Odarin the Good Wizard

Within the forest that surround the Wizard Grammar School Odarin set off at steady walking pace along a track that led away from his previous scholastic life and as the path narrowed his perception of life widened. In the forest the sky all but disappeared completely with only a few fragments of blue that remained - like scattered pieces of an impossible jigsaw.

The air was rich with all kinds of different smells. There was the smell of leaves, loam and even damp that filled his nostrils instead of the stuffy testosterone filled classroom he was used to. Even after the storm that drenched the town had swept overhead the soil under his feet remained wet, slowly releasing its heady fog.

Outside and above the forest were the powerful rays of an early summer but inside the forest it was cool and the colours all around him had a softness to them like the light just before twilight approached.

The only movement was the occasional bird or a squirrel darting up and down the huge trees that reached ever skyward. There was the sound of running water from a small brook that flowed parallel to the walking path Odarin found himself on. The running water that filled his ears and mind was like music to his soul. As he walked he took lungs full of air and expelled it slowly bringing about a deep state of clam within him.

To Odarin, the walks he took, that grew ever longer as he gained confidence to leave altogether, were like a trip out of his life and he felt more independent and empowered with each step.There was no sense of time or hurry as he loitered on the ever decreasing path only the time he took gauged by the rise and fall of the glorious sun overhead.

As the pathway Odarin was on all but disappeared he halted his progress and looked up. The trees in the forest grew so quickly and about his feet were the remnants of branches and twigs that had fallen due to high winds. He looked at the ground and if there was a pathway left it had all but vanished and he was entirely alone.

There was a lake about twenty minutes further into his hike that he so desperately wanted to see. He knew that seeing it would calm him. Give him some hope and rest from the hectic trauma filled life that living in a big city evoked in his heart. This was most likely why he chose to be a kind Wizard and not one so easily lead astray into the darker side of magic with its perriless pitfalls. So Odarin continued to trek along his now none existent pathway fully aware of the beauty that was to come.

After the heat and itchiness of his trek he finally laid eyes upon the beautiful lake. It lay before motionless with out waves or tides fluctuating its movements. To Odarin it looked like a lake of balm. The was no waves crashing on to a man made beach and he was now out of the forest and in the bright sunlight.

Despite the relentless warming rays of the sun on his shoulders he knew the water would be cool. This lake would most likely be as deep as the mountains that surrounded it were high. Like the ocean, such a large volume heats and cools slower than the land or the air. In just a few seconds he was skinny dipping and he didn’t care who saw. The cool water moved over his skin like a potion, removing the irritation and replacing it with a meditative peace.

On the city streets he was a walking coin dispenser, a consumer, a citizen. There are rules of conduct any which way you go. He must cross the street on command, he must wait in line-ups in the stores and be courteous. But here in nature he was just another organism, another animal, albeit one with fancy Wizard clothes and a wand hidden in my robes. There’s something liberating in that. Odarin thought to himself while he swam...

If I want to I can shout my lungs out, there is not a soul to cast a disapproving glance or whisper doubts as to my sanity. I can run, walk or turn cartwheels. I can hike for an hour or an entire day, so long as I pack my robes with enough food I needn’t return until sundown. I’m not really a camper as such because I like a nice soft bed, but perhaps the urge to keep on walking will get the better of me one day and I wont need to return to the city I live in now. We’ll see...he kept swimming for close to an hour then dried and dressed himself and started his beautiful trek homeward. He felt so much clearer than before he headed out. Returning to the city was going to be a drag on his spirits but for now....he was very calm and happy.