A different type of posting this time.
Through the friend who was the one to pull me into all that LOTR stuff, an Estonian school student contacted me and asked to pick one of her pictures and write a story inspired by it. Haven't asked her if I can use her pic here, but at least here's the story (translation from Latvian):
The Road of Thought
Further away, the road turns and runs behind the wall of trees, and it is not known how far it can
still lead, but I keep going. Puddles splash under my booted feet; snow crunches where it is still
spread on the road; a few times I slip in the mud, but somehow manage to keep from falling. Yet
anger and resentment have darkened my mind, so I do not watch where I step. The wet snow
turns to rain at times, and it slowly finds it way through my coat.
Yet, when I reach the turn of the road, I slow my step and begin to ask myself: where should I
go? The town is far away, and only fields and forests are around me. I told my parents in anger
that I would leave and build myself a hut from branches and will live in the forest. But I left the
home with nothing… there will be no warm bed, no tasty food… there will be nothing and no
one.
I stop and glance down into the tree-embraced hollow by the road. It is filled with water and
looks like a small pond. And the wet carpet of old leaves also does not look inviting. As I stand
here, looking around, a breeze of wind makes me feel the unpleasant touch of the wet coat. Brr. I
shiver. I should move on because it is cold.
But where should I go? Perhaps I should return home… I turn around and slowly walk back
towards house, trying to think of excuses to give of why I did not go anywhere far. I should also
think of some apology to mutter under my breath. Soon my slow steps have become faster, when
I see the light in the kitchen window and the smoke streaming out of the chimney. Home.