Cave Walking

Walking through a dark, damp cave sweating lightly, Ronnie had no recollection of where he was nor where he had come from. Slowly turning to look behind him, he saw an unfamiliar path leading somewhere unbeknownst to him. In front of him an equally unfamiliar path leading to another unknown. Standing still, Ronnie contemplated which way to go, back the way he had come or forward, continuing along the route he had come to consciousness on. Would his decision really matter? After a few long moments of blank thought, Ronnie began walking lethargically into unknown territory.

Despite the darkness of the cave, Ronnie could see well enough to make out the path, but not well enough to see where the path led. He looked down at his feet, covered by the dress shoes they wore. Pausing to inspect the shoes and dress socks that went up his ankles and covered a good portion of his shin all the way up to Ronnie's bear skin, visible until his knees where his shorts started. For some reason, Ronnie not bothered by his bizarre fashion, picked his head back up and carried on forward.

A haze filled Ronnie's head as he trudged on forward. Not only unfamiliar with his location and his purpose, but what was his name? For some reason he believed Ronnie was what he was called, but with no certainty did he hold the belief. What did his name matter anyway, he thought, traveling alone with no one in sight left little use for a name. Upon this thought, he realized the complete lack of feeling toward his lonesomeness. Recalling neither friends nor acquaintances, he continued forward with his thoughts drifting away from his person and back to the trail. Staring down at the path under his feet he suddenly had the urge to feel the surface which supported him. Bending his knees and kneeling down, Ronnie gently reached down to the ground and put his hands on the cool dirt. The sensation of the dirt on his hands left Ronnie with a smile on his face, he felt happy to have his hands on something real.Unable to make sense of the circumstances surrounding him, the earth on his hands liberated his mind temporarily from bleakness engulfing him. Without warning or reason, Ronnie suddenly lifted his hands from the ground and turned his palms to study them with his eyes. The dirt highlighted the unique lines on Ronnie's palms, reminding Ronnie of a strange map. A strange map urging him onward. Without spending another moment on this thought, Ronnie slowly stood up and began his journey forward again. He was going forward, right? Of course he was, Ronnie reassured himself.

Further down the path, Ronnie instinctively looked down at his left wrist. Noticing the bare wrist, he thought of his lost watch and where he could have left it. He did have a watch at one point, he was sure, but couldn't say so in total confidence. Without a watch he had no idea what time it was or how long he had been walking for. Unsure if the cause was his mild panic of lacking his watch or just the temperature in the cave, Ronnie felt uncomfortable. Drawing his gaze from his wrist further up his arm, he saw his rolled up sleeve of a dress shirt. Then he realized the source of his discomfort, the necktie around his neck. Upon his realization of the tie, Ronnie went into a frantic panic to take undue the tie and free his imprisoned neck. Once the tie was undone, Ronnie threw the tie to the ground at his feet and looked at the pattern, almost hypnotized. The pattern on the tie reminded Ronnie of something from his past, but he couldn't quite clear the haze enveloping his memory. Deciding the tie might have some importance, Ronnie picked up the tie, folded it neatly, and put it into the pocket of his shorts.

A fork in the path stood before Ronnie, as if taunting him to make an important decision. Left or right? Ronnie could feel the weight of the decision bearing down on his shoulders. His blank mind searched for a reason to choose left over right, then right over left. But how could such an answer exist? He didn't know what he, Ronnie, if that was his name, was doing. In the end he went right, deciding the best decision was to go forward because going straight will get you nowhere. After walking some unknown distance down the right side fork of the path, Ronnie looked back over his shoulder, back to where he had previously tread, but he could no longer see where the path forked. Good, thought Ronnie. His inability to see the fork anymore made him feel as if he had simply gone along the same path all along. Putting the fork out of his mind for good, Ronnie, despite lacking any knowledge about how long he had been in the cave or how far he had traveled, realized he had not seen one living thing since his consciousness returned. No people, no animals, not even any vegetation. What a strange place. Curiosity conquered any fear Ronnie had of losing his concealed location and he began calling out "hello" in a friendly voice. For the first time during the journey Ronnie heard his voice. He heard his voice echoing off the walls and ceiling of the cave. He stood and listened, straining his ears for the faintest sounds of someone or something else. If he did find someone else, he wondered what he would tell that person his name was. The thought left his mind quickly when decided no one nor anything was responding to his call. Instead of calling again, Ronnie dropped to his knees and looked at his hands again. His hands, still dirty, were perfectly good communication tools. Putting his right finger to the ground, he wrote in big letters HELLO FRIENDS.

Leaving his message behind engraved in the dirt path, Ronnie walked onward slower than he had before until he heard a faint sound. The sound he heard was water, water dipping into water. Excitedly, Ronnie began to pick up his pace. Up to a brisk walk, Ronnie broke into an all out sprint. Feeling alive as he sprinted in his dress shoes along the dirt path, Ronnie could smell the scent of the water, trapped in the cave just like him, engulfing his nostrils. Arriving at his destination, Ronnie looked around the large cavern he now stood in. To his left he saw the pool of water. He looked above the pool of water, to the ceiling of the cave. He saw the water forming into droplets on the ceiling and watched as the water fell majestically into the pool at his feet, creating a beautiful disturbance on the still surface. Ronnie thought about the water. If the water had a way to get into the cave, then a way out must exist, an exit back to whatever he had left behind, a way back to his life! Excited, Ronnie began dancing right there in the middle of the spacious cavern all by himself. Humming a tune he did not recognize to the rhythm of his dance, Ronnie was in euphoria. He enjoyed the moment until he remembered that he had some work to do, he wasn't out of the cave yet, but at least he felt a purpose, a meaning to his person.

Before looking for the source of the water, Ronnie walked over to the very edge of the body of water and stared blankly down at the abyss. He bent down and put his hands into the water. The cool water felt glorious on his dirty flesh. he rubbed his hands together before cupping them and bringing some water up to his face. He rubbed his face with the water and felt the coolness dripping down from his face onto his dress shirt. He let the feeling of peace take hold of his mind until he was in a zen like state. Though he didn't know, Ronnie stayed motionless for quite a few moments in zen, in complete bliss. Slowly he descended from this peaceful state, and became aware of the reflection staring back at him. The face he saw, who was it? Ronnie did not recognize the face. All the joy and peace Ronnie had felt just moments ago vanished. In a fit of rage Ronnie clenched both of his fists and slammed them into the reflection in the water. Rapidly standing up, Ronnie violently thrust his right hand into his pocket and pulled out the tie. Taking the tie with his two hands, Ronnie wrapped the tie around his neck and used all his might to pull the tie as tightly as he could around his neck. Feeling himself loose consciousness, Ronnie fell face forward into the water before him. Everything went black as he hit the surface of the water.

Walking through a dense, warm forest sweating lightly, Ronnie had no recollection of where he was nor where he had come from. Slowly turning to look behind him, he saw an unfamiliar path lined with trees and foliage leading somewhere unbeknownst to him. In front of him an equally unfamiliar path leading to another unknown. Standing still, Ronnie contemplated which way to go, back the way he had come or forward, continuing along the route he had come to consciousness on. Would his decision really matter? After a few long moments of blank thought, Ronnie began walking lethargically into unknown territory.