Walking Khan – Day 321 – Another dream

Yesterday I wrote a story inspired by a dream I had. Today my dad told me about the only dream he actually remembers – his name was Khan and he walked… people called him “walking Khan.” That’s all he remembers- he has no idea what else happened or why.

My parents were proud squirmers, they used to tell me about how their ancestors lived in had to stay in the sea and the great “land revolution.” They’d tell me how learning to squirm was the best thing that ever happened to us, because now we could go between land and sea.

But I was a freak. I couldn’t swim well and I certainly never squirmed. I was born with legs, at least that’s what I called them. They were like my parents fins but they were bonier, and had little flat pads to balance on (I called them feet).

I was very self concious of it when I was young but now I am older, it’s my defining feature. People even call me “walking Khan” (walking is what I’ve called the way I move about). Even though I’m not a great swimmer I’m very fast on land. I go for long walks into the land and tell the others what is beyond the shore. Many of the squirmers now want to be just like me.

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Desert Reprise – Day 316 – Finish line

221 stories ago I wrote this story about my destination being so far away:

Her mind was an arid desert and thoughts slipped through her fingers like sand. She’d walked for months. She was sure she was making progress, but when she looked back she could still see her house. Her destination was so far away it was hidden by the horizon. Her optimism was fading like the sun.

She sat down in the sand and imagined the day when her supplies would run dry and her people would stop caring. It seemed inevitable on such a long journey. In fact she couldn’t believe they’d supported her this far. She was a fraud, and she would fail them in the end.

Things seem very different now.

She’d always thought her supplies would run dry, but now she’d learnt how to make her own. She’d been walking so long she didn’t know what it was like to rest. Would she be able to rest? When she closed her eyes would she dream of walking?