Overcoming Boundaries: Man, Woman, Child

There was a man who walked the same path for two and a quarter score. On one side of the path were trees, bushes and underbrush. On the other side was a ditch both wide and deep. On either side of these boundaries were clearings though he could only perceive one.

The woman walked this path and found it to narrow or widen from time to time. She knew all it would take is one moment of inattention and she could fall into the ditch. She would often remind herself, “If you're not careful, you're going to fall into that ditch!”

Though she was afraid, the clearing on the other side of the ditch allowed her to see what was coming before it came. Thus she cheated to this side. Always, despite the widening and narrowing nature of the road.

Though it seemed as one continuous path, it was actually a winding loop. The landscape only appeared to change due to the general circumstances of time and seasons. As most stories go, one day the child fell into the ditch. The same voice spoke, “Told you I was going to fall into that ditch.”

The man sat up, stood up and climbed out of the ditch. Instead of climbing into the clearing, he crossed the boundary and walked steadily in among the trees.