Raymond L. Burton - The Happy Soul

Lumen squandered the rest of his day away between mindless activities and idle banter as he bumped into others who didn’t have much of an agenda or purpose either. His mind jumped from thought to thought between outside stimuli and distractions. Once the dog of his mind caught its tail, he would let go and rehash the same thoughts from only moments ago. He sure was tired of a busy mind that never ended up with any answers.

The day passed like any other and once again he laid down to sleep feeling that something was left undone or that more should have been done. Always more and more questions and never a solid groundwork of an answer to build on. Even those deemed “wise” could be found in private with the same disillusioned looks on their faces. The act was great in front of a crowd but the dance lacked luster when the audiences song couldn’t be heard.

At least he was honest with himself. He didn’t have clue what the hell to think, and he was getting angry and frustrated. His sleep was restless and his body was tense until the grinding of his own teeth woke him at 4:44. In contrast the choir of swallows and crickets seemed to be having a great old time. “This is way to early to be staring up at the holes in my roof” thought Lumen.

Too early, the thought reminded him of something he read or heard a couple of days ago; “The morning breeze has secrets to tell. Do not go back to sleep.”

Tossing off the horse hair blanket and putting both feet on the floor he sighed and rubbed his face in his hands.

“Guess I’ll walk over to the bell tower and see a sunrise. I haven’t done that in years. Come to think of it, now is just as good a time as any to start a journal. Speaking of the journal, what to do about Rector. Does he really have answers? ”

Lumen was picking his feet very high as he kicked into the top of each stair on his way up the bell tower. It was the tallest place in town and his favorite lookout besides the canyon which took quite a while to get to. He found an apple basket up top, he wasn’t the only soul that sought solitude up here by the looks of it. He turned to the east to look at the sunrise and settled in to watch the show.

Orange to baby blue and purple.
The distant hills act as a dark lower frame to a painting changing from moment to moment.
Plumes of smoke start to rise from chimneys as fires warm souls and breakfasts to start another day.
A little bird jumps from branch to branch in the tree that shadows the tower, and the town watchman starts blowing out the courtyards lamps.
Two doves fly overhead and one knight sits alone. Solitude brings both learning and loneliness.
The watchman finishes with the last of the lamps.
The quiet seems endless and comforting.
The voice of inner knowledge could now be heard.

“If I want to be happy and live a full life of adventure, perhaps I should learn from someone that seems to already seems to be doing that very thing. Rector seems content unlike most of the villagers and he always seems to be on an important project.”

Something started to click and a fire started to kindle in his belly. “If I am not happy now, it is a result of what I am or am not doing. Everything I have ever done or thought has brought me to this point.” His eyes started to widen and he stopped walking because this revelation was overwhelming him. “If I want to be different, I must think and do different things. Expecting a different result from the same actions and thoughts is ridiculous.”

With that a voice brought Lumen back to the present. “It appears you have some affairs to get in order today then doesn’t it?” Rector smiled and breezed by and patted Lumen on the shoulder with a hand instead of a paw this time.

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