The Man Who Walked and Walked

Once upon a time there was a tired man. He had been walking all the day, and all the night, and all the day before that. He had walked over fields and walked over hills and walked over bridges. He had walked through valleys and along pathways and through woods. He was a tired man but his compulsion was to walk. He walked and walked and when he felt his legs getting tired he somehow ignored it. He walked so far and saw a rock and though it looked like a good place to sit he decided to continue walking. He walked another entire day and then he saw a log and though it looked like a good place to sit he decided to continue walking. He was so tired that he couldn't stop walking. Eventually he had walked so far and so long that he came to the end of the world.

Now it was the case that at the end of the world there was a cliff. At the top of that cliff there was a hammock that swung between two trees and there was a treadmill. The hammock looked like a good place to rest but the tired man was afraid. He was afraid that if he stopped walking he would die. He stepped upon the treadmill and began walking and thus looked out unto eternity. It began to rain. And the rain was refreshing and the man walked and walked and looked upon eternity.

As he walked upon the treadmill he looked to his left and saw a little way off another man upon another treadmill. And he looked to his right and saw a little way off another man upon another treadmill. And as he looked off into the distance he found he could see that the end of the world was lined with hundreds of other men all walking upon hundreds of other treadmills. He continued walking and this time, although he was tired, with a refreshed energy.

And it was the case that by his side upon the cliff that was the end of the world there appeared a beast, and the beast lay upon the hammock that swung between the trees. And the beast did look upon the man who was walking on the treadmill. The beast was sloth-like and lay there stroking his fur and spoke to the man saying, "That looks like hard work. I suppose you could do with a rest." But the man continued walking. He walked for another day all the while with the beast by his side. The beast looked upon the man with pity and spoke to him saying, "If you do not stop walking you will become like these other men who have been walking since time began." The man continued walking and he walked another day. The beast looked upon the man with derision and spoke to him saying, "If you do not stop walking you will never make use of your wings." Then the man realised he had wings.

The situation transpired that the man did spread his wings all the way out and began to flap his wings. Soon it was the case that the man started leaving the treadmill and lifting up above the treadmill. As he did so all the blood and all the tiredness from his legs rushed up into his body and the man shot into the sky, his legs no longer being tired.

And he flew across the edge of the end of the world for every man to see. The men looked up to him as he flew and soon each began to realise they could do the same. Soon it was the case that each man lifted himself upwards into the sky past each other with beginners excitement and flew loops and gathered into a flock. The flock of flying men lifted and dove and spun around like the ribbon of a gymnast. They flew higher and higher and further and further until they could no longer see the world.

They flew so far and continued to fly so high that soon it was the case that they had flown past the sun. And the men flew further with little concern for what they had left behind. They flew for a thousand years, sometimes ducking, sometimes diving and soon they realised they would never die.

Next it became the situation that the men felt the loneliness of eternity and the solitude of men, despite the fact that they were now incredibly strong creatures. Alas, they were lonely in the sky of eternity and began to wane until all of a sudden they witnessed a shining aura ahead of them. The aura turned to a gas which then became like dust to them. And they could see that the dust which was on fire became like shapes of women coming towards them. And the waning of the men all but passed and they continued flying with a refreshed energy. And they saw before them creatures that were like angels and in fact were angels flying towards them in like manner. And they came together and they embraced, there each being one angel for one man. And the men were at peace.

And it was the case that these angels had been flying for thousands of years out into infinity like unto the sojourn of the men. Soon the occurence was that the angels each gave birth, and behold they gave birth to sons and daughters which turned into planets and which floated in the very cosmos. This was convenient to the creatures that had mated since it was the case that they then alighted upon their offspring and did finally come to rest. It was the case that the men and the angels and all their sons and daughters lived together, each upon their own planet, for all time to come.

The end

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