It was early in the day and yet the heat from the sun was already growing intense. The shade from the trees along the narrow hiking path looked inviting, but as he stood there, Kelic could only think about what lay at the end of that trail.

He’d come to this place many times before, and yet he’d never progressed further along the trail. Before this point there were numerous branches and turnoffs that he inevitably always took. Now, as he stood there on the trail, there were but two options. He could press forward into the shade of those trees until he reached the true end of the path, or else he could take this one last and final fork in the road that would eventually lead him back to his village. He didn’t think it was very far to reach the end of the trail.

Everyone he knew was aware of this trail. Everyone had their own thoughts of what was at the end of it. Yet no one who walked that final part of the trail ever came back. Kelic thought vaguely that it must be shady and cool. Much better than the heat he now felt.

No one really spoke of this trail, either, except for when someone failed to return after walking it. No one knew Kelic walked these paths so often. He didn’t want them to know. People had such different and unpredictable reactions whenever they found out someone had been walking it. Some people grew sad, others angry, and a few just nodded as though they understood but couldn’t find the words to explain why they neither supported the decision to walk this path, nor could explain why they also sometimes sought the shade of those trees. He wondered how many others from his village walked this way, in secret. Judging from how well worn the path was, he knew there must be others though he never saw them.

That was the unspoken rule of this path. You had to walk it alone, or not at all. Like any rule, there were those who broke it, but in general everyone knew how things were suppose to be done.

Of course, Kelic thought, no one was suppose to walk this path at all.

The sun continued to rise and sweat began to collect on his neck and face. Kelic tried wiping it away but he knew it was a futile effort. The sweat returned as fast as he could remove it. He hated the heat of the day. It was so uncomfortable, so inescapable. Most people, it seemed, weren’t bothered by the heat. They hardly seemed to notice it. For Kelic, it was unbearable. From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, it seemed everything was too warm. He felt hot and sticky so much of the time these days. He had hoped that, given time, he would just get use to it, learn to ignore it, but no. Even in his dreams now he was hot. The sun beat down and he could find no respite.

The trees over the path before him swayed in the light breeze, continuing to seem so inviting, and still Kelic didn’t move. Lots of people had ideas about what was to be found at the end of this path. Some thought it was a whole new town, perhaps one that was better than their current town, and that was why people waked that path. Others thought there was nothing there, just the end of the path, and that once they’d found that out, they just decided to continue on until they could find whatever it was that they’d gone searching for and got lost in the woods. Some claimed there was some sort of monster at the end of the path that called out for people to come to it so it could eat them and that that was why people chose to walk that path.

Kelic had his own thoughts on why he walked the path. He wanted the shade. He wanted release from the heat and discomfort. The few people in town he’d talked to about his discomfort all claimed there was shade to be had in the town, but Kelic had never found comfort in it. The heat was still there. And even if it did offer some relief, he knew he’d have to go back out into the sunlight eventually. No one returned from this path. If he went down it, he could stay in that shade forever.

But what if that shade was no better than the shade in his town? All he would have accomplished was to trade one discomfort for another. At least in town he had his family and friends. He didn’t know if he’d meet anyone else down at the end of the path. If it was just another town, he’d have all the same problems as he had before. If there was nothing there, or if he got lost in the woods, he’d hardly be in any better situation than if he’d just stayed home. If there was a monster, well, he didn’t think that likely but all the same he didn’t like the idea of being eaten.

So many times Kelic had come this far only to turn back and return home. Each time he felt a strange mixture of relief, shame, and regret. Relief that he hadn’t gone the rest of the way. Shame that he had gone to that place again. Regret for not having gone down the path the rest of the way.

It was his fear of the unknown, combined with his concern for his friends and family that kept bringing him back home. It was always so difficult for those left behind whenever someone took this path. It was worse than them simply moving away. If they had done that, they could be visited, could still be seen. Not so with this path.

A large, rounded stone sat by the side of the path, worn down by countless people sitting on it as they contemplated, like Kelic did now and had done many times previous. If only he knew what was down that path. Was the shade really better? Was there respite to be found? Or would it be the same, or worse? He picked at the plants that grew beside the stone, absentmindedly rubbing the seed pods between his fingers and then letting the newly released seeds drop to the ground, one by one. Eventually, each seedpod in reach had been crushed and its seeds scattered and Kelic still sat there, debating, unsure of which way to go. A part of him worried someone would come along and find him. A part of him wanted to be found.

How did the others deal with the heat, Kelic wondered. How could they stand it, day after day? Did they just not feel it the same way he did? Was he just more susceptible or less resilient? He often thought himself weak for being so bothered by the heat. Maybe there were others who were bothered like he was, but they had found ways of dealing with it. Maybe they’d just already walked this path and moved on, knowing there was nothing else they could do.

He let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding in. It came out as a long, slow sigh. In it he heard all of his frustrations and fears, his pains and his longing for relief. He wanted to go down that path. He wanted to find the cool of the shade and finally feel refreshed. But he didn’t know for certain, and that uncertainty weighed on him as it had done every other time he’d come here. Every time he found himself sitting on this rock, grinding out the seeds or picking at the ground, as he went over the same thoughts, the same arguments, again and again, never finding any answers.

He should just walk away. Go back home. He could always come back here, if he wanted, but without knowing what lay beyond he knew he couldn’t go through with it. Besides, he hated thinking of how hurt his family and friends would be when they discovered he’d walked this path. He didn’t want to cause them pain. He only wanted relief.

Kelic would find no relief that day. He knew it, just as he had known it every other time he’d come this way. With a final look down the shaded path, he turned and walked the other way, down the branch in the path that would lead him back home. It was a hot day still, and the sweat ran down his face and neck, stinging his eyes and irritating his skin, but at least it was familiar. At least it was known. He wiped his skin with a handkerchief even though he knew it would do little good and continued on. He had chores to do before the sun went down and with any luck he’d be able to find some shade to rest in before the day was done.

As always, he looked back over his shoulder before he rounded the bend in the trail, taking one last look at the shaded path he never took. The path that, perhaps he might never take.

Kelic was, for now, satisfied with his choice, and happy to be going home to see those that he loved.