Blond boy finds his mantra

He had followed the same path up through the woods a thousand times. But, today would turn out different. The blond boy would find his mantra.

As he strolled through the quiet and the mist, he continually dreamed about what could be. He thought that he might make a point or two. He might find the light instead of continually struggling against the darkness.

But, in reality, he was just a simple boy. He had no cognitive skills above the mundane and regular. But, he knew that he was special. In his own small way.

After three hundred yards of climbing uphill, he broke into a flat area. It was part of a strip mining project that had been long abandoned. Several years before, the black, glistening coal had been exposed to the sun by the earth movers of that long forgotten time. After the coal seam had been extracted, all that was left was the common dirt and the common rock.

Some parts of the area seemed to resemble the surface of the moon. Barren. Rock strewn. Dead. Those miners had taken out what had pecuniary worth and left the rest to lie motionless and without merit.

He continued to walk the flat area while he contemplated the beauty of the site, rather than its innate ugliness. If he looked hard, he could see some wild flowers blooming beside the rubble. He could usually spot a rabbit hopping along and enjoying the taste of the ferns which popped up to live close and tight to the moss which always grew where there was no glare from the sun.

He strolled up a steep embankment to the top of the hill. He could then look at the scene on the other side. The side away from the mine.

It was an exceptional view. Deep down in the valley was the West Fork River, not big and muddy, but green with envy for the big rivers it eventually flowed into.

And, the railroad tracks. There were four different lines which the blond boy could see. Two of them hugged the river while the other two were branches off of the main lines. There was one particular piece of engineering marvel which the boy could see and contemplate. At one precise point, all four tracks crossed over and around each other. There were two trestles and two X’s formed by the lines. It was the intersection of four major highways, but only seen by a few train engineers and random wanderers into the woods.

He sat down on the apex of the hill and waited for the next train to troll by. None of the trains went more than ten miles an hour, but their strength was evident by the sound they made as they meandered through the valley.

It was the trains’ incomparable strength that the blond boy worshiped. It was a strength that he envisioned that he could someday have. And, as he contemplated the power of the engine that pulled the massive coal cars, he knew that he wanted to feel that same power within himself.

But, the strength he was seeking was not of physical power, but of character. An inner actualization of himself. An inner bliss based on that known core strength.

Click Clack…Click Clack…Click Clack. That was it.

The sounds of the train wheels rolling hard against the rails.

His song. His mantra.