A TREK NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN

That morning after a typical, hearty english breakfast, I set off on what was supposed to be a
nice gentle trek. That wonderful feeling of excercise, fresh air the scenery. The morning was
rich in golden promise of enchanting views. I did
however find it strange, that I was the only person
out walking, but then I thought,
'it's nice to have a bit of solitude, to be with
my own thoughts'.
But then as I started to walk higher into the hills, the sunny clarity of the day gave way to hill fog, it came down so suddenly, then was quickly followed by snow, which became so heavy, it
wasn't long before it settled. Three hours later as
I soldier on, the snow came down harder. I was
getting really worried, here I was in the middle of
nowhere with just a map and compass, on unfamiliar
terrain alone. I could not see more than twenty
yards, because of the snow and fog. I thought to
myself,
'what an idiot not to have checked the weather
before I left, but it was to late now.'

It was while cruching through the snow, through a
slowly moving wall of eerie, impenetrable vapour,
that I uneasily sensed a presence behind me, I
looked back, at first I could not see anything, I
wiped my eyes, the snow biting and stinging at my
skin, then through the fog came a man walking towards me, he seemed to be well prepared for the
weather, waring a thick brown coat, his hood up,
with a red scarf covering his mouth, he also wore
goggles which I thought was very sensible in this
weather. I must admit to feeling rather stupid in
my blue bobble hat, complete with bobble on the top. I pulled the collar of my coat up around my
neck, I was so cold I could hardly feel my hands
and feet. As he approached me he never spoke, but
waved for me to follow him. I shouted to him,
"boy am I glad to see you."
There was no reply from him, he just carried on
walking, waving me to follow. We walked for what
seemed like ages not speaking, which was hardly
surprising due to the snow, which was being whipped up by a sudden gust of wind, to blast into
my face. The ground seemed to be sloping down hill,
the fog was starting to lift to my relief. I was so
grateful when there in the distance, I saw the gate
I had come through that morning. I tried to catch
up to my new companion, but he was a strong, fast
walker, he always seemed to keep his distance from
me. When finally I reached the gate, he stood holding the gate open for me, I walked through, then as I went to turn and say thankyou, he was
already walking away.
"Hello, hello," I shouted to him, but he just
carried on walking away. I stood there watching him, until he was a distant spot walking back into
the fog.

Eventually I started walking back along the lane,
so happy to be on recognizable ground again. I began to see lights in the distance, from a couple
of houses. I felt so cold, hungry and thirsty. It
was starting to get near dusk, I just wanted to get
back to the Inn, where I was staying. I walked along the road, across the bridge, where I had seen
some children feeding ducks, some bread that very
morning, but now the place was quiet and still.
When I finally reached the Inn, I decided to go into the bar for a drink, it was empty apart from
one man who was sat by the fire, smoking a pipe
and reading a paper, then over by the window, were
two men playing cards. I walked up to the bar.
"What will it be sir?" The barman enquired.
"A pint of your real ale please, I think I need it after the day I've had." I said.
"So what have you been up to today then?" The barman said.
I started to explain about my day, the encounter with the stranger who rescued me. The barman asked
me to describe the man, which I did, then he said.
"Your the third person this year who claims to have met David Morgan, nobody knew this area better
than him, he trekked here almost every week, but a
year ago this very month, he never came back, it
was about ten days before his body was found."
I had to sit down, I was stunned, I had never
believed in ghosts until now.