It started as it always did. A distant rumble, like the roaring of a far-off storm. Distinct. Unique. It was a tremor in the earth, shrinking with his every footfall. Changing, becoming something else, like a seed planted within his heart. Within his mind. All of the words that came afterwards, they didn't matter. They left his tongue turned to stone. They crumbled to dust in half an instant, as if they'd aged a million years in the space of a heartbeat. All of her words, though, every breath, became a whirlwind, blowing the dust of his words around him. A sandstorm of cliches and withering feelings, like so many wilting roses. Alone, he wanders the desert of the world. A desert because of the dust, the shadows, the hollow echoes of her promise. He stops. Glimpses a star in the distance, wipes his eyes. Everything is bright again, even in the night, the moon shining bright. He takes a moment, takes a breath, tastes the night breeze. Exhale. The remaining motes of sand and dust glitter faintly in the moonlight, disperse. Become nothing more than memories- a trail once walked, with no reason to climb back down. That's when he sees it. The desert, it was just another mountain in need of climbing. He stands not at the peak, but further along down his path than he had thought. His path was just one of many, though. He looks up, ahead. A valley between mountains, lush and teeming with life. Only, his path changed as his heart did- only he could decide where it lead.