Sleep, My Friend.

I had been searching for days, endlessly trawling the hillsides and thickets, wandering through caves and dense marshland, i had left the serenity and safety of camp to go and seek him, not caring much for my safety just deciding that i needed to act on that worrisome niggle in my gut, the feeling that had been disturbing my sleep and thoughtful moments. I left the camp by morning light, there was the lightest chill in the air, just enough to make the hairs on my arms pucker my skin slightly.  I shifted silently out to the front of the cottage, dropped my rucksack on the floor and looked out onto the sun rising up over the brow of the hill.  I reached into my hair and wrapped it around my hand, pulling it into a bun and wrapping a tie around it, i sighed, knelt down next to my rucksack, securing the toggles and ropes, picked it up and slung it over my shoulder.
 I headed out of the village and took the winding path up towards the west side the of the hills.
  I stopped at the top and looked around, scanning the fields, the sun had turned them to an amazing array of yellows and pinks, they sat still and undisturbed, silent and wistful.  I narrowed my eyes, brushing away stray strands of hair from my eyes.  I wondered which way he could have gone, i could not predict his moments, his mood had been so forlorn that night, we had sat in the tavern until the night grew to morning, his head was slunk low onto the table, the smell of ale leaking from his every pore, he swayed gently and i had rubbed my hand across his hunched shoulders, holding back sympathy yet enough for him to know i was there.
 His tanned skin was dull in the bleak light of the tavern, his sandy hair was tousled as his eyes gazed over the dancing girls with disinterest, even as the curvaceous blonde had danced before him, winding her hips low, her cheeks flushed, her flaxen locks swishing around her waist, she fixed her eyes on him, looking at me with caution.  He stared at her momentarily and then his head moved in a slow nod, his eyes glazed as he put his head back down on his arms. The girl broke her attention from him and danced away.
 We sat in silence for a long time, leaning forwards i lay my face in the crook of my hands, my elbows on the wooden table, watching the shadows reflected from the fire dance across his skin. I missed his smile. He seemed so far away.
 We had walked through the lanes towards home early that morning before sunrise, my arm linked through his, my head resting on his upper arm as we walked, him stumbling with every other step, i steadied him with my small frame and the violet moon lit up the field as we walked back to the village, the flames from the fires in the near distance, the silence before the drums...we crossed the bridle path and made our way over the bridge, the gravel crunching under our feet. He stopped and swayed slightly...'I'm sorry' he muttered and i shook my head 'Don't be sorry' i said looking up at him, his large frame shadowed by the light, his blue eyes flickering against the moonshine... 'Just please don't be'
 He seemed to go into thought for the longest time, he rubbed his forehead with his fingers and nodded, swaying towards me and then backwards slightly, he uttered a tiny sniffle of laughter...looking at me for a second and then laughing again.  i tilted my head and smiled 'Something funny sir?' i asked lightly, he shook his head, placing his palms together and placing his fingertips on his lips, he lifted his brow and looked at me,
 'French girl' he said, and we both laughed for a moment before we became silent, he sighed deeply and raised his hands into the air, pulling his shoulders back and then crossing his arms across his chest.
 'I will be gone tomorrow' he said suddenly and i shook my head at him, shuffling my feet on the ground as i looked down, crossing my own arms, 'I don't want you to leave this way' i said listlessly, i heard him sigh...
 'I have to go, it's been too long' 
 'But why' i say, there was a long pause.
 'I'm tired, i need to sleep'
 'Then you need to do what is right for you my friend' and then i felt sad.
I had left him outside his house, he had turned to his door, his back to me he raised his hand in farewell and shuffled into his cottage, i watched him, my heart sinking and turned around, walking across the court yard.

The summer had ended, a glorious one it had been, it was September now, the sun was hanging low in the sky and laying a hazy blanket across everything as if preparing for the autumn. The days had been long, there had been brutalities in the village, but also the most amazing friendships had been forged.  We had rejoiced, feasted among the relics of the old monuments, we had swam, we had ran, we had loved, we had lost.
 No one had told us that past childhood we could make such memories and as the last rays of the summer sun had warmed us, we all sat huddled together under blankets around the camp fire and talked a future in new places, travel and new adventures. 
The sounds of the drums reached me in the far fields as i trudged through the undergrowth off the beaten path, i turned around for a second, shading my eyes against the sun before turning back and walking forwards at a quicker pace, through the small forests and stepping my way carefully across small brooks, wondering how far i was supposed to walk.
 I had slept uncomfortably against trees, curled up in the roots with my blanket wrapped around me, staring up at the stars at night and watching the sun rise in the morn. 
 On day two i sat beside the river, filling by bottle up and taking a long drink, the dripplets running down my chin and onto my shirt, wiping them away with the back of my hand i scanned the undergrowth and got irritated for a moment, maybe i was lost? maybe i had gone the wrong way...i had blindly left my home with no real plan and now i was stuck in this over grown forest, i lowered my head, my long hair falling off my shoulders and hanging like a curtain around my face and i sighed a breath out.  Picking up my back back i slung it across my back, pushing my hair from my face and flicking it back across my shoulders.
 It was sunset again, a new day would break in several hours, the crickets were making their incessant noise as i made my way towards the light of an opening, the undergrowth crunched and broke under my feet as i parted the long branches of a weeping willow, my other hand reached up to shade my eyes as before me was a beautiful field, its skyscraper sheaths reached up to the sky in their thousands, spreading as far as the eye could see, it glowed a brilliant hazy yellow/orange colour, fluffs rose up into the air, fire flies had already begun to buzz around the growth and in awe i stepped into the grass, pushing my way through, feeling it sway and move before me as i walked, whispering and sighing... i walked and walked, making a pathway through the wondrous gold...and then i found him.
 He was laying curled up in the grass at the far end of the field, around him a circle had been flattened, his bag pack was by his side, his bow and arrow hooked into the rope. I knelt down beside him, taking my own bag off my shoulders.  His skin glowed under the translucent light filtering through the grass, he was asleep...deeply, he looked peaceful, his brow unfurrowed.  I stroked some stray hair from his eyes and smiled at him, i knew he was safe, that was all that mattered.
Leaning down to his ear i whispered gently to him...
 'My friend...i just wanted to say good night'
 he stirred for a second without waking.  I stood up and looked own on him, picking up my bag and hauling it over my back, i left, walking through the field towards the lowering sunset..a new journey once again.