Prologue: The Journey Begins

The rays of the sun gently lifted the veil off his eyes. Stirred by the misty morning winds, he attempted to pick himself up to a sitting position. All around him were long rows of outstretched cedars that assembled beyond the golden horizon. He looked around him and found himself in a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest.. but it looked too neat to be a forest. The rows of cedar stood one beside another like soldiers gathered in rank and file, almost as if someone had planted them there. In fact, the forest looked more like a garden. And it was not dense at all. There was ample light for each tree and enough space to weave oneself through. Despite this, the assembly of cedars looked neither contrived nor artificial. It looked completely natural, almost as if they talked and fellowshipped with one another, yet without audible utterance. No man could have conceived such exquisite design. "Where am I?" He thought.

He started to move westwards, the same way the sun headed. He had no idea of where he was going. Yet, as he moved, the morning winds seemed to stir him in the same direction. Strangely enough the grand design of the garden seem to create a westward path too. He kept moving...

As he moved, he though to himself.. Where am I? Where did i come from? Where am i headed? What am i even doing here in the first place? Who put me here? He stopped. Who am I?

The morning winds blew again and it sent the leaves of the cedars rustling.. no.. it was more like singing... but it wasnt a human song, neither was it sung with a human voice.. how absolutely twisted would it be for trees to sing songs like men do.. yet they sang and they sang not as men but as trees for the glory of trees were not like the glory of men.. and yet they sang.. and they seemed to sing westwards. He could barely hear them sing and he could not even make out the words, let alone join them. But amidst that faint touch of a chorus, the singing was joined with the voice of another. Though not a tree, the meek voice blended splendidly with the song, until it became more pronounced and noticeable...

That certainly caught his attention. He turned to see whose voice it was and there was a person wearing a straw hat and a brown tunic. "Who are you?"

"I take care of this place" he said with a hint of a smile. "You're another one of them aren't you?"

"Huh? Who are they? I don't even know who i am or what I'm doing here. I'm just passing through this place."

"Indeed you are" said the caretaker. "You are on a journey. Like the rest of ..." He was interrupted.

"Did you bring me here? Were you the one who knocked me out and dropped me right in the middle of this.. forest?"

"You ask too many questions, Sojourner."

"Is that my name? So.. soj..."

"See, you ask another one!" The caretaker said with a slight assuring laughter. "Let me tell you something.. you will get your answers soon enough... but you have to seek them. This land, all that you see, they speak. Every tree, every river."

"Wait... huh.. what, but i don't under.."

"You don't understand because you're not really listening. You're not even listening to me."

"Look. If you're not going to tell me anything, i'd better be going."

"What's the hurry young man? Do you have to go somewhere?"

"I..." He walked away and carried on westwards.

"Keep moving along this path. You'll find the answers you seek." said the caretaker. Looking on towards the diminishing figure in the distance, he spoke under his breath. "You'll be back here eventually."