The Yellow Wood
The other day I ‘bumped into’ a friend of mine from high school that I hadn’t talked to in years. By ‘bumped into’ I mean I happened to catch him online at the same time I was online and paying attention to my buddy list. It’s somewhat shocking to look at where I am now as compared to where my high school friends are. In just a few short years we’ve walked down completely different paths. Christian is married, has two kids, and works at the Sheriff’s office. I don’t know any details because he’s really busy with his two kids and doesn’t ever have time to catch up. Andy is married and now has a son. I haven’t been able to get in contact with him ever since he told me that. Bruce went back to New York and has a degree in Psychology. Not too sure what he’s up to these days. Ravin gave up on this country and moved back to Trinidad with his family.
It’s not that long a period of time, five years, but our lives are so different now. Even in the last couple years there’s been a lot of change. The people I saw just about every day for four years are now either graduated or graduating; each heading in a different direction towards a completely different life. Each day that goes by we make choices that make our paths diverge even more. It makes me wonder how different things will be five years from now. Where will everyone be? Where will I be? By then we’ll all be nearing age thirty. How many of us will be married and how many still unmarried? Who will have kids, and how many? Will we all continue on our winding twisting paths through the forest or will some of us find a comfortable clearing and settle down? Will our paths meet again or will we lose touch?
The future looms ahead, a twisting vortex of decisions, answers, and new questions. Each day it draws closer and we have no choice but to enter it. What will we find in there? What dreams and nightmares lie in store for us beyond the event horizon?
