Gabriel noted the place as if filled with innocence, the last and only light visible appearing from a crevice in the small opening at the top of the cave high above. Behind him lay the path where he come from to explore these caves. Wishing for his sole purpose to getting lost for a few days, a vague and confusing thought, yet with an understanding to come down and enjoy the solitude.
Setting up his base camp in the centre of the cave where he could only hear his own voice echo as he whispered with subtle lip movements. Going towards the cave’s entry point, he used a white-coloured spray to identify where he had come from. Tired from travelling, he decided to take some rest. Daylight would still be for another twelve hours. After leaving for his trip at dawn, it had taken him around three hours to reach here. He had challenged himself to keep all of his technological gadgets back at home where he was obsessed with using them in his daily life. Now, he had decided to pull it off. Determined to get a detox for a few days to stay away from them, he had packed food supplies worth a week, a small tent and some clothing into a rucksack.
Before entering the cave, he had seen a carving above the cave opening, after he had walked inside for half a kilometre. It read “Welcome to your new life of solitude.” Gabriel had liked it immediately, and recalled of his last visit, about a week ago. He had read the message, and had decided to go back home, and come prepared to make his stay in this temporary home.
In the beginning, he had thought there might be other people here. But it was untouched by humans. Not wondering who had carved the message, he felt happy and joyful to be alone out here, undisturbed by people in any way. Now, he was alone, sitting down on his bedding he had created to rest for a while, before exploring the caves.
To his disappointment, it seemed that only one point of entry existed. It looked like it was just him alone in the cave, with no more smaller ones that might be used for sleeping during the ancient times of the cave dwellers. Resting for about half an hour, he assumed it would be noon by now. After having some food and water, he looked into the dark distance of the cave, only to be surprised by the depth of the emptiness, the lack of walls that he had thought had been there before he had slept. As he walked towards the darkness, he saw a wooden stick strong and long enough to make a torch of flame like those used during the ancient and medieval eras. He had brought his torch with him. But he thought the flame torch would burn brighter and show him more of his surroundings.
With his wooden torch of fire, Gabriel set forth into the darkness of the void. He glanced back to see his base camp, where he had kept all of his belongings, except for a small pack where he had packed some food and water. Moving ahead into the darkness, he reached so far that when he looked back, the base camp looked like a very small place that looked as tiny as an ant. If he went farther, he might lose track of his location. Just before deciding to turn back, he came close to another wall in front of him that read “Restart”. There was a gap in the wall, small enough to slip into and reach to the other side. With the base camp in sight through the crevice, Gabriel decided to progress towards the other side. As he traversed, he reached a tunnel, small enough for him to crawl through.
Reaching outside at the other end of the tunnel, he came out to see a vast open beach in front of him. Impossible, he thought. How in the world could a beach so long be hidden inside these caves? The sand sprinkled away as he walked towards the shore. He watched the walls of the cave spread above him, darkness engulfing him everywhere, and the sound of small ripples and rhythmic waves crashing silently against the beach, attempting to gain more ground into the sands nearby.
Looking back, he saw his own shoe prints, back towards the tunnel where he came from. And as he turned back, he saw a small flicker of light in parallel to the wall along the beach. As he walked towards the source of light, he heard the waves grow more and more silent. The distance between him and the water increased gradually. When he came towards the light in front of him, he saw his own base camp, with all of his stuff placed exactly where he had kept. Confused regarding the way he had travelled, Gabriel crafted a map in his mind. If his own base camp was back there, it wouldn’t be possible for something like this to exist. There was no way he had turned along the way. And neither had he made any turns while he was in the crevice or the tunnel. However, there was only one thing in common. Both the crevice opening and the crawling tunnel entrance had a view of a base camp. Nonetheless, it would never be the same. It was probably an illusion.
But when he got closer, and searched through his belongings, he saw that all of his belongings were real, and neither was anything misplaced nor missing. Had someone brought his stuff here from his original base camp? Was someone playing mind games with him? It all confused him. When he tried to hear the waves, he couldn’t hear them anymore. He tried to look nearby at the entry location where he had marked on entering the cave. But that seemed nonexistent. The vast darkness lay in all directions around him, except for the wall that he had walked along the shore. But now, after trying hard to search for it, he couldn’t even see the wall anymore.
Keeping in mind, the direction where he had come from, he first marked his belongings with a sign that read “Near the beach”, before he walked back in the same direction he came from. But there were neither the sounds of the waves nor the touch of sand along the beach. Walking in sheer darkness along with his torch, Gabriel stood silent, trying to feel his surrounding environment. Where am I? What is this place? Give me a sign? When he opened his eyes, he didn’t see anything, except for the base camp that was lit with the light that came through the crevice in the ceiling. Walking farther away from the base camp, he reached another wall where there lay another gap in between. When he checked back, the base camp seemed to look similarly small in size as when he had went through the crevice between the walls for the first time. He tried to see if there were any markings above the opening. And there they were. “Restart”, it read again.
Passing through the crevice, he saw inside, a path that would take him up along a flight of stairs. Where do they lead? What is this place? After about five hundred long steps, he came upon a landing, where he saw mountains in all directions. It looked as if he was in some sort of a valley, surrounded by mountains. The most surprising thing to look about everywhere was that the mountains glowed in the darkness. Blue, red, green, violet, yellow, orange, and white colours took shape of the flowing mountains organically, as if they were a living, breathing organism, sleeping in the midst of nowhere, and yet within the boundaries of the cave he had entered. And high above, almost at the top of the tallest mountain from the range, Gabriel saw a small light that showing him something different in comparison to the colours of the mountains.
As he came close to the base of the mountain, he saw a pair of shoes placed on the ground, all tidy, clean, and untouched. Realising that the climb would give him a lot of problems with his current leather shoes, he removed them and wore the soft and comfortable mountain climbing sports shoes, unused by anyone. Even as he climbed the mountain through the forest and gravel, the undergrowth swelled below him without disturbing his journey up. Gabriel didn’t falter taking steps to close in on the sight in front of him, the light that lay completely different as compared to the colour of the mountains. It became brighter and brighter as he closed in. When he reached near, he could see what the place finally was. It was his base camp, placed next to an entrance of a cave. Cautiously moving, he read the sign he had marked on his belongings. “On the mountain”. This definitely proved that it wasn’t his in the first place. He was sure he had written some different text. But what was it? He couldn’t remember now. He tried to recall himself where he was. What was his surrounding environment? He couldn’t recall it anymore. Although he remembered where he had entered in the first place, where the cave was, he couldn’t figure out where he had seen his base camp before coming to the mountains.
He looked into the cave that lay nearby. And on top of the opening was written “Restart”. There it is again. Things have something to do with this word. Why does it say so? What is its significance? Why am I in a place like this in the first place? But all of his questions were left in vain. It left open no answers in sight. Should I walk into the cave? Should I explore some part of this place where I currently am? Why am I not curious to know the truth of this place? Why am I being so desperate to get out? Is this a dream? It should most likely be. But even when he pinched himself to inflict pain, it hurt, and made him realise that it was all real. He went back to his base camp, picked up his diary and started writing into it. With all the description of the world placed upon the entry in the diary, Gabriel tore a bit of paper from his diary that included the date of the calendar, and wrote “Written about the mountains. Continue here on.” He placed the torn-off paper from his diary into his shirt pocket, and later, ate and drank food from his stash.
Once done, he climbed to the top of the mountain, where he saw himself surrounded by a carpet of mountains on all sides, with yet another organic flow of glowing colours on all sides. The view filled his heart with joy and the beauty of scenery in ahead of him. Goosebumps churned, giving him shivers along his spine. His head filled with bliss, and tears streamed out through his eyes without knowledge. He felt on top of the world, standing like a monument of the lone conqueror, the sole army of the world. He lay there for a while until it made him feel cold from the height he was located. Coming back down to the base camp, feeling the greatness surge through him, he glanced through the cave opening to see if there was anything significant around. With nothing of interest, he slept at the camp inside the tent. The night passed. When Gabriel woke up, he still found himself in the dark of the night, within the shelter of his tent he had made for himself.
After consuming some more food and drink, he passed through the cave opening. There he found a slide going down, tilting in various directions to direct the object travelling lower and lower. Initially, the flow appeared spiral in shape. But later, the slide twisted and turned in various directions. It didn’t make much sense to him. If there was a need to go somewhere, it would have been better to implement elevators and travelators installed. But there were none. Nowhere nearby could he see anything besides the cave opening that would lead him back to the base camp outside. He placed the torch next to the wall of the cave, then rested himself on the slide, and let go.
He heard the sound of something clicking very close. With a little upward movement, the entire steel section where he lay was released on to the slideway. And with the smooth roll, Gabriel went down along with the slide, to where nobody had ever gone before. Would there be a way back? Will I ever get out of this? But these thoughts were simply passing by. He felt it inside him. The journey would take him away from all the pain of the world he had lived for so long. Restart… Restart… Restart… It all comes clear to me now. It is us that we need to restart our lives to a fresh new beginning, a whole new chapter. But how? Will I ever get answers? Or are they even part of all that is around me? The slide zipped across different areas, darkness reigning everywhere, with no sight to watch. There was only the wind that brushed like a winter hurricane, blazing and surrounding everything, chilling down every part of the body, right down to the bones.
Everything went dark and hollow. He didn’t feel anything for some time. He couldn’t see, and yet he knew he was passing through zero-gravity, falling down into the void. The darkness below had surpassed its limits. Would there be an end to this? It kept on going, reaching farther and farther down below into the depths of the unknown where he knew not what he would face. What would it be? Unconsciousness hit him during the fall. He felt all the pain give away, his manifestation of this world losing its grasp on what he knew of his own persona. Leaving it behind to become his own true self, what life truly was. That sense of being with everything, and all that is around is none but his self-image, each of it nothing but a part of himself.
When he woke up, he saw the slide underneath him. And there besides him, was the base camp again. Looking up, he saw the graceful light flow down through the ceiling. That’s when he knew. He was at his original place. The walls of the cave existed. He could see them clear, and up close, to make up the entire cave itself. When he went to check his belongings, the sign on his belongings read “In the cave”. When he opened the diary, it mentioned about the description of the cave and how it felt like to be here alone in solitude. As he reached the end of the text, he took the torn-off paper from his shirt pocket, only to read “Written about the cave. Continue here on.”. He felt weird. Had I been here all this time, day-dreaming and imagining places? He still felt that he had been to someplace other than this cave. But where? He saw the sports shoes he had worn had changed back to the leather shoes he had worn when he had come into the caves. But when he packed all of his stuff back into the rucksack and reached the cave opening, Gabriel saw the mountain climbing sports shoes next to it. As he started to leave, he saw something written above the opening. It read, “Restart. Live. Enjoy. Experience. You are everything. Everything is you.”.
He left the cave tunnel and went home. But even in his dreams, he could feel himself of the change inside. Were there any answers to questions that didn’t have any? A life was something to live, enjoy, and experience. We are all and everything around us. And everything is an image of our own self. But why is it so important to have a restart? Is it about letting go of our persona? Or something else? Is it possible to gain access to our true self, and then restart and rebuild our life? These were the questions Gabriel asked himself. There was none who could answer. It was his path of life, his journey into discovering his true self.
The inspiration comes from the Daily Post – Daily Prompt – Restart. Feel free to go through other entries here:
- Positivity Post: Snow – Positively Un-broken
- Using “Starting Over” as a Storytelling Motif – Artistically Writing
- Restarting again – Strong Waters
- Restart – Bonkers Away!
- Love conquers – Musings
- A Texan’s View of Upstate New YorkGeneral Update Of Life
- RESTART – Nano Stories
- A hunger for the Father – Beutiflee
- A Sight into My PsycheThe push
- Chasing Thoughts And View PointsOnly Games Have Restarts; Not Real Life, Or Does It?
- Staying afloat – Health & Fitness
- How To Get Back On Track To Reach Your Goals & Dreams |
- Family ,Parenting and beyondRESTORATION OF MANHOOD 21 – The final measure of a father’s success
- Boracay: it’s better to rehabilitate now than later – The Catalyst
- Radioactive VoiceIf Then How
- iBelieveBy Your Amazing Grace, Lord, I Need Another Restart
- Notes to WomenGod’s Preparing
- Trapped – Yubliz
- theblackwallblogMilestones
- Scott Andrew BaileySwitch it Off
- On step at a time – willowsoul
- To Rewatch, Or Not To Rewatch – Stepping Behind the Glass
- To Restart Is It A Redo? – corazon181
- AdventuresnluvDreaming of Dreamless Nights
- Melinda J. IrvineTouch Me Not
- To Start Again – Not Actually an Adult Coloring Book
- Sleepless Insane – Debbie Gravett
- Begin Again, Alice-Three-Times – JJ’s Reviews and How Tos
- Restart 2018 – Lolsys Library
- Restart – The Inkwell
- vismayastories
- The Snow Melts SomewhereOut of This World
- zeinswords#Restart
- Just DebbiSukin – the skincare brand I can’t live without
- Restart – Running and Cannabis Cultivation – Reflections from the Cabin
- A peek at spring – don’t let the sunshine fool ya! – Quaint Revival
- R&R: Rest & Restart – The Lens & The Hard Drive
- Learning to Embrace—A Heart Restart – Shelby’s Starlit Crossing
- The Moral of the Story – An Upturned Soul
- Good Morning – Grown Woman Hustle
- Everything Dies, Everything Blossoms Again: How We Rise From the Ashes – Stepping Behind the Glass
- Color The Life. – Krafting Thoughts
- Let’s Just Agree to Disagree – LFLOP * LiveFree & LoveOnPurpose
- Transit To Dreamland – travel387
- Restart, The Write Way To Right A Resignation Letter – Joys of Joel
- Restart your Failure because they might succeed – Every once in a while
- Restart – It’s DD’s World
- Neve, Snow and March – the month of all things Italian – My Library and other Mischief
- Myriad Tales
- The New Writer
- Restart – Revolving Around Life
- Love Coach Laura HarjuLife of habits
- Writing it with a Gulp (Repost) – wordsaboveswords
- Writing and WorksRe-calibration
- Dear Diary, I’ll Stay. I guess. – Hatter’s Madness
- It was no Monet – Story or Thoughts
- Mumbles … Restart – Leigha Robbins
- I Restarted – Dream Desire Achieve
- Start Anew! – mayday everyday
- AshtamisprimeDaily prompt-restart
- The Home Of DJ Sung Mo KooAround Town With Reginald The Cat
- I Only Write in Pen – her thoughts
- The next step…. – DeepikasRamblings
- Refresh – aroused
- Restart- A short Prompt – Blog
- It’s Not Locked in Stone…
- Zombie FlamingosA Late Kitten Thursday, but it is still Thursday!!
- In(between) DreamsInsert cheesy “happy 1st of the month” line here
- TimeandreflectionsWritings on the Wall V
- juantetctsDaily Post/Restart
- Shreya ShahHit the Pause Button
- Great Pretenders or just Worthy To Be Praised – LFLOP * LiveFree & LoveOnPurpose
- One Good Day – Musings of a Minor’s Mind
- Clean Slate – Love Infusion©Personal Freedom
- ProsceniumTop of the Mornin’ – DWP (Restart)
- In a dilemma – Gee’s Wildest Adventures
- Deserted – LFLOP * LiveFree & LoveOnPurpose
- Waiting For Flat – seemestrong.com
- Colours on the Gray-scale – Ink Soaked Soul – Megha Bhartiya
- yon the first day of
- Restart – wordsareallihavesite
- My tryst with books – Emotions That Matter.
- The Hockey Mom Fit LifeRestart
- Restart – Unpredictable Affairs
- Ink PathsFaith Restart
- Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance (Including You!) – Pearls Global Impact
- What Does Success Mean To You? – Success Strategies
- May I have this dance? – Hopeful Happenings
- parking lots – all the words
- Life On The Skinny BranchesTake Two
- Margret’s Life Journey!Restart
- “A Little Too Ironic” – Autism in Our Nest
- Young Girl, Once More!!! – Lolitha Lounge Express
- Restart Your Engine of Life – My Loud Bipolar Whispers
- It’s All in Finding the Right WordsRetirement: Day One
- Success Inspirers WorldI have to restart
- #hashtagsHaiku-a-Day #088
- Truth be Told – Makafui’s Journal
- A Better Blog Host – Ms Teri Blogger’s Awesome, Wonderful, Marvelous, Fantastic, Or At Least Pretty Good Blog
- Make it good again – Nicolas Heartmann
- OOPS- rESTART tHE mUSIC… – FeelPurple
- Roads – Mistyroads
- Restart – I am a paradox.
- On Writing and Restarting . . . – Mystery Book Reviews by Penny Mason
- Restart – Richmond Road
- Fluffy PoolNine Toes [Repost]
- Restart – Writer’s block
- This is Me – Poetic Musings
- Restart – Liz Charnes
- Fear Keeps Score – Ken Fales
- RESTART – Spoken Word Poetry, Art & Haiku in fun mini series…New York City.
- Light Motifs IIRestart
- A New Beginning – Musings of a Sanguine Christian Woman
- Kerducius say… – KerDoodle Village
- Switch it Off – thehouseofbailey
- another – Seventeen Syllable Poetry
- Marching – 25more
- Restart – The Bag Lady
- RESTART – Real Life, Creative & Unscripted
- Team God Versus Team Satan – True Christian Bible Study
- pinch – As Many Loves As Stars In The Sky
- Nan’s Farm-Inside OutWoody the beagle and a snowy day
- Out of My world… WPC – From My Lofty Hill
- The Why Not Experience
- Oh my, it’s March already! – The Winery Woman
- The Anonymous LifeHello Again Anonymous: Starting Anew
- Time For A Reboot – Dreamy’s Life
- Restart – Covert Novelist
- restart what exactly? – suziland too or obsolete childhood
- Restart all over again – In my world
- Trapped
- Restart [Daily Post word of the day] – Life; As I Know It
- ReBlog Duet Cut & Paste Extravaganza! (Pt. 1?) – The Ceaseless Reader Writes
- The Spirit of Positive Thinking – Part One – The Spirit of Something
- JonahzSongRestart
- Rock Hard: Prying Brother – Redux Of Rex
- Twenty Fourrestart
- Hot Dogs and MarmaladeGod Bless the Moon
- THE REVOLUTION RESTARTS AT THE REGISTRY – SERENDIPITY
- Restart – The Magical Button – LoveAmorMilosc
- Chris WritesWhat Is Your Role?
- The Consulting WriterReboot? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!
- Have the heart to not jumpstart – Word Play … Poetry in Progress
- March Reset – BONSALLES ART
- Who I amDaily Prompt/One Word Prompt
- Mom-Wife-Boss-TequilaWeight Of The World: Don’t Put It On Your Shoulders
- Restarted, a new life – Finally Unchained
- Fitness Journal #2
- writelee Out-Closets and it is No Surprise! – writelee.com
- Continue, Restart, Or Force Stop #DailyMusings – Mojito With a Twist!
- The World Outside the WindowThe World Outside the Window – Live
- The Same Person Restart – The Secret Letters to Timbo
- Restart – AHAmoments
- Hey Mister Wait For Me, I’ve Got A Nickel – Monkebus
- Talking Therapy vs Catholic Confession – Sharing With Others – Est. 11-15-2017
- theloneroseSecond chances
- VPGreyAstral: Restart
- World Book Day (Is Actually Everyday) – Curious Cat
- Pause, Scroll back and Restart! – DatOneLady
- Blase’
- Earthly BrainAn accepted challenge: Sick Day continued
- Restart – lovenlosses
- A New Reason to Leave the House By Myself – Bipolar Barb
- Walk with GodMulligan Stew
- Plane seats – Some epiphanies
- Musings of a Random MindA New Beginning
- Na’ama YehudaRestarting Time
- Marchin’ & Order – MichaelNarssi
- Starting Over (Banana Pancakes Pt 8) – The Unfinished Script
- Restart – The Journey
- Out of My Write MindDead End
- Start vs Restart – Running vs Me
- release and – jotNrot
- Restart – Around the World
- Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: A Thief Named “Regret” – Stew Rd.
- At Least Jerry Did Not Pull one of his Glock 19s – writelee.com
- The Cat ChroniclesDaily Feline Prompt: Restarting Feline
- Two roads – Unwritten Cosmos
- Fortune Teller – Fragments of Fiction
- DCMontreal: Blowing the Whistle on SocietyLeprechauns And Parade Routes
- Piper’s AdventuresRestart: Wonderfully Made
- A Pencil Is Best‘From the top …’
- A Standard To Live Up To – Blissfully Bianca
- Breathe Easy – The Dreaming Lady
- Blue cows – Don’t hold your breath
- Flowers and BreezesRestart
- Does writing excuse watching?restart
- Who am I? What am I doing here? – Jennifer Shelby
- Restart – Prompt and Circumstance
- On Loss – KerDoodle Village
- At the beginning of all things – themanbehindtheglass
- Chronicles of an Anglo SwissRestart
- Pushing the restart button – One day at a time
- Midnight Calico FarmRestart
- Start Screen – A Curious Hermit
- Restart (Spring Planting) – The Eggcorn
- Blase’
- Restart – lifeisgood
- Begin anew. – Viper Outdoors
- Restart – As I was saying…
- The DaydreamerTime Bomb.
- See the positive in everything #wordprompt – IdeasBecomeWords
- And Here We Are – This, That, and The Other
- Prompt: Restart – sixty, single and surviving
- No More Restarts – Biking Against the Wind
- Relax–Manana
- Pushing the Restart Button – Sweet Bee-loved
- sonja benskin mesher. day 7 .
- Everything You Make It – Wells Baum
- pensitivity101Daily Post Prompt: Restart
- Real as Real – I’m a Writer, Yes, I Am!
- ReStart – Chronicles of the Dangerously Optimistic
- bogpantime
- The Diary of a Country BumpkinRestart.
- Morning Restart – Curious Steph
- paeansunpluggedblogRestart
- NaikanlensKeep moving on, slowly
- lifelessons – a blog by Judy Dykstra-BrownRestart
- Tune Your Mind – emotionsoflife2016
- Restart – Sorry, It’s Just Me
- A Restart to Nothing New – Author Flawed to Perfection
- They Won – Live Like It Matters
- (more) *BREAKING NEWS* (again) yawn… – A lot from Lydia
- First Time Writer – Fingers to Sky
- KO Rural Mad As Hell Blogwaiting
- Begin Again – Yourⓓvibes
- Life as it happens to beDaily Prompt ~ ‘Restart’.
- constant VARIABLERestart
- #thepowerofpresence: day 52 – Karyn’s Domain
- adiós #poetry – Short Prose
- Starting Over – damswriter
- Life Is Like ThatThe Hug Report
- momasteFind Something Small
- CONNECTEDRestart
- Sacrificial Chain BreakerDreamworld strikes again
- New Jersey ArtistJacki Kellum
- A glimpse out of my staycation world – Quaint Revival
- New Love – Family Matters
- Dreary days – Unoriginal (love) noteS
- Anticipation – Sgeoil
- Restart – Spiritual Fruit Without Religion
- Wallie’s WentletrapThe Troll’s Apprentice #writephoto
- A new beginning – Vignettes from a Writer’s Den
- The scintillatorRestarting time
- Just the facts… – The Reckoning
- Hot White SnowWriting Restart. Again.
- Six-word story: Restart – writingiswonderful
- The Christian CrocheterHow to become a Christian and a Music Review.
- Roots of “JIHAD” Part I – Islamic Methodologies Made Easy
- DronstadRobot Talk
- Video Clips & Phoenix Sketches are Underway V4 * Vyacheslav Kantor
- Muse of the Day – Everyday Strange
- Week – This Girl’s Got Curves
- Restart – existicles
- Resatrt – THEGIRLVERSUSWORLD
- Impractical AdviceCan Better Tagging Build Audiences?
- MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHORestart
- Who will curate the curators? – Wells Baum
- TimeandreflectionsThe Shadows
- Haikus
- Marching into The Valley of Change. (March Goals) – Zeckrombryan
- A Higher Plateau – The Psalmist
- Frank Prema tock (with dali)
- Recycled Hapiness – Megha’s World
- Till – Tar & Ash
- Press A to continue – Ta An Speaks
- Designer SophisticateBegin again.
- Game Boy – Ta An Speaks
- Frank Prema h.r.t. fan
- How to Customize WordPress Prompt Thumbnail? * Vyacheslav Kantor
- Demons – Rantings of a nihilist fool
- Systems – Ta An Speaks
- Cimmerian SentimentA Farm Boy – Part 16 – Haven (NSFW)
- The Game Of Life – M.S Poetry
I was being led by your words, very interesting take on the Prompt.
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Thank you.
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