01 November 2007

You just haven't reached it yet.

A story (apparently a well-known story), this version lifted from the series Dead Like Me, a show I've been watching a lot of lately, alternately hilarious and heart-breaking.

A man and wife get married. The beginning of their marriage is much like a dance, elegant and beautiful. But the dance slowly becomes a battle, until one day the man packs his things on his horse and heads out the door. His wife yells that if he is gone for more than three days he need not come back at all, because she will be gone.

So the man leaves and travels for 2 days through the woods. At first he is lulled into the beauty and serenity of the wood. But after 2 days he becomes lonely and longs to be with his wife. So he begins riding back knowing it took him 2 days to get where he is. His wife's threats ring in his head; will she truly leave?

So he takes a short cut and comes across a swamp. A young boy is standing beside the swamp and the man asks him, "Does this swamp have a hard bottom?". The boy replies that yes, it does have a hard bottom. So, the man coaxes his horse into entering the swamp. A short ways into the swamp the man does not stop sinking. As he sinks deeper and deeper he turns around and asks the boy "I thought you said this swamp had a hard bottom?". The boy replies "It does. You just haven't reached it yet."