Very Zen

The fat grey moth appeared to have given up, having succumbed to the sticky tangle that had entrapped him.

Puck gently blew on the failing creature, and in that one breath the bondage dissolved and the creature flew free.

Out in the rocky outcrops of Utah a lone climber was wedged in between two rock walls that earlier he thought he could crawl through. His body had swollen in the heat of the struggle, and now the adventurer was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place, opposing his efforts to move forward or back.

He could not reach his phone, or flick the ants from his nose. The heat of the stone was burning his bare shoulders, and his fears were strangling the very breath out from him. He closed his eyes momentarily to find respite from the panic, when a warm sweet wind passed over him from behind. He opened his eyes to find that the wall beside him was breaking up into sand, and with all the effort he could gather, he wriggled free. The young explorer dropped safely and softly onto the dirt beneath.

Back in his one-windowed room, Puck picked up his satchel to leave, and then stopped to clairvoyantly enjoy the exhilaration of the climber as he ran towards the entrance to the national park.

“How very Zen” he said jokingly to the ghost of Master Shen, who saw also the remote event watching through his friend’s eyes.

With the hint of a smile, he every slightly nodded a bow to Puck on his way out. The old ghost touched his shoulder affectionately and whispered, “Two-fer”.

-Gabriel Brunsdon, Finding Self - Second Guesses: Azlander Series