Richard walked around the bend, passed the Belvedere point, without stopping to admire the view this time, and picked up the pace on the old cobblestones of the pedestrian trail that connected the town to the steam plant. Back in the day when everyone walked to work it used to be the principal thoroughfare to and from town, but since they had built the railroad for the commuter train nobody took the long walk along the side of the mountain anymore, and the trail hadn't been used in years.
The path started literally within a few feet of Richard's back yard, and in a very strange way it looked like it was supposed to emerge from it, as if it had been intended to originate somewhere inside his house and cut across the back yard. The work on it had obviously been hal
ted at some point, most likely for no other reason than somebody got fed up with this town improvement project and decided that particular spot was as good as any to end it.
But it didn't feel that way to a curious child. When he first discovered it a few years back, while searching for flexible willow branches for one of his wooden catapults, the path felt magical to little Richard, who had just finished reading the Wizard of Oz and whose thoughts were brimming with fantasy, adventure and valiant deeds; the path seemed to have been laid at his feet on purpose and its symbolism gave him goosebumps, but his foreboding emotions didn't prevent him from following through to see what his destiny had in store for him at the other end.
The pedestrian route passed through a lightly forested area and changed dramatically as it passed through the valley, hugging the rocky side of the mountain, where it became barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side and was festooned by a heavy metal rail that guarded the side of a dramatic ravine, and then continued sinuously between large boulders and brambleberry bushes, following the course of the commuter rail almost to a T, but from a safe distance, like a reluctant guardian angel. There were a few cobblestones missing here and there, but the path was otherwise in very good condition, a testament to the dedicated craftsmanship of the workers who had put it together a long time ago.
