“Are you ready?” she asked me.
Turning back now would have been near impossible. I nodded wordlessly.
She handed me a coin. “It’s all up to you now.”
I removed my backpack and set it on the ground. The woods were surprisingly well lit at this hour. The moon must be working hard tonight. We were back at same forked path we had backed out of before – but we didn’t have the luxury tonight. I had to make a decision.
There were two routes in front of us. I had to choose one of them, but I wasn’t sure which one. There were no signs or any clear indication. She suggested I flip a coin to decide when the time came, and that time was now.
“Isn’t it the stupidest idea?” I said.
“Do you have a better suggestion?”
“No. But, we’re leaving it all up to chance!”
“You know that’s not true. Once the coin is in the air, you’ll wish for it to land on one of its sides. You can’t explain it, but you’ll know what I’m talking about. There’s already a path you want to take. We can choose to go with your gut – or with whatever side the coin lands on. It’s up to you to decide, either way it’s all the same to me.”
I pondered for a moment. “Why can’t you make the choice for me? That way it would be so much easier!”
“This isn’t my journey. I’m but a mere companion. I go where you go.”
“What about them?”
“What about them?”
“Won’t we run into them if we go down the wrong path?”
“Sure, but we could also avoid them entirely. There’s a chance.”
“We could turn back-“
“And let them come after us? That’s fine with me too. We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”
“You’re not very helpful.”
“I know. I’m also imaginary,” she said with a smile.
“Very funny.”
I flipped the coin. It landed heads. Right where I wanted to go.
I picked up my backpack and headed down the path. She disappeared as quickly as I had made up my mind. I hoped I was right.
Writing Prompt from Reddit: [DP] “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”