After the traveler was finished with his tale, he told everyone to get off to bed and let him eat his dinner in peace. But just before I walked up the stairs, I heard something rustling in the traveler's rooms. The tiny kind of rustling that novice thieves make.
I walked into the room, all quiet, and there was Xander, rifling through the traveler's big knapsack. It looked like he had already taken out half the bag: loose clothes and heavy tomes were strewn around Xander like ripples in a puddle of water.
"What are you doing?" I asked him. He whipped around, startled, but when he saw it was only me he went back to looking through the traveler's knapsack.
"That big traveler goes everywhere in the whole wide world. He must have something that helps him, he must. No one can do that all by himself. Not without something to aid him, like a spell book or magic powder or something," Xander said. A long strand of pearls was taken out, examined, and tossed aside. "I'm gonna find that something. And then I'm gonna high-tale it out of here so fast the wind will never catch me!"
"But you mustn't, Xander, you mustn't!" I begged him, "The traveler said that you have to be big like him before you go adventuring. And you need experience."
"But don't you see?" he said, his back turned, "How can I get experience adventuring unless I go adventuring? He started out with nothing, just like me. And I'll be the youngest explorer ever, you'll see. I'll climb Fire Mountain and smell the lava smoke right from the source, none of the second-hand stuff. Then I'll climb down and leave the sand dunes for good; I'll discover nooks and crannies in the Golden Forest they've never even heard about in legends! I'll run across the open green Plains of Plenty without anyone telling me to stop, with nothing holding me back. Then I'll fetch myself a big ship, with loads of cannons to fight of sea demons, and cross the oceans, just to prove the world's round."
"But they've already done that."
"Well, then I'll do it again!" Xander retorted back. He found a gold coin in the bottom of the pack and pocketed it. "There's even an island full of fairies. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You could come with me! And then we'll explore all those little islands that no one ever goes to, 'cause they think their worthless, but I know they're not. We'll find all sorts of new species of fish, and birds, and turtles! I've even heard of an island that's completely covered in ice. They never get a full day of sunshine; can you imagine? No sun frying off your skin, no shortage of water, no ugly flies pickin' at you…
"And then, when I've done everything I can, I'll do what every brave man's just gotta do: I'll go to the Black Lands to the west!"
I gasped and put my hands to my mouth. I begged him, "No, no, please don't do that, you can't! No one has ever survived!"
Xander finally finished looking through the bag and turned to me. He was never much bigger than me; only a few inches taller, and a little more muscle around the waist. He held a big book in his hand, the cover worn out and faded, but I could still make out the ruins written on it. A spell book as there ever was one. He said, "Then I'll be the first. You'll hear about my name in legends and songs: 'Xander the Adventurer' they'll call me, the first one to ever walk through the graveyard of the dead and shake hands with Death himself. The only one to ever reach the Castle of Howls, knock on its front door, and be offered tea by the King of Evil himself before we duel. And I'll win; I'm gonna win every match, every battle, every skirmish, and generals will come from miles around to hear my strategies and to awe at my abilities. And I'll get the ladies, too, I'll bet. The traveler doesn't see the women who follow him about, but I do. He's got plenty of admires."
"Do I?" A deep, musical voice said, "You are right, I have not noticed them. I thought they never noticed me." Xander jumped around and stared right into the eyes of the traveler himself, who had come in through a back door. I stared at him, too, but he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Xander, and the big book Xander was holding.
"Mr. Traveler, sir!" Xander said, startled but not shaken. He really was brave. "I need to borrow your book, sir."
"What could a little lad like you want with a big ugly book like that?" The traveler wanted to know. "It is so old and boring. The only pictures in there are brief sketches, and not very good ones at that. I have tried improving them, but no one can alter the written word, or a finished piece of art."
Xander stuck up his little chin and said, "I'm gonna run off and have big adventures like you!"
"Adventures?" The traveler said. He kneeled to Xander's eye level and said, "My dear boy, my adventures are nothing to be taken so seriously. When you decide to walk away from everything you have ever known, you are making a choice: a choice to never know anything again. There is a great comfort in knowing something, simple knowing, like knowing what time it is, or when dinner will be ready. But out there you will not even know that. You will not know where you are going or even where you have been. You will see the whole world, and when you come back to visit your friends and family you will take no joy in their company. You will always wish for something more, something better; somewhere else, anywhere else. Nothing will ever be enough. The King feels this and calls it ambition; the Traveler feels this and calls it lust. It is a blessing and a curse: to experience the unknown, but to know nothing. To learn everything in the world, and yet never scratch its delicate surface. The world is a diamond: you can see all the wonders of the world shinning up at you, but with every new discovery comes thousands more you have never even considered. And you will never stop, because you never know where that stop might be. And before long the wind will call your name, and you will obey its call. So tell me, little man: is this the life you want? Do you wish to be blessed with an open road, and cursed with the ease of which it can be traveled?"
Xander hesitated. Then he nodded.
The traveler sighed. He was not smiling. "I said the same thing," he said, "Every night as I lay looking at the stars of an unknown sky, I wonder: did I choose right? And little boy, you will wonder if you chose right after all." He paused and looked over Xander's shoulder, at a dark space in the wall that showed things to him only he could see. "I have not seen my mother in all these twenty years. I have not seen my wife in ten. My only daughter is probably learning to talk right now and I will not be there to hear her. Or maybe she is not; maybe their both dead, and I will wander back to their cottage one day to find it burned to the ground." He stood up, looking older than when he did next to the fire and its shadows. He said gravelly, "Go, little boy. And you, too, little girl. In exactly one year your life could change for the better or the worse. If you still desire to travel the open road, find me, and I will help you. Or do not; some adventures are the kinds that do not start with guides, packing, and planning. For now, live and enjoy your youth." Xander nodded, dropped the book, and ran, nearly colliding with me on his way out. I stood there for a moment more, watching as the traveler slowly picked up each of his items from the floor. So intent was he on his task that I thought he didn't notice me, that is until he said, "I saw you in the corner during my stories, watching me. What goes on inside that little head of yours?"
I didn't answer for a moment, because I didn't want to tell him that I was only wondering if he would mind bringing me a pineapple from the White Coast and a cup of water from the Isle of Angels. It sounded childish. So I told him, "I don't think I know yet. Big things, I guess. Yes, that sounds right: inside my little head, there are big things."
He laughed. I liked his laugh; it was melodic and heartfelt, and warm like the evening sun. He turned to me and said, "Go to bed, little girl. Dream of exotic butterflies and waterfalls that sing. Kiss the worn-out wanderers of the desert and embrace the lonely lost boy of the city. Enjoy everything this world has to offer, but for God's sake, do not go looking for it. You will just find yourself stuck on an open road, with everything to see but nowhere to go, and heaven knows we have too many travelers in this world."
I nodded and ran up the stairs, past Xander the Adventurer, and into my bed. That night I dreamed I was flying on a purple dragon across an endless sky. There was a great castle floating on the clouds, but I turned my dragon around and did not enter.
The next morning the traveler was gone (off on another adventure), and so was Xander. I never saw either of them again.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
