I was riding off on my own direction to the west bank that all of a sudden I saw a soldier who was climbing over a mountain in an unusual fast speed.

I said to myself, “I have never seen anyone climb over a mountain so quickly.”

He asked as I was approaching him, “Hi…can you direct me to the Eagles Valley?”

“I have just arrived here and decided to set out immediately for the mission. I thought if I could take a shortcut through the riverbed and up the west bank, I want to see if I could make it before dark.”

The west bank was very steep and hard to climb, especially at dusk. We spent a few minutes riding and talking.

I asked, “Where are you from?”

“I came from a far land, too away from here.”  

He spoke in an amicable and gentle voice. It was an enjoyable conversation. He thanked me for being friendly and helpful. Then he walked his way away. I rode off in my own direction too and was thinking about that unexpected and weird meeting.

It seemed only moments had passed when I again heard someone call me. I looked round but I saw no one. Then something caught my eyes – just there on the top of the mountain. It was the very soldier atop the far bank who was waving and shouting thank you. 

I thought of myself, “How he got to the top of the bank so quickly. It couldn’t seem possible for a normal person to reach there atop so soon. Could it be that I met with a spirit of the past? Could it be that I met with one of the spirits of the soldiers who battled bravely in the Eagles Valley years ago? And if it wasn’t a spirit of a soldier so what was it? Of course there must be a much more reasonable explanation, but what explanation? What do you think of it?”