Nicholas Felix

ENGL101.802

Prof. Maderer

2/10/2021

Rowan the Hermit

Rowan sank into the chair of the pub with a full plate of food. He was starving, and

quickly ate his bowl of porridge, vegetables, and chicken. After saving up money for weeks

from trading with merchants, he was finally able to afford a meal that did not require difficult

hunting or gathering. Now that his stomach was full, his eyelids began to feel heavy. It had

been a long day of travel, and the hermit life had been anything but kind to him. Finally, his

sleepiness overcame him as he stared into the glowing fireplace on the wall next to him.

The fire, the greedy flames ate up the building he called home and his family’s place of

work. There he stood before it, in total shock, not moving. He had just left to make a delivery

not twenty minutes ago, what could have happened? Thoughts of his family, his mother and

father being trapped by the inferno flashed through his mind, and he jolted to action. He tried to

enter the house, but with every move he made his skin and black hair became more singed. He

cried out for his family, but with no answer. By now, the neighboring homes and businesses

noticed the fire and began to bring in water to put it out. One of the neighbors grabbed Rowan

and took him away from the house, tears streamed down his face as the realization of what

happened set in.

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 A week had gone by. The neighbors had taken Rowan in, they said he could stay as long

as he liked, but Rowan felt more alone than ever. Both of Rowan’s parents had been builders

that ran a successful business in the city’s industrial district. Rowan, who was still learning the

trade, could only take on small projects. The tall, lanky eighteen-year-old spent most of his time

out on deliveries. Now that the business was gone, Rowan was left with nothing, all the money

had been lost, his parents’ equipment and tools were not salvageable, and his family’s building

had been burnt completely to the ground. Rowan did not know what the future held for him, but

he knew he could not stay here. Once pleasant memories of his parents now haunted him.

Rowan’s most common memory was his father’s tired blue eyes or his mother’s wild curly hair

after working on a project all night, much like his tired blue eyes and wild curly hair had looked

for the past week.

The longer Rowan stayed with the neighbors, the more he thought about why horrible

things like this had to happen to good people like his parents. His parents had always been

honest, hard-working people, they had never stolen anything or cheated anybody. The more

Rowan thought about this the more he detested the thought; he knew he had to leave this place.

Where he would go, he would figure out later, in his mind nothing could be worse than staying

here.

One night as Rowan tossed restlessly in his small cot, a thought flashed before him.

Rowan had experienced many thoughts flashing through his mind in the past week, it was almost

uncontrollable. This one was different; however, it was more like a vision. He saw his mother

and father, they were smiling. He tried to cry out to them, but no sound came out of his mouth.

They each reached out and touched his face gently, and his mother spoke in her clear, confident

voice, “Go find your purpose, there is nothing for you here.”

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 Rowan woke instantly, packed what little clothes he had and left everything he had ever

known behind. He did not know where he was going, but he knew had to make his parents

proud. He told himself he would become successful somehow, but he also knew a long, difficult

journey lie before him.