" Godspeed "

Every gleaming dawn came slowly to this man. It was almost as if the sun was trying to shy away from this onlooker, for he carried his age with elegance and his pride with a sense of wisdom that only time could deliver.

But this morning, the old Knight stood wearily. The sun was on time, and so was the world – only, it was moving a bit too fast for him. The horses which once used to give in to his whistle now chose to gallop right past his tattered self. He was about to retreat to his blissful heaven when one of the stallions came by and stopped before him. The black horse was nothing less than magnificent. His sparkling eyes revealed a surge of strength that the onlooker recognized quite easily. Yes, the stallion was beautiful. And though beauty was not strange to this old man, the beast, he sensed, was something more than what he saw and deciphered.

The old man just stood there. He was probably trying to think what to do next. A yard away was his present – a hill top which was his heaven or probably his doorway to the same, and in front of him was his past, a past he could never forget and which he yearned to live yet again.

He was reluctant. What could he have done to be faced with this bizarre choice? Did he not say his prayers right? Was this one of God’s anomalies or was this just His way of testing his mettle all over again? No, that couldn’t be right! He had proved himself to faith and humanity a long time ago. Yes, a long time ago. But was it long enough? Could the world have changed so fast? Had this strange pace got to every living soul? Or was it just his age getting to him? Man is a fickle being, and the Knight knew this. He had served many not to know this. Alas, the people he served took fancy in ruling over lands with a mind full of zest and a reckless compassion which signified an emptiness far too mean than his present plight. “Ah, my present ! “ He reminded himself of how he hated it. So, what was this? Was it God’s Will or just a few deeds undone? Even if it was so, was it not God’s job to forgive and forget? Nay, God left this to Man a very long time ago.

Forgive and Forget. It seems man did the latter too frequently and the former, seldom. He had done the same. He too had been a man. And, what a man he had been! Probably it was this that led the Stallion to his feet. Was this his redemption? Was this God’s way of saying "Godspeed"? He gazed across the fields, still thoughtful.

Then he saw the fickleness of it all. His present was just an echo of his fears – fears he chose to encourage when he rode through nights of pain and suffering.

“God’s play” he thought with a wry smile. He nodded at the gentle beast and took to the reigns. And then he rode with his Past, away from his present and toward his Future. A lot remained to be explored. Age was too much a price to pay for the wonders in store for him. All he needed to do was to gallop ahead.

And he did.