Title: Ascension
Source:  #MenageMonday! Challenge Week 2×35
Word count: 250 words

To Camp, by Zhong Fenghua
Source: deviantart

I was alone. The campfire crackled and popped while the swamp echoed with chirps of tree frogs and trills of the moorhen. The barred owl’s distinctive call signaled the end of a day to remember. One I could never forget.

Pulling my coat collar tight around my neck, I moved closer to the fire. Cold, exhausted from the journey, I missed Sōshō. I wasn’t ready for the responsibility and I beseeched him to stay. He only smiled, patted my arm and handed me the massive leather-bound tome.

“You will record the entries now,” he said.

The weight threatened to crush me. “I can’t do this. Please, Sōshō,” I begged.

“I have written your destiny.”

He took his place on the rocks and began the incantations that would meld him with the earth. He left me no choice, and I performed the rituals with him. The transformation required the entire day. When it was complete, his chrysalis appeared as if it had stood on this spot for thousands of years. As my final act, I inscribed the sacred message on the monument’s base.

We had passed hundreds of stone statues on our journey. At each shrine, we repeated the prescribed devotions. He had taken his place among them. Tomorrow, I would strike camp, pack everything on the two mules, and return to the Eagle’s Aerie as the new Sōshō.

Pulling the book onto my lap, I opened it. I caressed the words he recorded only yesterday, then I turned the page.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer