Very keen to reach Epic, before he moved from the ‘Meaning bridge’, Milo wanted to take a quicker route and because of a chance meeting, he knew of such a route.
A year earlier, a friendly starling on hearing that Milo was an acquaintance of the amazing bird Cuba, was only too delighted to describe a more direct route to Epic, ‘as the crow flies’ or as he liked to say ‘as the starling flies’. He mentioned many landmarks to look out for, so although uncertain of the way, Milo felt confident he would be able to follow the right path.
Milo travelled extremely quickly for the first few days, finding it incredibly easy to follow the starling’s brilliant instructions. In fact they were so easy to follow that he spent more and more time mulling over the questions he wished to ask Epic and became increasingly lost in daydreams reminiscing about his ‘Over the Bridge’ trip.
It really was an uneventful journey, probably because Milo, lost in his thoughts, took little notice of his surroundings and made only an occasional, cursory stop to check his directions with another animal along the way.
After very many days at a hasty pace, Milo knew he was drawing close to his destination. Should he push on and arrive later in the evening or stop for the night and reach the ‘Meaning bridge’ in the morning?
He was reminded of Epic’s lesson regarding ‘should’. Instead of ‘should’ he knew he ‘could’ choose either option. With this thought in mind, he decided to rest for the night. Epic’s teachings always remained close to his heart and although desperate to see him again, he would much prefer to see him in the morning, refreshed from rest and sleep.
Milo rose early. He gauged from his directions that he would arrive at Epic’s mid-to-late morning. Although barely able to contain his excitement, he was also bothered by thoughts of finding an empty bridge. He knew that this was probably just his fears playing tricks on him so he kept turning his attention from these thoughts and instead focused on his joy at a reunion with Epic.
Finally, after what seemed ages, Milo caught sight of the ‘Meaning bridge’ in the distance and with it a faint silhouette…. of what look like a squirrel. It must be Epic. Excitement coursed through his body. He quickened his pace. As he drew closer, he felt a sense of déjà vu, on seeing Epic basking in the sunlight, the red of his fur glimmering.
Then the thought,” Would Epic be pleased to see him again?” popped into his head.
In that instant Epic swivelled his lithe body around to face him and the most incredible, genuine smile beamed from his face on seeing Milo.
He hopped down from the bridge, “Milo. It is so wonderful to see you. How are you? How is Daisy? How was your journey? It has been so long. How long has it been?
This was the same Epic that Milo remembered, questions, and more questions.
“Come here Milo. Let me give you a hug.” He squeezed Milo tightly for ages. They embraced like long-lost friends, in fact long-lost family.
Milo really needn’t have been worried about what type of greeting he would receive!
They talked all day, only stopping briefly to eat. Epic asked so many questions that Milo did most of the talking. He was so keen to know about what transpired on Milo and Daisy’s journey after their initial meeting. This being a long story, took a long time to tell. They talked late into the evening before Milo finally had a chance to ask some questions of his own.
Unfortunately, it was late when Milo asked Epic about his story, reminding him of his previous words, “Now that is a long story. A story for another day. Tomorrow I’ll tell you”. Epic smiled knowingly, remembering what he had said before and replied, “Now that is a long story. A story for another day. Tomorrow. I really will tell you this time”.
Milo smiled because he knew that it was a long story that would be much better told tomorrow.
They wished each other a good night’s sleep. As Milo dropped off to sleep he thought,” What a wonderful reunion!”.