The First Adventure

I packed a tiny backpack

with a single comic book I loved,

and in my pocket,

the candy my mother had given me.

I was ready to be a hero,

stepping into the dawn-lit road.

There was no map,

yet the railway stretched endlessly,

as if the wind itself

was turning the pages of a new world.

Beyond the tunnel,

I imagined a dragon asleep.

In the fields,

the scarecrow waved like a waiting companion.

But as the sun climbed higher,

my stomach began to growl,

my steps grew heavy,

and courage slowly shrank

like air leaving a balloon.

Then—

a voice called from far away.

My mother’s voice?

Or only a trick of memory?

It stirred something deep inside.

I stopped.

Placed the candy on my tongue.

The sweetness spread,

and tears blurred my eyes.

In the end,

my adventure lasted only one day.

The hero chose the road home,

and returned at dusk.

Yet even now,

that first heartbeat of departure

still lives inside my chest.

Perhaps that was

my very first adventure.