New Horizons

A story based on three words: rugged, peaceful and family. 

                                                      Chapter 1

The waves crashed against a rugged cliff face. A small boy looked over the peaceful horizon and watched anxiously as he took in the vast ocean for the last time. Johny could hear his mother calling his name and he turned away to hurry back. 

                  “Come on now Johny. Grab your things we’ve got to go.”

                  “Yes Mom,” replied Johny. He quickly ran into his house to grab his brown and orange bag. 

                  “Mom…” Said Johny. “Why do we need to leave?” His question came from an honest tone but a defiant heart. 

                  “Because dear…it’s the season for leaving. Sometimes the world calls us to go. But don’t worry Johny; a good season is coming.”

                  Johny was a young boy who was intelligent beyond his years. He learned to read at a young age and read every book that his mother owned. 

                  “Now jump in.” Johny’s mother held open the door to a tightly packed sedan.

As the car moved around the bend towards the main drag, Johny watched his old house disappear for good. For a few moments Johny let his tears fall while he watched the coastline. His tears were heathy, and they soothed him as he left his old home. Soon Johny was sleeping gently in the back of his old sedan. 

                                                      Chapter 2

Many years had passed since the last move.  Johny reminisced over his childhood while he looked over a stubborn landscape full of empty promise to produce a crop. Johny was now a strong eighteen; his mother aged heavily in the past ten years and another move was on the horizon. 

During these difficult times Johny’s mother hardened herself to brace for an unforgiving world. No one could have known that the weather would be unfavorable. Johny could not pull the crops from the ground. Only nature can invite the green to grow. And now the green would not. 

However, difficult times do something more than create a stubborn exterior. The difficult times created a bond between Johny and his mother. The years where heavier than what Johny and his mother could carry, and they had no choice but to surrender to gravity. When this happened, nature provided roots. Amid their hardship they found the earth held them nicely. 

Johny looked over the expansive horizon for one last time. In this moment John embraced the barren expanse and thanked the sky for all he had. 

                  “Mom!” Called John

Mother came out of the house with the last piece of furniture and John grabbed his brown and orange bag—now with patches on it. This time John took the wheel, and the old sedan pulled away to seek new places.