Leg 10 – The Haibun Leg: Write a microfiction as a haibun, which is a short prose passage followed by a haiku.

-----

A Long Walk on the Pier That Leads Nowhere

I walked and walked and walked and walked. Reaching my goals fulfills me for a spell and then I need to set a new goal. Instant gratification has reached diminishing returns. I make my goals too near to my current situation. I check the box, I revel silently, and I make the new goal. This beach is where I find and carry out those goals and this pier, long and winding, keeps me going. I see new things regularly on the water. Some, I think, are hallucinations. I guess that's the real reward.

I try to be here daily so I can take note of whatever is new. Sometimes it's all just the same old. And sometimes it's not. I don't know why I love this pier so much and I cannot decide if it's the same stuff, the new stuff, or just the routine.

Maybe it's the subtle creaks and thunks of the boards beneath my feet, or the foghorn in the bay, or the misty winds that seem to happen every time I reach the end. It could be the smell of saltwater, or the splashing of kids playing below, or the increasingly rare glimpse of a seal or other such oceanic creature. Jellyfish floating ominously.

All I know is that the mornings I spend here keep me walking and that is what keeps the monsters at bay.

-

Many sights daily

Time slips, seasons pass, I walk.

I'll never give in.