Ellis sat by the riverbank, her shoes discarded, feet resting in the cool water. The world around her buzzed with life—birds flitted between trees, their songs threading through the air, while the soft rustle of the leaves whispered ancient secrets she could never quite grasp. Yet, despite the beauty surrounding her, Ellis felt… hollow.
It wasn’t a dramatic sadness, nor an overwhelming grief. Rather, it was the kind of emptiness that crept in slowly, unnoticed at first, until it had spread its tendrils into every corner of her life. It was like carrying a pebble in your shoe—not painful, not unbearable, but always there, nagging at the edges of your consciousness.
She had always been a seeker, someone who questioned everything. Life, purpose, existence—it was all a puzzle to her, one she felt she should have figured out by now. And yet, here she was, twenty-nine years old, sitting by a river and still searching for answers that seemed forever out of reach.
As she watched the water ripple gently past her feet, Ellis picked up a small pebble from the bank and turned it over in her hand. It was smooth, worn down by years of rushing water, its edges rounded and soft. She held it up to the light, squinting at the way the sun reflected off its damp surface.
"Funny," she thought, "how something so small can become so significant."
The pebble, insignificant as it was, felt oddly heavy in her palm. It reminded her of her own life—small, perhaps meaningless in the grand scheme of the universe, and yet it was all she had. Her life was her own pebble, shaped by the forces of time and experience, but ultimately fragile and fleeting.
She sighed and let the pebble fall back into the water, watching it sink slowly into the depths. "What does it all matter?" she murmured, her voice lost in the hum of nature around her.
“You’ve asked that question before, haven’t you?”
Ellis froze, her heart skipping a beat. She hadn’t expected an answer—especially not from a voice that seemed to come from nowhere. She turned, expecting to find someone standing nearby, but the riverbank was empty.
“Down here,” the voice said, gentle and soothing.
Ellis blinked, glancing around until her eyes settled on the source. The pebble she had just thrown into the river—there it was, perched on a rock, no longer submerged. And it was… talking.
She stared at the pebble, convinced that she must have lost her mind. “This can’t be happening,” she whispered under her breath.
The pebble shimmered in the sunlight, almost glowing. “It is happening, Ellis. And no, you’re not crazy. I’m as real as you are.”
Ellis remained silent for a moment, trying to process what was unfolding before her. She had heard of talking animals in fairy tales, but a talking pebble? That was a new one.
“Why are you talking to me?” Ellis finally asked, her voice hesitant.
The pebble seemed to hum with a quiet warmth. “Because you need someone to remind you that not all questions need answers.”
Ellis furrowed her brow, not sure whether to laugh or scream. “I’m pretty sure the whole point of asking questions is to get answers.”
“And what if some answers can’t be given?” the pebble replied calmly. “What if they can only be lived?”
Ellis fell silent again, the weight of the pebble’s words hanging in the air. It sounded cryptic, but something about it struck a chord deep within her.
“You’re trying to tell me to stop overthinking,” Ellis said, a small smile tugging at her lips.
The pebble didn’t respond immediately, as if it were considering her words. “No. I’m telling you to embrace the uncertainty. To live in the questions instead of seeking to escape them.”
Ellis ran a hand through her hair, her mind churning. She had always believed that if she could just figure everything out—if she could find her purpose, understand her place in the world—then she would feel complete. But the more she searched for answers, the more elusive they became.
“Do you know what it’s like,” Ellis said quietly, “to feel like you’re carrying the weight of your own existence, and you don’t know why?”
The pebble glimmered in the sunlight, its voice soft and understanding. “I do. And I also know that the weight you’re carrying isn’t yours to bear alone. Life isn’t about finding the one answer that will set you free. It’s about learning to live with the questions, to dance with the uncertainty, and to find peace in the not-knowing.”
Ellis looked down at the water, her reflection distorted by the ripples. She had spent so much of her life searching for clarity, for the answers that would make everything make sense. But maybe—just maybe—there was beauty in the uncertainty. Maybe it wasn’t about finding the answers, but about learning to live with the questions.
“And what if I never find the answers?” she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.
The pebble shimmered one last time before sinking back into the river. “Then you will have lived a life full of wonder, and that’s more than enough.”
Ellis sat there for a long time after the pebble disappeared, her feet still resting in the cool water, the warmth of the sun on her skin. She felt lighter, as if a weight she hadn’t even realized she was carrying had been lifted.
For the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t feel the need to rush to find the answers. She didn’t feel the pressure to make sense of everything. She simply… was.
And that, she realized, was enough.
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