As he drove through the gravel and dirt parking lot, he spotted his girlfriend’s black SUV a few parking spaces away. She was waiting for him, and by the look on her face, he knew that something wasn’t right. Noticing this, he reluctantly decided not to grab his backpack from the backseat of his Jeep Wrangler; he figured whatever it was that she was upset about would soon pass, but decided to leave the Frisbee and camera behind. He knew that she would rather talk.
He met up with her in the parking lot and they strolled together through the park. Silence surrounded her and the only audible noise was of the sound of their feet walking through the soft, green grass. They came to a clearing by a flowing creek with small stones and pebbles scattered at its bottom. After a few, quiet minutes, she spoke up. She released the feelings and emotions that she had felt for some time, but was scared to reveal to him. They flowed out of her uncontrollably, like the water running next her in the creek. Her feelings were all new to him. He thought that their relationship was fine; nothing seemed to be going wrong. He was happy. She was happy; at least he thought she was. She told him that she was no longer in love. Angry, confused, and hurt, he left. He didn’t know what else to do. She tried stopping him and told him that she was sorry, but he didn’t want to hear what she was saying. He wanted to stop her from leaving.
Driving back to his apartment, he was left confused. He sat on his couch when he got home and attempted to figure out what went wrong. Did he do something? Did she love someone else? As the anger start to take over, he knew he couldn’t stay in his small apartment any longer; everything in there was beginning to remind him of her. He had to get out.
Tired and distressed, he decided to go for a walk. Naturally, he took his guitar. It seems that he never went anywhere without it. He walked through the woods until he stumbled upon railroad tracks. Stepping on them, he felt a sense of calmness. There was no movement in the woods; all was still. However, he was lonesome. A few moments later, he heard the distant sound of a train whistle. The train was coming. It would be there before too long. He couldn’t stop it from coming and the echo of its whistle and the rumbling of the tracks disturbed the serenity of the woods. The train seemed to come from nowhere. His guitar or a song could not stop the train, but still, having it with him made him feel better; it was his security blanket. Because the peace of the woods was stripped away from the oncoming train, he left to search for a new spot of peacefulness. On in his expedition he came to a river in the woods. The shore was lined with pebbles and rocks, much like the ones blanketing the creek in the park. He grabbed one off of the ground and picked it up. He tried to skip it across the river, but his attempt failed. He picked another pebble off of the bank and threw it into the water, this time with force. The river keeps running and does not even know that he was around. His frustration was growing. Even if he threw a million more into the river, it would not stop flowing. It was a lost cause. He could not change what he could not control.
He would do anything if he thought it might change her mind or stop her. But, she didn’t love him anymore. Realizing this and being at the river gave him the sense solitude and peace he was searching for. He had to accept what was beyond his control. If not, he would never be content or find the strength to move on in his life. However, like the train coming in the woods and river running next to him, the pain came over him and tears started running down the sides of his face. He couldn’t stop the train or the river. He couldn’t stop the pain or the tears. They flowed out of him, like the emotions of his girlfriend, like the creek in the park, and like the river in front of him. They were beyond his control.
And yet, he accepted it.
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