Such magnificent mountains, the stranger thought as she walked along the path. Above her loomed the varied faces of millennia old mountains. Some of their slopes were covered in pines and oaks while others were scraped clean to the bare rock by time. Something in her distant memory tried to surface and she stopped walking while she tried to work the memory out. Had she been here before? In all probability she most likely had been here before but that didn’t really mean much, all things considered. She’d been to most places in the world. The angles of the mountains certainly seemed familiar but so many mountains were similar to one another. The trees themselves weren’t particularly unique either, and yet something about this place stirred up something from her past.

The memory remained vague and foggy and after some more time she gave up trying to resurrect it. So much of her memory was like that. She’d see something, usually a landmark or other natural formation, and it would bring up past memories. Sometimes they would be crisp, but usually they were more like hints, shadows of her past that’s been slowly dragged under by time. Sometimes those memories would bring emotions with them, regardless of the clarity of the memory itself, and it was those that she found to be most frustrating. She didn’t mind the emotions in and of themselves, but being unable to understand or remember exactly why she felt that way wore on her patience.

These particular mountains made her feel happy. Peaceful. And yet also there was a hint of something else. Longing? Loss? It was entirely possible that she was experiencing emotions from multiple, unconnected memories. Still, this time she was less bothered by the emotions. The memories felt close and she was hopeful that, with time, she’d be able to remember. She intended on staying in these mountains for a while anyway and it would give her time to try and remember.

The stranger resumed her walk. No matter how long she’d been on the earth she was always amazed by the changing of the seasons. Sure there were some years when she avoided the seasons by going to those places that didn’t experience them, but in the aggregate she loved watching the cycle of life. Spring brought such joy as the world awoke from its slumber. Summer was full of life and growth and activity. Autumn was a time of preparation and gentle decline. Winter was a time of rest and peace.

Currently, Autumn held sway and the crisp smell of cold decay tickled her nostrils. Desiccated leaves and twigs snapped sharply beneath her feet and occasionally she felt the softer crunch of an insect who had succumbed to the cooling nights.

Insects, the stranger mused to herself. How long were you my primary companions?

Those were unpleasant memories, the really old ones. For reasons beyond her, some of those oldest memories would never seem to fade, no matter how much she wanted them to go away. Insects made for poor companions and she had spent years beyond count, first without any companionship, and then with little more than the simplest of lifeforms like insects as her companions.

Ironic, she chuckled, There’s billions of people I could be with and I choose to be alone.

The earth hadn’t always been so full of people. Life hadn’t appeared on earth for so long, it seemed, and yet once it began it took off. At first life was only in the water and she marveled at its initial, simple forms. Then life spread to the shores, and from there it just continued to spread and diversify. Life in those early days was not an easy one, and she was grateful that her memories of that time were few. The ones she did have were tainted with a powerful loneliness and depression.

A hint of another, very distant memory, rose towards the surface of her mind. A face, a shadow of a voice, played just beyond her grasp, and a powerful sense of love and longing washed over her. Another such memory rose, another face, another voice, and her emotions continued to rise. Memory after memory crashed over her as the remnants of these half remembered people faded in and out of focus.

She’d loved them, once. She knew that much from the emotions these memories brought with them, but who they were she couldn’t say now. How long ago had she known them? Were they friends? Lovers? She’d never had any children, of that she was certain, and if she’d ever had parents or siblings she’d never met them.

A fallen tree served as a bench along the path and she sat down to allow the memories time to finish their race through her mind. Sometimes they brought smells to her memory as well. The one that seemed to be the freshest memory carried the same scents as this place.

All at once she remembered a short valley between two reaching arms of the mountains and from where she was sitting she was pretty sure she could see the place not far away. It was well off the trail but she had long ago learned to navigate in the wilderness and knew she wouldn’t lose her way.

The ground was deep with the remnants of fallen trees and she often found herself sinking down past her ankles in the decaying matter. As she pressed farther into the woods she thought she remembered the place more and more. Certainly it was quite different from the last time she must have been here. Many of the trees now growing high above her would have been only saplings, and many of the trees crumbling beneath her footsteps would have been in their place. But the rise and fall of the land began to come back to her and before long she found something of an old trail that she knew she must have walked on long ago.

She could almost hear the sounds from back then, smell the ancient woods, see the way it once had appeared. Was it drums or flutes that had played here, though? Had she’d known the people here, and if so how well had she known them? For certainly now she remembered that there had been dozens of people living in that valley. It seemed that she must have lived among them for some time for her to be able to remember this place with such detail. She remembered there being a large stone that had cascaded down from the mountain one Spring and, if her memory was accurate, she would be able to see it once she finished climbing this last hill. In fact, she’d be able to see into the entire valley.

A few faces resolved in her minds eye and she found herself gently crying while she studied their faces. How long had it been since she’d last seen them? It hurt that she couldn’t remember who they were, what their names had been, and yet she still felt a deep love for each of them.

She crested the hill.

The large bolder she’d remembered was there, though a tree was now growing out of a large crack that ran along its top. A thin stream wove its way through the valley on its way down from the mountain and she remembered that there were ponds in the Spring where they would catch fish and the children would chase frogs. The lower reaches of the valley had once been grasslands and fields for their crops. With no one to maintain them, however, the fields had been taken over by the trees.

Afternoon was waning when she finally reached the narrow tip of the valley where the land turned sharply up into the mountain. It was here that those she was remembering had lived, and she was growing more certain with every memory that she too had once lived here.

She walked carefully around the valley, remembering where the homes had been, where the walking paths once lay. It had been a simple way of life, back then. Life now was harder in some ways, but easier in others. People were more aware of their reliance upon one another back then, but also more able to accommodate the varied skills and abilities of those within their community.

She stopped walking. There was something about this particular patch of earth that made her pause. A home had once been here.

Her home.

She sat down onto the ground and ran her fingers into the underbrush until she reached the soil. She dug into the earth and tried to remember this place. She hadn’t lived here alone. There was someone else.

She remembered.

She’d come across the valley during the Autumn. Why she was traveling she didn’t remember. She often traveled without purpose and so she might have just been moving through. But something had made her stay. She’d come across this small village when they were finishing their harvest. She remembered how she’d decided to stop and help them and in exchange they’d given her a meal and a place to sleep for the night. In the morning she’d intended to press on but instead found herself helping them with some other task, and then another, and another. Day after day she found some excuse to stay and help. She’d lived for so long that she was quite expert in most of their daily chores. Before long she found that there was much that they didn’t know that she did and she began to teach them.

There was never a moment where she had decided to stay rather than to move on. It just sort of crept up on her and soon enough a home had been built for her, and then…

A final face came into focus. His face. He’d spent many seasons courting her. She’d been clear with him that she could not give him children, though she wasn’t sure if he fully understood. It didn’t matter in the end. She’d finally agreed to be joined with him and their homes became one. He was not the first person she’d fallen in love with, although then, just like now, she wasn’t always able to remember those who had come before. Too many years passed between each love that she rarely remembered much of the previous one.

Perhaps that was on purpose. Maybe she never found a new love until her memories of the previous one had sufficiently faded away.

Regardless, they had lived here, on this small piece of beautiful earth for many years together. He grew old and she remained as she always was. The people were superstitious and thought she was some Great Being, but since she had always been kind and helpful to them they did not fear her. The few who tried to worship her were quickly chastised. She wasn’t sure what she was, but she knew enough to know that she had no power worthy of worship.

At last his final day came and he breathed his last. She had watched the generations of this people grow up and age and now begin to die as the new generation rose up. No one had said anything to her, but she knew her time with them was over. Her love had passed on, and few were now alive who knew her from before her undying nature was known. They may not worship her, but she was apart from them and it was not the type of existence she wanted.

That night she had gathered up her few belongings she left.

How many years had passed since then? Hundreds at least, certainly. With the uncounted ages behind her she found it difficult even now to keep track of such things, even with the modern advances in technology that had sprung up in the last few decades.

Night was settling in and she decided to spend the night here in her old home once more. She gathered up the materials she needed for her shelter that night, using some of the same techniques she would have used back when she’d first lived here. Unlike that long ago time, she ate trail mix and other modern rations she’d brought with her and She filtered her water from the stream into her canteen. There was no need for a fire that night and she stared up into the starry sky as it bent around her.

It was not the same starry sky that had greeted her all those eons ago when she first became aware, and she’d watched as the constellations shifted and morphed. Just like the mountains that she’d watched rise and fall from age to age, just like the beasts she’d seen grow and develop and then fade away, everything around her was in constant flux. Only she remained unchanged. Only she persisted.

That night she dreamed of other past villages, towns, and cities where she’d lived. Other past loves. In the morning she awoke to the first frost of the season. The spindle hairs of ice clung to everything except for her. She could of course feel the cold, but it never harmed her. The same was true for all things. She didn’t need to eat, didn’t need to breathe, but doing those things brought her a comfort she could not explain.

She packed away her camp, dismantling her shelter and returning everything as she had found it. The time for her to move on had come and perhaps she was ready to return to humanity once more. She’d not settled down anywhere ever since she’d left this village. It had been too painful, remembering her love, her life with him. Too often she found people to fear her when they discovered her nature and with their fear came anger and violence. They couldn’t harm her physically, but such violence still took its toll on her.

But people were always changing and they were increasingly diverse. Perhaps now she could find a place to settle, for a time at least. And perhaps now that her memories of her last love were sufficiently faded she would be able to find another companion to spend a few brief decades with.

With that last thought she dismissed her memories of this place with gratitude to the people here who had taken her in. It was time to move on and she began walking back towards the trail. From there she would carry on until she found what she was looking for. A place to call home.