i'll tell you all mine

Winter lay upon the land with a weight that was simultaneously infinite and nonexistent. It stifled the world’s colors and songs absolutely. It made everything dull. The surrounding field was a muted gold-brown, and the sky that capped it was a flat gray. Everything was very quiet, save for the occasional breeze that played through the grass like a ghost. The season seemed to have prevailed with relentlessness and strength.

Yet at the same time, Nagendra thought as he walked, in the absence of so many colors and sounds (and creatures), there came a lightness. A sense of unburdening. While plants and animals alike slept, the world was sleeping too. Resting. Perhaps winter was a respite from the duty of supporting life. He pondered contentedly upon this and more as he made his way along the plateau. It wasn’t the most exciting place; the ground and the sky were all the same as when he had examined them minutes ago, and showed no signs of parting with their simple, flat designs. Of course, it wasn’t at all a bad thing. Having fewer physical matters to investigate meant that he could truly get lost in thought, while still enjoying a stroll.

The aimless strolling did not go on undisturbed for as long as the young man had thought it would. His reflections were interrupted by his front foot landing on the ground higher than expected, and then realizing that it had not landed on ground. He stopped and looked down, and at a glance, concluded that he had stepped on a branch of some sort. He had prepared to take another step when he suddenly glanced back down again, staring at a dirt-crusted black branch, attached to the one he had first noticed. The two were partially buried in the ground. Was it perhaps a root? Nagendra’s brow furrowed as he lowered his head to stare closer and sniff. He pawed at the black thing, and to his surprise and delight, found that it was even stranger than it looked. It was hard as a rock! He was confused as could be, but overjoyed; bizarre and foreign things like this were exactly some of the things he had hoped to encounter on his journey.