"Look guys," the Shepherd said to the sheep, "I don't actually know where it is we're going." The sheep stare back and munch on the grass and twigs beneath their feat. The pastoral setting is perfect for this kind of speech but the Shepherd is more focused on convincing the sheep that they should be free to wander. "I-I'm not the greatest Shepherd I know, but I've brought you to this pasture, haven't I? This green place where you can eat as much as you like, with...uhhh...some water running through o-over there." The Shepherd points toward the gentle brook they had crossed before stopping beneath this tree, the only tree in the pasture.
"What I'm trying to say is..."he begins, "Is that i've been walking with you guys for a while and I don't know where we're going so...ummm...you guys can go...you're free, I mean you were never captive! But I mean-just....you can go if you like." The sheep remain, eating the grass, a few wander off to drink water and some come up and nuzzle the Shepherd in the shade of the gnarled old tree. "N-no I'm not fit for you guys, I was supposed to bring you home, to my house and mother and father, but...I've gotten us lost...." He sits, leaning his forehead against his staff with his back against the trunk of the tree. An interesting looking fruit drops from the tree and land on his head. It's red and yellow, but looks like no apple he has ever seen before. Maybe a pear? Even an unripe pomegranate? But...are there even pomegranates around here? "just how lost did I get us?" he wonders, biting into the fruit. It's bitter, and sweet, and just a littler bit too nut-like so it crunches in his mouth as he chews. Kind of like an apple, but tougher. It softens as he chews and there is heat, like a pepper in the meat that makes his mouth water, softening the fruit even more. The fruit has properties making it seem as if it wants to be eaten.
"Maybe...." the Shepherd wonders, standing up and biting into the fruit again. "Maybe we aren't lost at all?" The sheep don't pay him any mind and wander about. One has fallen in the brook upside-down. The Shepherd drops the fruit and rushes over to over turn the sheep. The sheep is saved and licks his face. The Shepherd feels his throat dry for a moment and drinks some water from the brook. It is sweet and clear, and tastes a little of pennies, and he swears the rocks in the water shine like a freshly minted copper coin.
"Where am I?" the Shepherd wonders, his sheep all wandering about, as sheep do in a new place. He gathers them up and sits with them. "Guys, and gals I should say, are we lost?" He tugs at his overall straps, and scratches his head with his staff. "I don't feel lost...were...were we going anywhere? I feel like we've been here forever."
The sun begins to set and the sheep all lay down under the tree. There is no howl of wolves, even with the full moon, and the breeze is soft and welcoming. The snowcapped mountains in the distance look different from the Rockies the Shepherd knows. He bites into another fruit. "I...are we lost? Where were we headed?" The night carries on, and the Shepherd sleeps, unafraid that his flock will be stolen. They all wake with the sun, and the Shepherd finishes off his fruit from the night before finding a pit in the center, as if it were a Georgia Peach. He pockets it and they carry on. Soon he remembers where they were going, and he wasn't so far off the beaten path. He even picks up a day and makes it home in time. His father pats the boy on the back, and his mother hugs him tightly. The world smells fresh and new, and a bit like pennies. But how did he make it home so quickly? "I was a day behind and I was lost," he thought, putting his hand in his pockets. In there is something that looks like a peach pit, but, not even thinking, smiles and pockets it. 501Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUbOPwaTHV
He would tell this story to his grandchildren, showing them the very pit from the strange fruit he'd encountered. But now...nearing the dawn of the 21st century, children didn't see the magic in the world the way the old Shepherd did. The way pennies glisten, or the way bittersweet chocolate made you stronger as a person because it was a little good and evil. But most of all. The magic of getting lost, and finding home in the strangest of places.
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