It was a long road, and it stretched out in front of the traveller, endless, it seemed. It wasn't a lonely road to begin with, for many people passed him. Some stopped to walk beside him, glad for company along the walk. He was glad for theirs and appreciated it. There were others, though, who stopped only because they thought he might have something to give them, but when they realised he did not, they walked away, falling behind or walking ahead so far he could not recognize them any longer. There were others still who told him how he should walk in order to make the best of the journey, thinking their own ways best. Some were right, some were wrong, but most did not realise that there were many paths. There was a path, whether easy or hard, that suited each the best, and each path was different though they might overlap. Much to their misfortune, they did not realize or would not acknowledge that sometimes getting lost was the best way to learn the ills of the wrong path.
He did not know this, and meandered to follow the directions he felt were good. It was hard. It was impossible to walk many paths at the same time. He grew tired trying to keep up and slowed to his own pace. They left him behind, scornful, resentful of his inability to do as they said. They could not see that he was trying his best to please everyone. He could not, of course.
For a while, he was lonely for there was no one else he could see ahead of him on the road. Even when he had regained his strength he had no wish to catch up and no way to, for the paths diverged and he knew not which way each of his companions had left. Sometimes he would see glimpses of them in front of him or on a road parallel to his. It made him extremely wistful for the times when he had company on the road. Other strangers passed him by, but very few stopped to say hello.
Mostly however, he walked alone. And this made him very sad. Mournful that even all the people who had promised to be by his side were somewhere else. He did not know if this was because they had made empty promises, or if they did not know that he was alone. The road became harder and harder to walk.
