Of Finding Oneself

Anja closed her eyes. There was just too much going on. Her manager had been stern with her minutes earlier as she had not finished her presentation on time, could he not understand? There was too much going on today. Anja could hear every siren, every striking break and every honking horn in the street below. She could not concentrate on her work.

With her eyes closed she tried to slow down her thoughts, shut out the noise. She drew a deep breath.

Suddenly, she heard nothing. Not the ringing of the phone, not the laughing of her colleagues, none of the sounds that had driven her nuts all morning. Anja felt inner peace, her thoughts were no longer racing in disorder, her stress had evaporated.

“Hum!” Anja exclaimed, it felt as though she was in a horizontal position, no longer seated in the worn out office chair.

Opening her eyes slowly, worried that the calm would disappear with this action, a blue sky greeted her. I don’t get to see that much at the moment. Sitting up she noticed a giant tree, that looked as though it’s roots had taken the place of the branches. Out of a small opening in the tree’s bark an elderly woman stepped.

“Um, hello?” Anja tried to draw attention to herself.

“Hello Anja” the woman replied, “for a long time I have waited for you”. She did not seem to notice the puzzled look Anja gave her, “Come on in for a cup of tea”. Reaching out she helped Anja up and led the way into the tree.”

Inside the Boab Tree, Anja had finally remember what it was, there was a cozy little kitchen, a kettle ready for tea sitting on the fire. Not daring to ask any more questions, she sat down on the creaking sofa.

“So, you have finally found your way here Anja, I am so glad to have you visit my humble home” were the words the old woman spoke while handing a warm cup of tea to her guest.

“How? Why am I here? And were is here?” Anja stuttered, confused.

Leading her crooked finger to her lips the hag replied: “you are here to learn to find yourself. As you are here today, it means that you are ready to embark on the journey.”

In silence the two women sat, Anja started realising all of the things she wanted to change, all of the projects she had left unfinished, all of the goals she had forgotten.

“Thank you, I’ll be back” she said after a while, feeling that she was relaxed enough to go back to where she came from.

Stepping out of the tree, the afternoon heat made her sweat, to avoid the sun she closed her eyes.

“Anja, Anja!?” the striking voice of her colleague brought her back to reality. Opening her eyes her view fell on her coworkers in semi circle around her, looking worried.

“Is everything ok?” her manager asked. “I am sorry if I might have been a bit harsh earlier today”.

“No worries,” Anja reassured, getting up from her chair she added: “I would like to quit, I have come to realise that I have trodden on the wrong path and in the wrong direction for too long.

---

This is my 1st participation in Friday Fiction with Ronovan Writes – the picture of the tree above was provided as a prompt. Check out the link to read other stories and/or to participate yourself.

---

© Solveig Werner 2016. All rights reserved.