western end of the Wind Stream. He heads to the battlefield as a mercenary, and by the time the western battle is over, a new battle will have begun in the east.

It will be a long, cruel journey, with nothing to believe in. When he meets he girl again along he way, Kaim's smile will have taken on even more shadows than it has now. Perhaps as a parting gift for him, the girl sings a few short lines for him:

This wind, where does it blow from?

Where does it start its journey here?

Does it come from where life begins?

Or does it begin where life ends?

"Goodbye, then," the girl says, trudging on, one labored step at a time, hair streaming in the headwind.

Ten long years have flowed by when Kaim next meets the girl.

It is spring, when the grassland is dotted with lovely white flowers.

She has become the wife of a young man who does tailoring and shoe repair in one of the post towns.

"This is my third spring here," she says, patting her swollen belly fondly.

In a few days, she will give birth to a child. She will become a mother.

"And your parents...?" Kaim asks.

She shrugs and glances eastward.

"They are continuing their journey. I'm the only one who stayed on here." Kaim does not ask why she has done this.

Continuing he journey is one way to live, and staying in a town is another.

Neither can be judged to be more correct than the other. The only answer for the girl can be seen in her smiling face. "But never mind about me," she says looking at him suspiciously.

"You haven't changed one little bit from the time we met so long ago."

For the thousand-year-old Kaim, ten years is nothing but a change in season.

"Some lives are like that," he says, straining to smile.

"Some people in this world can never grow old, no matter how long they live."