Michael's Journal

The Quest, Part VI
The quest had been long and arduous. The Foolish Prince had become lost in the wilderness. He had lost track of his scouts and his messengers. He had lost contact with his kingdom as he continued his quest. In time, he had even lost the way home, but he did not need it. The kingdom was not his destination. He sought something else.

As he had traveled, he lost his horse. His armor was damaged. His sword was bent. He ran short of food, although he was able to find enough on the land to keep traveling.

One day, the Foolish Prince came across a Hunter. The Hunter asked him why he traveled through the wilderness so.

"I am on a quest to find wisdom, love, and myself," the Prince explained wearily.

"Where do you quest to?" the Hunter asked.

"I do not know, but I quest on," the Prince answered resolutely.

"Do you know your way home?"

"No, but if I must quest, then the way home is not important until I find my goal."

The Hunter thought on this. "My friend," the Hunter began, "you cannot find new knowledge by discarding the old. You can only truly move forward by knowing the point at which you started. Know the way home and you will know your destination."

As the Prince left the Hunter, he thought about what he had said. He looked around and knew that mountain range there. He knew this stream. Once he opened his eyes, he knew that he even knew the stars. He could have known where he was all this time, but he had been too focused on the destination to focus on the journey.

He headed back to the kingdom. Perhaps it would be a good place to start.

Then he wondered. He had left the kingdom long ago. Would they miss him? Would there be a new prince in his place? Would they welcome him back? He knew he would have his answer soon.

As he came close to the kingdom, he thought he glimpsed a scout in the woods, but she fled before he could approach.

Finally, he came out of the woods into the edge of the kingdom. The sunlight dazzled his eyes. He saw the familiar mountains and the streams and he knew he was home, a home he had not seen in a long time. Then he saw them.

Men and women came up the road toward him. One carried a new sword and presented it to him to replace the one that had been damaged. Another carried a gleaming new breastplate to replace the old tattered one. Yet another led a horse, his old horse who had returned to the Kingdom ahead of him.

He mounted his horse and looked out upon those who had gathered to welcome him. His advisors, his scouts and messengers, his people. Among them, he saw the Princess and the knight who had rescued her. They all saluted their allegiance to the Prince.

"You waited for me," he said.

"Sire, we would have waited for you until the mountains fell into the streams," the Captain of the Guard declared.

The Prince noted that some had left, but all those who mattered were here, because those who had come to welcome him were all that mattered.

As he gazed across those who had come to welcome him, those who had waited for him, those who had had faith in him, he knew that at the end of his wanderings he had returned to the place from where he began and found the truth he had been questing for. The love and wisdom that he sought could be found among his loyal friends. He had needed to travel far to discover this truth, and to be away long to appreciate it, but now he had found it, and he knew, looking into the eyes of his friends that he would never forget it.

Current Mood: grateful

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