Dniknam The Lesser: Chapter 2

Angel of Direction (Continued)

“Go where there is no path…..Go where there is no path….Leave……a……. trail.”

I walked rather deliberately through the deep underbrush picking a path of my own. I managed to walk about an hour or so, when I could hear a voice in front of me some distance way.

To my astonishment another traveler was on this trail, but he was heading toward me. I mumbled to myself, “I knew that angel sent me down the wrong path. I thought his name was Direction.”

“Hey, stranger,” I called out. “What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Are you lost like me?”

The stranger looked startled and stopped in his tracks a few feet in front of me. He started to back away.

“My name is Dniknam. What’s yours?”

The stranger was a very young traveler. He was fully prepared with a backpack that looked full of something other than food. He walked with a walking stick and wore thick glasses.

He finally spoke out loud after mumbling to himself for a few minutes. “Oh, hi, I’m…..I’mmm….scared…I mean I’m Joe…that’s it…I’m Joe…Joe Blow……from…Blowville….Just out for a walk….here in the wilderness…..Just walking.”

Joe, the stranger, or at least what he called himself, talked like this for several minutes making no sense. I was just about to tell him to shu…..up, when the voice spoke again.

“Go where there is no path…..Go where there is no path….Leave a trail.”

The stranger, Joe asked, “What was that noise? It sounded like thunder. There’s a storm in the air, I bet!”

“Go where there is no path…..Go where there is no path….Leave a trail.”

I told Joe it was the angel. I guess I should have kept my mouth shut, because he was gone into the woods in a flash. He moved liked something was chasing him. Sure wasn’t me.

“So,” I said. “What, now? Mr. Direction, which direction do I go?”

I decided that straight was good even though I didn’t even know which way was what straight. It was very still and quiet for several hours, and it grew darker every step I took.

I knew the angel didn’t say this would be easy but I was tired and ready to quit. Or at least I need to rest for the night under a big willow tree. I stopped and lied down at the foot of a shady tree and fell fast asleep.

When I awoke, Direction, all ten feet of him, stood staring down at me where I was lying. I was startled and almost ran away and hid, but his big voice billowed, “Son, stop!! It’s me, Direction.”

I think I had wakened up on the wrong side of the tree that morning, because I was angry with the angel. “I’m mad at you for getting me lost out here in the middle of nowhere. What were you thinking? I bet you weren’t. Yea, that was it….you weren’t!”

“Dniknam!! Oh, little human, Dniknam, have you forgotten who you are talking to?”

“I….I….I just gave you a piece of my mind.”

The angel chuckled, “Yes, a very small chunk of a very small mind. Back to business, Dniknam, you’ve got a journey in front of you, but sit down we need to talk first.”

When an angel tells you to sit down you usually do it; so I did. He set his large body on the grass nearby and began to expound.

“Young man, I can call you young, can’t I? I’m way older than you…Anyway, young man; I have a few instructions for you on your trek to your purpose. First of all, never, never, never…Did I say never….Never give up!! Those are words straight from the Boss. Don’t ever give up.”

I inserted rather proudly, “I wanted to quit last night. In fact, if Joe would have let me, I would have gone with him. I thought you deserted me.”

“Dniknam, at this point (at least for now), I’m your guardian angel. I’ve been a guardian angel for lots of important people and lots of ordinary people like you.”

I looked at Direction and gave him what I thought was a very dirty look. He kept smiling and continued his speech.

“I helped save Jonah from the belly of the whale even though he was running from God. Remember, he was heading the opposite direction from where God wanted him?

“No, I don’t remember…Was that one of those Aesop Fables we read about in egalloc? I didn’t pay much attention to those. Just thought they were…..not real….Fables.”

“Dniknam, the story of Jonah is not a fable. It’s from the Bible. Haven’t you read any of the Bible? I suppose you never heard of young David and the Giant?”

I scratched my head with my first finger and shook my head slowly. Then I answered, “I remember..Jack…..He planted a beanstalk that lead to heaven…and he met a giant and…..Is that it? Where was David in that story?”

The angel slowly got up from his sitting position. I hate when angels do that. They are so intimidating.

I crooked my neck and leaned back as far as I could, to see his face. I leaned so far back that I fell flat on the ground in a pile of dust. The angel almost laughed out loud but at the same time tried to be very serious.

“Dniknam, again I feel like I’m wasting my time….Dear God, give me patience…. Dniknam, my son, listen!!”

I sat to an upright position and brushed most of the dust from my face and clothing. I think at this point, I was ready to listen.

“As Head angel Decision told you a few weeks back, other angels will come and visit with you. Please, don’t give them as hard of time and you have been giving me. Every step, every direction, and every move you make in this journey to your destiny is very important.”

“You need to be aware of your surroundings and not be haphazard. You have to ignore the distractions along your pathway. And do you remember what you’ve been hearing in the distance these last few days?”

I nodded the affirmative and said, “Go where there is no path…..Go where there is no path….Leave a trail.”

The angel again sat down to relax in the grass. He crossed his legs and hung his big arms over his knees. Then he looked into my eyes like he did when I first met him, and asked, “Dniknam, do you understand this little instruction? Do you know why you go where there is not path and you leave a trail?”

I know I probably looked like a two year old who had just gotten scolded for doing something wrong and then was asked if he knew what he did wrong. I was just a bit baffled by the statement. I wasn’t much of a hiker or camper when I was younger. I really wasn’t a trailblazer, and he was asking me to do something I’d never done before, but why?

“I hear what you are thinking, my protégé. I understand you are in unfamiliar territory. That’s good. Now, if you follow the instructions that are coming your way, these new steps will carry into fulfillment beyond your wildest dreams. It is hard to see it at this moment, but plan on walking and trailblazing into unknown waters because someone is watching you.”

I looked at the angel and said, “I know God is watching me…but he’d better not follow my lead…at least not now…. Do you really mean someone is watching me from the bushes behind us?”

I quickly scanned the forest for a movement. In the distance I saw a tree branch move and behind me a bird flew from the brush. He really had me scared, now.

“Dniknam, you have a family don’t you?”

“Yes, sir I do…or at least I HAD a family.”

“Did you have a son?”

“Hey, big D, you know everything about me…You know I have a son.”

“How old is he?”

“I don’t know…Maybe 12 or so.”

“Did he really love you? Was he particularly sad when you left him and his mom and sis?”

I was really embarrassed. I knew where this angel was going with all these questions. He was bringing me straight to Hell for all my screw ups in life. That was what this ‘direction’ stuff was all about. I was toast, in more ways than one.

“Your son is waiting for you to lead and you don’t even know it. Dniknam, your son needs to follow your path. He wants to follow your path good or bad. That’s all I will say right now. I have other ‘guardianing’ to do. I probably won’t talk to you again. The angel of Heart and Desire will be here soon if you are still hungry to reach your destiny.”

I turned my back again to look into the forest to see where the sounds were coming from. When I turned back, Direction was gone, and I stood alone again on the trail, that at the moment, led nowhere.

I looked to the heaven and prayed softly, “God please help me.”