350 Word Short Story: "Throughly at Home"

Dylan T. Gough

dylangough@mycwi.cc

English 201 002W

Professor Leslie Jewkes

February 21, 2013

Thoroughly at Home

Living downtown was easy, and it was fun. A single bachelor with a perfect pad, he never made the most of it though. John stayed inside and never ventured into the world, never took a trip to the foothills to be alone, never left to camp alone. The introverted hermit crab needed an escape. John was happy, but not enthused. Life was plain, and he needed some change. He was not used to leaving his comfort zone.

John had a day off from work, which was two minutes away from where he lived. Everything was so close, which made it easy for him to do something, but he never did. Today was sunny and it was mid June, John had a subtle smile on his face and all he wanted to do was go home and listen to music. His “venturing” out meant opening the blinds a little more so the world could see inside his home. He walked inside his house, shoes clanking to the well-kept hard wood floor. Standing there torn about what to do he takes a deep breathe and says, “Now or never, what should I do today?”

A feeling of exploration takes over his body, he takes the step and grabs some things from the apartment, and starts his car. Such a calm day, but he had a feeling of passion inside his heart. Something wild and full of joy, this wasn’t usual for John. He needed to stop at the gas station to get some gas, and drinks. With a smile on his face he walks in and greets the associate “Hey how are you doing today!?”. The associate looked at him confused like he hadn’t been greeted like that all day, “Oh, umm I am good actually thanks for asking”. This day changed John’s life, he started pumping his gas. He was looking around and felt pure bliss, sun beaming down on his face and people were glancing at him from the sidewalks. Now, John was a handsome fellow. Cut cheekbones, great physique, brown eyes, and hair that was naturally pushed back. Today though he actually smiled, and noticed a different response to people, and they way he felt.

He proceeded to drive to the mountains, he listened to music and wondered why he felt they way he did today and what he did differently. Turning into different campsites and unmarked roads he finally found an open meadow with nobody around it. There was yellow everywhere, and green filled the area. Everything was active and he felt even more alive. John said, “How can I feel like this everyday?”. He closed his eyes and just walked wherever his feet led him. He opened his eyes and saw a campsite by the river smoldering with coals, like someone just left the area. He sat down on a stump right by the river and bowed his head, feeling extremely peaceful. He looked up and saw a flat rock standing up by a tree. John picked it up and it had black writing on it from the coals and a stick and it read, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”.