Sharing a Path

Every time he walked down the path, the memories of his childhood bombarded him. He could remember every moment. Running between the trees. Climbing branches, striving to make it higher than he did the day before. Snapping twigs over his knee and throwing the shattered pieces deeper into the woods. Smelling the freshly decaying leaves. Pungent and invasive. The dank aroma of growing moss. The memories brought him back to his younger days. When his life seemed that much simpler. His joints weren't sore in the morning. His back didn't argue with him when he got out of bed. When sleeping until eleven o'clock didn't seem impossible - but was expected.

It had been some time since he had last wandered into the woods. Years. Time had flown by. Grey had begun to creep into the stubble on his chin. He had matured. Become a man. No longer able to spend every afternoon and evening amongst the trees - having to venture out into the world to make a living. Find a job. Pay rent. Make something of himself. And he had. Moving around, eventually finding his niche, where be belonged. He became comfortable. Settled down, met the one, and started a family. And the years had continued to tick by. Their children grew so fast. It seemed like days between when they were crawling and walking. Hours separating when they rode the bus for the first time and were walking down the aisle, high school diploma in hand. Then they were out on their own. First for college, then out to explore the world themselves - leaving the nest for good.

As the years kept on, his and her lives together started to slow down. No longer was there a draw to the big city. They weren't young anymore. The hustle and bustle didn't have an appeal like it once had. So they packed up their things, taping them securely into boxes and began a new adventure. Heading back to a quieter place. Somewhere more suiting.

He was excited to show her the path. To hear the crinkling of leaves underneath his feet again. To smell the musk of autumn, hanging thick in the air. Share a piece of his childhood with her. It almost seemed sacred. Hidden from the rest of the world. He felt honored to be showing her this part of his life. Couldn't wait to dive into the stories, showing her the trees he conquered, the rocks he peered under, or the stream in which he skipped stones for hours. But the moment they reached the mouth of the path and her looked over at her, he was speechless. The reflection of the sun off the leaves had illuminated her auburn hair as if it were ablaze, accenting the perfect curves of her face. Eyes twinkling like dark pols in the evening light. And for that moment, he was beside himself. Reminded that he had found the most beautiful woman in the world and shared a life with her. And just like that, the desire to share his memories with her diminished. So he took her hand in his, and started down the path.

There was no need to share his memories when he only had more to make with her.