The less travelled one (pt 2)

The two returned to the path, and Mia followed Haru deeper into the forest.

“So, the place you are taking me to… what is it like? Is it an old building… or a piece of nature?” Mia asked, looking at Haru, who stayed dead quiet.

“Can you give me a hint, please? I need to be prepared. What if we meet another ghost?”

Haru turned to her. “I promise you, it will be better if I keep it a surprise.”

Mia sighed. “Okay… I’ll be patient.”

A couple of minutes of hiking later, the unpaved road splits in two. The right end looked well-trodden, the path clearly separated from the bush surrounding it. The left end, however, was overgrown with grass, tree branches covering the edges.

“We need to go right here,” Haru exclaimed, his body already facing that way.

Mia stopped. “Wait! I have an idea.”

Haru turned around, his expression questioning.

“What if we turn left instead?” She spoke.

Haru looked puzzled, staring at the overgrown path. “I am certain that we need to go right. The place I want to show you is that way.”

He pointed his finger in the right direction, and then added. “Actually… I once heard a story about this being an ancient route going all the way to the big city where I will go to study next year.”

Mia nodded her head. “I know… I know… but wouldn’t it be fun to go the other way for once? It could be an exciting little adventure, right?”

He sighed. “You know, Mia, this forest is enormous. We might get lost and not get back in time before dark. Besides that, there is no way of telling if this road will lead us to the place I wanted to show you.”

“Couldn’t we just travel this way for a bit and then turn back if we feel lost? I obviously want to see the thing you have been hyping me for all this time, but also consider this: we might encounter something unexpected,” a grin formed on her face, “maybe another ghost!”

She imitated a ghost with her arms, startling Haru, who still wasn’t convinced. He looked at the left path a bit closer, taking a couple of steps inside. He put this hand above his eyes, blocking the sun, trying to peer as far as possible. But he couldn’t make out much.

“There will probably be more forks after this one… it isn’t always as simple as just heading back. We could easily lose track of where we came from.”

Mia fumbled with her phone, showing him a compass app. She made a swirl, trying to determine which direction the path went into. “If you just keep following west, we could never get lost,” she swiped her phone, pointing at the clock. “We also have hours left before dark… I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

A quiet sigh escaped Haru as the irritation slowly crept in. She’d asked him to show her around, and he’d chosen a nice spot - they were already heading toward it. The right path was the right way, so why did she keep pushing for the left?

The whole situation puzzled him, and he looked at Mia, and their eyes met. Her sparkly blue eyes… they viewed the world in an entirely different way than his, didn’t they? Where he saw a dead end, she saw an opportunity for something unexpected and exciting.

“Serendipity,” he whispered in English.

Is she trying to tell me something? Haru looked at the left path again. Sure, it was a bit overgrown, but not unpassable. They definitely could go there, although the thought had never crossed his mind. Mia seemed to see things from a different angle than he did - maybe it was her Americanness, or maybe it was just the way her mind worked.

Coming here from America to the little-known village of Hanabusa was a giant leap of faith. Far from her family, unsure whether she would understand anyone, let alone make friends. Chasing a myth that seemed bogus to any reasonable person. Compared to that, taking a slightly overgrown road seemed like peanuts.

Haru smiled at the blonde girl with newfound admiration. Whether it was intentional or not, she made him think in different ways, and he started to like it. With his hand, he rubbed the back of his head. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say.

“You know what… we might try going that direction for a couple of minutes. We might end up in the same place, or somewhere completely different. We will find out.”

Mia’s eyes started sparkling.

“That’s awesome! I'm excited to see what's there, come!” she said while stretching out her hand to Haru. He grabbed her hand firmly, letting himself get pulled into an unknown direction.

X

Haru and Mia set foot on the unknown dirt path. With each step, Haru moves further away from the route he knows best, the dark forest enveloping them. He looks at Mia, who is cheerfully hopping forward, without a hint of concern. She takes out her phone and starts filming the path.

“Watch out!” Haru yells as he watches Mia almost trip over a big boulder.

The girl chuckles. “I should really watch my steps here.”

Haru and Mia waded their bodies through an increasingly unclear path. Dodging boulders, avoiding puddles, brushing away overhanging branches. A little in the distance, a bulky fallen tree had covered the mud trail. Haru looked at Mia with an uncertain gaze, his residual doubt taking hold of him.

He stopped and looked back in the direction they had come from. The main path was long out of sight. Worried, he looks at Mia. “Maybe we should turn around here…” he says, staring at the tree trunk blocking their path.

She laughed and pulled up her sleeves. “We can’t… because this is where it starts to get fun. Please lend me your arm.”

Resting her weight on Haru, the blonde girl climbed over the thick trunk with ease. Mia gestures to him to do the same. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you!”

It wasn’t the climbing that worried Haru… with every move they make, it becomes more and more difficult for them to get back. He stares at Mia’s eyes, which were filled with anticipation.

Go back and disappoint her… or call the shots and make sure she’ll be safe at home before dinner… but that would also mean the end of their adventure…

“Adventure…” he whispered, the word lingering. He noticed his heart had started beating faster, was it just from the exercise… or was it the excitement of doing something so unusual? Mia looked like she was having so much fun, did he have a side like that to himself as well? If only he didn’t worry so much.

Suddenly, Haru realized something. Mia’s arrival wasn’t just physical, her presence had already set in motion a chain of changes… like the butterfly effect. She was pushing him to adapt, to step outside himself and explore a different culture… a different way of being. If he was able to lean into these new feelings, he might be able to have an “exchange” of his own.

We should continue for just a bit… he thought as he put his palms against the trunk. He glanced at her outstretched hand on the other side of the tree, took a deep breath, and managed to get over with little trouble.

Haru brushed off his clothes and passed by Mia. “Let’s increase our pace.”

“I was convinced for a second that you were going to chicken out,” she answered with a sigh of relief.

Haru grinned. “I just realized something,” he said, after which he remained silent.

Mia’s curious eyes met his. “Don’t leave me on the edge! I want to know.”

He laughed, “I cannot tell you.”

She playfully pouts her face, then shrugs with a grin. “Fine, keep your secret. But you better not slow us down again.”