The Road Less Traveled
Published: 2020-08-19Description: Writing Prompt: You find yourself at a fork in the wood and remember the poem that said Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Except you see three identically-worn paths, and the road that looks less traveled is the one you just arrived by.
Word count: ~822
(Prompt by /u/CorsairVI on the /r/WritingPromps subreddit)
"Take the road less traveled, they said," I said.
"It'll make all the difference, they said," I said.
"And I said," I said, "Who are they that said," I said.
After it was all said and done, I still haven't made it off the beaten path.
It has been five days on the so-said "road less traveled" and I was no closer to the end of it than I was when I started. Probably. Actually, I had no idea.
Five days without any human contact will do things to your brains, they said.
It 'twas not a normal road, that road less traveled, they said. And I found that their (whoever "they" were) analysis of the situation to be correct, if incomplete. Like, how was I supposed to know I wouldn't get hungry? They didn't said that.
I still was hungry. But not in the normal way. More like my stomach said, "Hey. I know we apparently don't need to eat any more, but I still want food. This is really weird."
My eyes, certainly not bigger than my stomach in this case, caught a glint of silver in the silvery silver glint of the moonlight. It was night time? I hardly noticed the sunset. Or was it the sunrise? How long had I been on the road?
The silver glint refocused me again. Lovely glint that silver glint. I wondered if "they" who said, would say it was said it was good. They had a certain way of saying things, they.
The glint looked positively angry at this point. Obviously I was supposed to notice it and not keep thinking about the road. Or was it the other way around? Either way, I approached the glint of silver glint in the silver moonlight glinting in the silver moonlight.
Upon closer inspection, the glint actually was reflecting silver. Like the thing glinting was actual silver, and not just a silver reflection of the silver moonlight. I had silver, before I took the road less traveled, and it made all the difference... Or was it gold? I couldn't remember anymore.
I tried to inspect the silver, and succeeded. I didn't know why I expected not to not have inspected the silver glint but I was there inspecting it and expecting it and that was that. It had been a long five days, and I think my mind was starting to lose itself. Good thing I was still sane enough to keep it in check. Just like checking out that silver glint in the moonlight.
The silver thing was a fork.
I picked up the fork in the road and appreciated its opulent craftsmanship. I even put it in my mouth as an imitation of eating. There weren't any berry bushes along the side of the road less traveled, and eating dirt that one time didn't feel good. It was the first taste of something familiar I had, and it made all the difference. Or not. They didn't say.
The fork in the road was now in my hands. Or hand. I wasn't holding it with both hands like a child. No I wasn't. It was in my hand, thank you very much.
The fork in the road was now the fork in my hand, and that made all the deference. Or was it difference? One of those words. They all seem to start with 'D' these days. See? "Days" even starts with D. It's D all the way down.
But the fork wasn't a D. It was a triumph. A proof of progress. I wasn't going in circles, or even an oblong spheroid, or that one thing that only has one side (I couldn't remember the name, being enamored with the fork in the road that was in my hands). If there was a fork, than maybe I could find the end.
What would even be at the end of such a road less traveled? Would it be cake? Would I be able to eat cake with my new fork? That would be a good reward. I could have cake and than take a shower and then have an actual conversation with someone other than the trees and...
I continued forward. Armed (or handed?) with the fork, I even had the energy to look back a couple times and be proud.
"Take the road less traveled, they said," I said.
"'I will', I said!" I said, "'Which fork is it?", I said I said," I said.
"'The one in your hands!' they said," I said.