Shades of autumn

©Christos Kapoulas

Autumn was her favourite. Nature was filled with mesmerising colours you wouldn’t see in other seasons. The sight filled her with awe and she gleefully spent hours outdoors walking among the picturesque scenery.

One getaway weekend found them in a magnificent place that could easily be the backdrop of a work of art. They went on a trail, walking on an empty road among trees that dominated over them in all shades of green, yellow and red. The colours were unique. She kept stopping and lagging behind, eagerly trying to capture this sight on camera. He found it cute at first but then he got agitated. It was getting dark and they had to return to their lodge.

There was no car in sight. No other pedestrian either.

That’s what they thought.

And that was the last thing they both remembered.

Under a scorching sun

©Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

In the scorching heat of the Egyptian sun, culture demanded an attire contrary to the weather. They abided because that is what you do when you’re a stranger in a foreign land.

The group visit was on a tight schedule to view all the noteworthy places and historical artefacts the organiser had planned. But in this heat, they were all already half-suffocating, staunched by the towering sun.

The significance of the place they were now stepping inside seemed elusive to them. Their minds were already elsewhere: somewhere cooler and shaded.

But that’s when their eyes first met. And everything changed.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Serendipity

There is a sweet melancholy that usually accompanies us on our way back from wherever we’ve escaped for a few days. Be it a city break, an island getaway, or an adventure abroad, the road back often feels longer, mainly because we can sense reality getting closer and our mundane routines closing up on us. We’re carefree when we’re away, and if we live in a city we don’t wholeheartedly adore, returning to it is somewhat difficult. When we see new places and other cultures, meet new people and have fun all day outside, we come to view our everyday schedules as boring and lacking in excitement. It’s up to us, however, to change that.

Sometimes a happy coincidence occurs, great things just come together for something good to happen. Call it serendipity, or just pure luck, but once in a while, we deserve to find goodness without looking for it.

Educated tourist

© David Stewart

It’s enthralling to visit places of cultural value and learn their history. It’s as if you mentally travel back in time, to another era and delve into the lives of our ancestors. If you cherish your roots, where our world comes from, you relish in finding out stories of the old and anecdotes only locals know.

Most of the information you’re bombarded with as a tourist usually fades a few weeks after you return to your base.

But what remains is how all this made you feel. The emotions you gained and the people you shared them with are priceless.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

The source of a storyteller

© Roger Bultot

Being a tourist in an unknown place entails the extraordinary emotion of discovering something new, that you often don’t even expect to find.

We wander to distract our minds, to escape a mundane routine, to change sceneries and perspectives on life.

But we travel for fulfilment; to breathe in as much of the world as possible, to open our minds to things beyond the obvious.

Travelling may leave us speechless, so that we can later become storytellers.

For it is better to witness places first-hand even just once, than to simply read about them.

It’s about the sentiments they awaken.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Change the perspective

A storm was brewing. Literally. The weather was turning piercingly icier and the sun was in hiding. You could feel the wind changing.

But also metaphorically. People were evidently affected – they were colder in attitude too. Agitated, nervous, and too easily irritated.

It was all wrong. For no sensible reason.

So she decided to leave.

These are the best decisions; the get-up-and-go-on-the-inspiration moments. Because if you don’t think about certain things too much, they end up being the best decisions you ever make.

She acted upon the impulse to flee. And travelled all across the world to where the climate was exactly the opposite.

She didn’t exactly encounter a heatwave, but a much warmer weather, and a much kinder folk. People who had much less – of material belongings and wealth – yet much more heart and goodness. They knew how to enjoy the utmost of what they had, and to appreciate the instances, the smallest of heart-warming gestures, the gratitude of having even the slightest of everything.

If you step back from your own world and delve into someone else’s, perhaps you’ll just realise how lucky we are but never acknowledge it enough. Be grateful for everyday; for the goodness around you; and focus your energy on all you want to create, not on what you want to get rid of. Know who you are and what you want to achieve, but be careful who you choose to walk with in life, because in the wrong company you’ll never reach your destination.

Anywhere in the world

©Bradley Harris

“Anywhere in the world?”

“Yes, anywhere at all”.

“I won’t tell you the clichés, that there is no other place I’d rather be than here. Truthfully, I would want to be at that place on earth where the ocean meets the mountain. Where the ends of the planet seem to meet in harmony. Where all nature is at peace. There is no evident – and ugly – human intervention in sight. It’s just you and the world. And your soul is calm. Like everything around you”.

“Is there really such a place?”

“I sure hope so, otherwise I’ll be searching in vain”.  

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Next Episode

Have you ever noticed how we often allow a few bad minutes of a day to wreck the entire 24 hours? High stress levels so easily overwhelm us that we consciously believe the entire world is out to get us; that everything suddenly turns against us simply because of one bad moment. Those five minutes you were late in leaving the house means one hour delay because you missed the bus. But so what? The series of unfortunate events is bound to end sometime.

If you come to think about it, life is an occurrence of episodes. We spend inexplicably long hours in some, and irrationally little time in others, but we constantly find ourselves moving on to the next one. We even wonder, often with intrigue, what the next episode will bring.

It’s refreshing to reflect that the best moments of our life haven’t arrived yet. That’s why we need to be open to things around us; to have our eyes and minds wide open to the splendor that is out there. Life might just surprise us.

What is more, we need to choose wisely who we surround ourselves with; who affect our personalities and character and contribute to forming who we are. We need friends who support us and push us to be better. We need people who bring out the best version of ourselves. We need strong role models, like a mother who shows her daughter she doesn’t need constant company to have a good time; she can simply book a flight and get on a plane and leave – alone – and still have a great time because she is empowered, confident, and courageous enough to do so.

If you take the leap with faith, life will reward you for it. Just believe.

And keep moving forward.

Indelible memories

©Roger Bultot

It was one of those misty, hazy, winter days, filled with drizzle that turned into thunderstorms before allowing a rainbow to later briefly appear. It reflected her inexplicable mood.

But that wasn’t why she remembered that day.

It was because of him. 

Because regardless of it all, he took her around the city she hadn’t seen. Round the hidden corners, to the fragrant teahouses, the unique little shops, the monumental squares, the tourist attractions, and the unbeknown gems.

He made it special by creating an indelible memory; by imbuing the thrill of discovering something new together. And of feeling loved.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Only half-way

©Ted Strutz

“This boat trip will only take you half-way. You’ll have to carry on the rest of the journey yourself afterwards”. If only, simply to comprehend you’re capable of more than you credit yourself for.

Do you ever make plans in your head, fantasize stories and happy endings, simply to feel that fulfilling satisfying sensation of completeness; of genuine happiness and tranquillity?

It’s a dangerous thing to do.

Usually because nothing ever works out like the feel-good plans we make unilaterally. Destiny has too many parameters to be forged by us alone.

Regardless of the outcome of life, we continue forward.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers