everywhere is everywhere

i just finished the alchemist and was inspiried to write a little short story. it feels like a children's story to me. hope you enjoy...

the boy sat cross-legged high upon the mountain top
and had a vision
a vision of a place far across the ocean
and he saw wonderful things
beautiful things
so he came down the mountain and went to the harbor,
spent all he had on a sea-worthy vessel,
and set sail for his vision

when he arrived it was beautiful, and wonderful,
and everything he had hoped for
but as time passed and years went by
it seemed to him it was really not so different from the place he had left behind
so he climbed a mountain to think
to think and to sit in the silence
alone

and he had another vision
of an even more magnificent place
far away in the east
so he sold all he had and bought a strong horse that would carry him
across deserts and forests and mountains and valleys
to his new vision

and when he finally arrived
it was everything he had hoped for
and he thought to himself
it can't get any better than this
but as time passed and years went by
it seemed to him it was really not so different from the place he had left behind
so he climbed a mountain to think
to think and to sit in the silence
alone

and the boy was sad
sad because he realized
(after all these years)
there was no where he could go that would stay as magnificent as it was at first

after the sun had set
he walked down the mountain
and bumped into a girl
she had beautiful brown eyes
thought the boy failed to notice
because he was hanging his head in self-pity

"where are you going?"
she asked
"i don't know"
said the boy
"i have followed my visions and everywhere is the same as everywhere else
"i have nowhere exciting left to go"
and the boy continued down the mountain

but as he passed the girl
she shouted
"oh! look at that!"
pointing upward
and the boy saw a star fly from one end of the sky to the next
"i've seen that kind of thing before"
said the boy
"but not here"
said the girl
"not with me"
and the boy thought for a moment
and turned
and continued down the mountain

by now it was very dark
and the boy was stumbling over stones as he walked downhill
but he kept walking
and finally
tripped over a tree root
landing on his hands and knees
as he looked up
he saw an old man
coming down another path that joined the boy's
and he had a lantern

"follow me"
said the old man
"you can see by my light and i know a better way down"
as the boy stood up
and brushed himself off he thought
i don't know if this fellow means good or evil...
but he is an old man
if i had to, i could overcome him
and he does have a light
and maybe he knows a shortcut that i don't
and i'm tired of this mountain
so with that the boy agreed

he followed behind the dim light of the lantern
that the old man carried on a crooked staff
he watched the old man's feet by the light
and kept himself from stumbling
the old man walked quickly
and the boy was running out of breath

as they made their way around a towering rock face
the boy could hear a noise
it got louder and louder
until finally the path took them right under an enormous waterfall
the boy cupped his hands under the rushing water
and took several deep drinks
"isn't this wonderful?"
the old man asked
"i suppose"
said the boy
"but i've seen many waterfalls before"
"but not here"
said the old man
"and not with me"

and he took the lantern off his crooked staff
and handed it to the boy
as he crawled up into a cave behind the waterfall
"don't you want your lantern?"
the boy yelled into the cave
no longer seeing the old man
"keep it!"
he heard
the old man's voice echoing around in the depths of the rock
"follow the path and you'll find your way down!"
bellowed the old man from deep inside the cave
and the boy thought for a moment
and continued down the mountain

with the lantern lighting his way
the boy could easily avoid stones or roots that might trip him
but it seemed that this was no shortcut
as he had hoped
and he grew tired of walking
and he grew sleepy
why didn't i ride my strong horse
the boy thought to himself
and just then
he heard the sound of hooves coming up behind him

as he turned
shining his latern into the darkness
he saw a boy his own age
with a head full of coal black hair
riding on a horse as black as the night around them

"ride with me"
said the boy on the stallion
"it is still a long way from here to the city
"we will fly like the wind on my horse"
the boy was too tired to think
so he hopped on the back of the horse
putting his left arm around the dark-haired boy
and holding the lantern with his right
"you'll have to get rid of the lantern though"
said the dark-haired boy
"my horse will not ride as well
"for he sees best by the moonlight
"besides"
said the dark-haired boy
"you will have to hold on with both arms if you don't want to fall off"

so the boy blew out the lantern,
left it on the path for some other wandering pilgrim,
and held tight with both arms
and the two boys on the horse sped off into the night
moving as fast as the star he had seen before
(it seemed to the boy)
and they rushed down paths under trees,
across high plains
and it seemed to the boy that they were moving so quickly
that they simply galloped right on top of the surface of the water
over the river at the bottom of the mountains
certainly i am dreaming
he thought to himself
and finally, they slowed down at the city gate

the boy got off and stumbled through the gate
ready for his bed
he was so tired
he forgot to thank the dark-haired boy
"my horse says that he was glad to bear you home"
said the dark-haired boy
horses can't talk
i should know
i've ridden many horses before
the boy thought to himself
"yes"
said the dark-haired boy
"but not one like this
"and not with me"
and then the dark-haired boy and his horse disappeared into the night

that evening
as the boy slept in his bed
he had a vision of the girl and the star
the old man and the waterfall
the dark-haired boy and his horse
and they all spoke to him at once
with one voice
"wherever you go, there i will be"
"you will find me if you are looking"

and the boy began to wake up
and as he lingered in that place
between dreaming and waking
he realized what the dream had meant
and what his journey down the mountain had meant
he realized that beauty and wisdom and adventure
would always be waiting for him
wherever he went
and that he had only to be looking for it

as he opened his eyes
he saw the sun rising through his window
and the boy felt happy