Traveling In Circles

Author’s Note: This is a continuation of Farren’s journey through a limbo world where everyone is trying to reach the peak of a mountain but have a rope tied to their ankle. Start here or with Part 1.

Farren woke up with his back sore from sleeping against the tree. His mind was still weighed down by the options that lay in front of him. He could continue to help other travelers and spend eternity telling them to reach their rock making their trek up the mountain easier. However, he would never reach his boulder or the peak. Alternatively, he could collect the rest of his rope, taking an indefinite amount, and spend the rest of eternity tethered to whichever unfortunate spot the gods put it. Regardless of the option he chose, he would be spending eternity stuck in one place or another. His odds of getting to the peak of the mountain were looking like they were slim to none. I might as well spend my crappy time here helping people out, he thought to himself. 
As he resentfully concluded that he should keep letting out rope to help others, he heard someone clomping through the forest. He got up, wondering if he’d be able to help them or if they’d already know to turn around. He dragged his rope balls behind him letting out slack and wondering what he was going to do in a few years when the slack was out. He saw the person in the distance. It was a young girl who couldn’t be past her teens dragging a rope behind her. As Farren was about to call out to her, he tripped on something and landed on his face. He let out a cry in pain.
“Oh my gosh,” the girl shouted still a few yards away. “Are you okay? I’ll be right there.”
Farren held his nose and felt warm blood coming out of it. His nose had done him the favor of breaking his fall and itself in the process. He shouted back at the girl “I’m fine,” as he looked to see what he had tripped over. 
His nose dripped blood around him, and he could no longer breathe right using it. He stood up, and as he tried to move forward, slower this time, he noticed the foot attached to his rope wouldn’t budge. Between looking up to keep his blood from getting all over the place and examining the rope, he realized his line something had snagged his line. 
He looked at where his rope balls were, and there was nothing wrong with them. Whatever caught my rope must be further back, he thought. He looked over to the young woman who he was headed to meet. The blood in his nose had clotted, however as he lightly prodded it he felt that it was crooked and tender. 
The young woman was pulling at her rope and seemed to be stuck as well. Farren saw her and thought he could relate, then she broke free and was able to make more progress again. Unfortunately, when she was only four yards away, she got stuck. The girl kept pulling against it, but it was no use.

“I guess this will have to be good enough,” she said plopping down on the ground with childlike energy. 
“Sorry I’m usually more helpful than this,” Farren said. As he spoke, he heard his sounded muffled voice come out. 
“It’s fine,” the girl said with a shrug. They weren’t quite shouting distance but, they had to speak up to be heard. “Have you been traveling for long?” She asked.
“Yeah, it’s been a while, and it looks like it’s going to be a while more,” Farren responded wondering what eternity would be like stuck in one place. 
The young woman wanted details about his life so far in this world, and he happily shared them as the pain in his nose faded. When he was near the end, she asked, “So, if you have all this slack how did you get stuck?”
Farren shrugged, he had some ideas, but all he said was, “I’m not sure, I think someone up there just has a sense of humor.” He gestured at the sky, and the whole statement reminded him of Gesa before she dove down to get her rock. “I think I’m going to turn back and clear up whatever mess I’ve made.”
“After that, are you going to keep wandering around the forest?” 
“Probably,” He said matter of factly. “It’s the only thing worth doing.”
“That’s not true. You seemed so passionate about finding your rock, you’ve been doing this for years, and I just started. Maybe when you get to your rock, it will just be a tiny little thing that’s stuck in a hard to reach place.” 
“Maybe,” Farren said wondering if it was a childish hope.
“You really should do it! I’m going to.” 
“Good,” Farren said, but he could tell his heart wasn’t in it. 
“I really hope you don’t get stuck for long. After all, if you at least make it to your rock, you’ll be free to move anywhere in the world with all that slack.”
He nodded his head absentmindedly. He knew she was right, Gesa gained some freedom as soon as she got to her rock. It was likely he would get similar freedom, even if he couldn’t move it around. “Thanks,” he said.
As she wandered back where she came collecting her rope, Farren began to do the same. His broken nose was tender and a reminder all day that he should keep his slack neat and focus on the target instead of trying to be distracted by every sound in the forest. He was resigned to being stuck in this world, but that didn’t mean this forest was the specific place to do it.

After two months of traveling and untangling his ropes from the trees, it had become knotted around Farren found himself at the spot where he’d ditched his path for Harrower. In the grand scheme of things, Farren didn’t know if he was closer or further from his rock than when he was stuck and talking to the young girl. He did know that he was at least at a point where he could move forward without worrying about his ropes. 
As he stood under the trees and inspected his process moving forward, he heard a person walking through the forest. Farren hadn’t met or talked to anyone in months. He’d heard plenty of people traveling, but he focused on following his rope refusing to let out any slack no matter how close the sound was. It was difficult, and each time he hoped that his line would take him towards the noise to meet the person, but fate did not comply with his wishes. 
Hearing the person moving in the forest Farren considered turning to find them and figure out who they were and maybe even talk about the idea of returning for their rope. The urge to move towards the noise gnawed at Farren, but he knew it was a slippery slope to being knotted in the forest again. Farren refused to let himself give ground despite the urge to meet another person. In a stalemate or compromise with himself, he sat down and waited. 
He wouldn’t let himself lose ground, but that didn’t mean he had to walk away from the sound. It was coming from the opposite direction of his rope, and he felt that if he walked away now, he would leave the noise behind forever. His line was fated to avoid this person, but maybe if he waited, they would stumble upon him. 
Through the morning Farren waited, and the sound slowly became closer. By afternoon the noise hadn’t made much progress likely because the traveler was stuck. Farren thought he’d be waiting a while and he felt the urge to let out some slack to help but fought against the pull. 
Finally, with a sigh of relief, Farren heard the sound moving again. It was growing, and Farren was confident they’d pass near him. He just wondered if they’d be close enough for Farren to see them, or for them to see Farren.
It was almost dusk when the person finally came through the trees that hid them from Farren. The person who walked out from behind the tree wasn’t who he’d expected though. He figured his shocked expression mirrored the one on her face.

From behind the tree, the grey-haired woman, Hazel appeared. In the dim light of dusk, she didn’t initially notice him on the ground. Farren figured his dirty but white linens stood out from the brown and green background and she caught him in the corner of her eye. On a second inspection, she jumped startled by him. Farren put his hands up to show he was harmless. 
“Of all the godforsaken people I could have run into,” Hazel said in an exasperated tone.
“You’re not very high on my list either, thank you very much.” Farren was glad to see another person. However, Hazel was a lost cause if he’d ever met one. 
“How are you not kilometers away from me by now?” She asked. “I’ve been traveling for two months. Have I been going in circles?”
Farren shrugged, “It’s a long story,” Farren started then added, “well, not that long in the grand scheme of things.” 
Hazel looked at the sky which was dimming from the sunset. “I’m not likely to make it much further today. And I haven’t talked to anyone since the last time we ran into each other.”
Farren could only imagine how lonely she might be. “I’ll make a fire, and we can talk,” Farren said. 
The stick rubbing method came back to him quickly and memories of the bonfire on the beach and his time with Gesa returned. He hoped that she was doing well, and wondered if she ever made the map of the world that she had planned. He thought one might surely come in handy for him while navigating these woods. 
At dusk, after Farren had gathered enough wood for a nice long fire, he dove into the story about how he’d knotted himself all around the forest. In the end, he asked, “What about you? How has your progress been?”
Hazel let out a sigh that he thought she might have been holding in for weeks, “I’m honestly not even sure if I’m traveling in the right direction. I can’t see the mountain, so I don’t even know if I’m moving the right way. Hell, you might be right that it’s on the other side of the world.”
Farren nodded in the dim firelight not eager to throw salt in her wound.
“This forest doesn’t have any landmarks either,” she lamented.
“Well it’s better than the desert,” he retorted.
She let out a deep laugh, and Farren wasn’t sure if it was at his joke or their hopeless situations.
The entire night they avoided the conversation of turning back for their rope. Farren didn’t know if she was grateful for this, but he was glad he didn’t have the burden of failure after talking to her about it. 
When the fire died after a few hours the two of them lay down under separate trees and slept through the night. 

In the morning Farren said, “Last night you were complaining about not having a clear direction.”
Hazel looked at him, and in the light of the morning sun he could see how eager she was to roll her eyes, “I swear if you tell me to turn back for my rope I will…”
Farren cut her off before she could finish her threat. “No, no, no, I was going to suggest we travel together following my rope. I could help you get your rock unstuck, and you’d at least be moving in a clear direction rather than circles.”
Hazel looked at him mulling over the suggestion. “Does your rope lead towards the mountain?” She asked. 
Farren shrugged, “I doubt it. But I also doubt it goes in a full circle. Meaning that you’d be making some progress or another.”
Hazel scratched her head messing her grey hair up a little. “You wouldn’t move as fast.” She added. 
With a smile, he said, “I have the better half of eternity to follow this rope. Speed isn’t exactly a priority anymore.”
“I’ll try it out,” She agreed. “But if I see any promise or hope that the mountain is in another or better direction I’m abandoning you and your crackpot rope chasing idea.”
“That’s more than fair,” Farren said. Thinking of how far he’d traveled since he’d gotten here. Farren was doubtful that she or anyone else he’d met in the forest would be seeing the mountain any time soon. The last time he’d seen it was three years ago on the other side of an ocean.
“And the last condition is that you can’t bring up the idea of turning back for my rock,” she added. 
“Not a problem,” Farren agreed. He was tired of sharing the idea with others anyway. It had only gotten him knotted up in more ways than one.