Uphill – #freewrite 28, Day 1028

He left the river when the crowd of party kids arrived. They were far too noisy to deal with; that and he never joined in with any group, as a rule.

The hill behind him wasn’t hard to traverse; the park service had cut a trail with switchbacks. He followed the trail back and forth like his life.

A bear came across his path; it was just a black bear, and more interested in berries than human flesh. It didn’t even pause in its ambling; just turned its head and perused him with beady black eyes and kept on going.

He was fine with that.

At the top of the hill the bay stretched out below with a shiny gold blanket on it. He could almost feel the smart of glare on his eyes, even at that height. He gazed for a minute before surmounting the crest and plunging back down the far side.

Here the woods cooled; the sun already cast a shadow. He didn’t fear the things that might being stirring in the early dark. He knew that dark things had their place.

And when they came for him, it would be at the right time.

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A dedication

The following image and poem are dedicated to @owasco, as a thank-you for the support she continually offers.

@owasco shared a wonderful poem today for the @bananafish haiku contest; you can check it out here:
https://peakd.com/hive-114105/@owasco/mizu-no-oto-every-image-has-its-haiku-edition-52-english-espanol

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Old man with a hat
of past time, drifting away,
a mist before dawn