One Pebble

Dawn broke through the trees bringing the waterfront to life. Birds danced and flitted from branch to branch. The cicadas buzzing rang through the forest. The smell of pine descended to Ima's nose and the dew from the night had collected on her bedding. She sat up from her slumber and eyed the still glowing embers from the fire. Isi's bed was empty. She stood up to stretch out the kinks from a good night's sleep. She was still sore from yesterday's training. Ima fixed her gaze toward the distant pond. A thin layer of fog rolled over the surface of the pond but never touched it, like clouds romancing the sea. She found Isi squatting on a rock overlooking the pond.

Isi leaned on his spear so that he could extend his hand toward the pond. He rolled the pebble between his thumb and forefinger admiring it's imperfections. Isi dropped the pebble into the calm water. Squatting over the water, he intensely focused on the ripples rolling from the epicenter. He stroked his beard and grunted as he picked up another pebble from the pile at his feet.

Ima rolled up her bed and picked up her wakizashi. That woman had visited her dreams again. She had warned that everything was about to change. Ima saw death. Three years had passed since she first started training with Isi. He had taught her so many things. She began to walk toward the pond. The gravel felt coarse under her feet, but she welcomed the sensation. After years of running barefoot through forests, hiking up mountains, and climbing rock faces, Ima couldn't think of a more comfortable feeling than the evenly dispersed gravel. She admired the dull warmth of the morning as she approached the rock Isi had perched on.

Isi held another pebble in his hand. "It is so small, yet so divine." Isi thought to himself. "Generations of men have risen and fallen to claim their stake in the world, and all of that just a blink of the eye to this pebble."

"Shouldn't we be going?" Ima asked as she leaned against a nearby tree. Isi paused. There was a long silence as Ima watched him rhythmically disturb the surface of the water until his pile of pebbles diminished.. Isi isn't the type to stall and she was getting impatient.

"We all have such tremendous power" Isi looked up at Ima as he shifted his weight to his spear. He must be in another one of his philosophical moods. As he slowly stood, he extended his hand to drop his last pebble. "Every action, every breath, every movement. They all leave a lasting effect on the world around us." He looked out toward the center of the pond. The light from the rising sun reflected from the water silhouetted his powerful physique.

'Something is heavy on his mind', Ima thought to herself. 'He always gets quiet and contemplative before making a big decision.' The pond had been the closest thing Ima had to a home for as long as she could remember. Every day of her training took her to new places and gave her new obstacles to overcome. Soon she was going to begin a distinctly new phase of her training and Isi, as usual, has been tight-lipped about what is to come.

"Your training up until now was meant to push your body and mind to it's limits. To destroy fear and remove doubt. With the skills I have shared with you, and the tools you now have at your disposal, you can live the rest of your life on your own, outside of civilization." Isi's arm was immobile above the water. He was an extension of the rock he was standing on. "Tell me Ima, have you considered the power of consequence?"

Ima looked up at the tall pine that was supporting her. She could climb this thing in seconds. She plotted the quickest route up the tree noting knots for footholds and the branches that could support her ascent, or her rapid descent if push came to shove. She lifted her wakizashi in front of her and slid the blade out of it's scabbard. Her reflection was perfect along the first half inch of the blade. "No, not really."

"If i were to drop this pebble, it's impact would scare some tiny fish and insects deeper into the pond in the direction of the ripples. Some of them would meet their demise at the whims of bigger, hungrier fish."

"True", Ima gazed into her reflection as she drew the sword further from it's resting place. "Fish tend to do that."

Isi moved his head toward Ima keeping his body calm, yet rigid. An expression of genuine concern washed over his face. "Let's take this further. What if those fish, now content with their daily meals took new paths today? All of those larger fish would interact differently with their immediate environment. What if a frog entered this pond? It's experience with the denizens of the pond would be different than if I hadn't dropped the pebble."

Ima shut the scabbard and returned Isi's concerned look. The pebble precariously perched between his fingertips began to look heavy and powerful. "Okay, actions have consequences."

"It sounds so simple, yet think of the increasing complexities that extend beyond just a simple action. Let's take it a step further. The frog will leave the pond and take his now slightly altered experiences beyond the realm of this pond. He might take his altered path in front of a snake. The snake will do what snakes do. Every single thing that the frog touches on his journey from the pond to the belly of the snake has a new path now, like ripples reverberating from the pebble."

The point was starting to sink in. She began to wonder out of all the animals she has hunted, bugs she has stepped on, lakes she has swam in, and trees she has climbed, just how severely she had impacted the world around her. "Hmph", A grunt was the only word she could produce.

"So you see, just like ripples from this pebble, the consequences our actions here will continue to extend out and reflect back until the end of time. People you have never met. People you never will meet. People long dead. Their actions will continue to change the course of your life. Possibly as a consequence of something as simple as a pebble."

Isi dropped the pebble and gravity had it's way. It fell down to the surface of the water. Plink. The pebble slowly descended through the murky water and bounced off of Isi's rock. It deflected off of the shell of a crayfish who scurried away, and settled in the muck at the bed of the pond. There it would remain undisturbed for thousands of years.

They both watched as the ripples extended beyond their fields of vision. Isi jumped down from his rock and slung his spear over his shoulder. A smile drew over Isi's face as he pulled a piece of venison jerky from his pack and tossed it to Ima. "Let's go, I have someone for you to kill today".