At first, Hal sort of shuffled along the path that led out of Drear to the east. His eyes were aimed downward, as though his feet moving outside of the village were the most fascinating thing in the world. Ham watched, carefully not turning his head but pushing his eyes as far to the left as they would go so he could see Hal without seeming to watch.
Ham wondered what had changed for him, that he walked with his head up and his eyes forward and a feeling of walking – even striding – instead of shuffling and hiding. He had grown up in the same environment as Hal. He had had the same schooling, learned the same ways of doing things, and lived his entire life among people who moved and spoke and huddled the same as the folk of Drear. And yet…
As Ham watched Hal out of the corners of the corners of his eyes, he saw something just barely begin to change. It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t fast, and it wasn’t all the time. But it was there –the slightest upward movement of Hal’s head, so that his eyes left the ground right in front of him and saw a bit more of the world ahead. Then his head would settle back down, and his eyes would continue their journey with his feet.
They walked for a couple of hours, and Ham began to notice more and more of the world around them. The trees were still looking sad, but Ham saw that the young ones were different. The young trees seemed to have hope – reaching upward for the bits of sunlight that reached them, standing as tall as they could. It seemed to Ham that as the trees got older and taller, just like the villagers of Dusk and Drear, they began to hunch and huddle. Rather than hopeful, they seemed sad and forlorn.
“Hal?”
“mmhmm”
“Why’d you come?”
There was a quiet humming sound from Hal, accompanied by the scuffing sounds of their boots, the flitting sound of a bird hopping from one branch to another, and the soft swishing of a breeze that ruffled Ham’s hair and left Hal’s untouched.
“Something… important, maybe?”
As Ham strode and Hal shuffled, and the breeze swished and ruffled, Ham thought this over. His dream was important to him, of course. Why would it be important to Hal or anyone else?
“Okay. Thanks.”
And out of the corner of his left eye, where he’d been keeping an eye on Hal, Ham saw Hal seem to straighten up a bit more.
Could it be hope? Pride? What is it that is making a difference to Hal? Ham wondered. And where did I get whatever it is that is making a difference to Hal? I’m just a Huddler from the village of Dusk, following a strange dream. That dream, along with my differences, has always made me feel an outsider. And now Hal is following me on my quest, and he’s changing.
Of course, Ham didn’t realize that even his thinking had been changing since he began his quest. While his outside differences had always been noticeable to the folks of Dusk, and while his dream had set him apart a bit, he’d never noticed any real differences on the inside. Until today.
