Sid stopped and his voice became solemn. “I will wait for you. These last steps are your own.”

“I thought you were my guide?” I asked in puzzlement.

“I am that I am.” he replied.

I felt a muted suspicion rise within me, battling against the peaceful nature around me. Any other time I would have balked, letting stubbornness guide me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly- and serenity won out. “Is it dangerous?”

Sid gave a slight shrug. “No more or less than any other part of the world. I once spent a week in its shade just thinking.”

I understood. The world was a dangerous place, more by my interpretation than by design. Any danger that rose would come from inside me, and that knowledge was good enough to get me moving.

Blades of grass bobbed in laughter around me, tickled by the cool feathery touch of a breeze that rolled playfully through the vale like a child or a puppy- touching everything and then moving on, memories forgotten.

Kicking off my shoes, I finished the rest of the journey barefoot.