I was tidying my room and I found an activity I did in my English class last year two years ago. I thought I'd post it here for everyone to do, since I had fun doing it.

What happens is I'll describe a journey that you're on and you have to imagine it. When I tell you to describe the details, you have to write down how you imagine it to look (so get a pen and paper or open a program that you can type on!) and what you write describes aspects of your life/personality. DON'T READ THE ANSWERS UNTIL YOU'VE WRITTEN DOWN THE DETAILS OF YOUR JOURNEY. It spoils it~

The Journey:
You're walking down a path. What does the path look like? (ie: is it narrow/wide, concrete/dirt, straight/winding...) What are your surroundings like? (ie: trees/tall Buildings/nothingness/lots of pink sky, warm/cold, day/night...)

You spot a key on the path. What does the key look like and what do you do with it?

After a while you come across water. Describe the water (ie: puddle/lake/river, big/small...) and how do you get across it?

After you cross the water, you notice a tree beside the path. What's the tree like?

A person is approaching from the other direction. What's this person like? What's your reaction and what do you do? (ie: Ignore them/stop and talk/run past...)

You come up to a house. The door is locked but you look in the window. What can you see?

Next to the house there's a garden. It's surrounded by a fence. What does the fence look like and how do you get over it?

Describe the garden.

You leave the house and continue walking. Soon you come to a wall. What's the wall look like? Can you see past it? If you can see past it, what's on the other side? If you can't, what do you think is on the other side?


Answers (Only read AFTER you've done the journey!)
THE PATH: This describes your life. eg: If you had a straight path, your life is straightforward and you know what you're doing. If it's curved/hilly there are lots of obsticles in your life.

THE KEY: Your view on marriage.

WATER: If you're female it represents your mother. If you're male it's your girlfriend/female partner.

TREE: If you're female it's your boyfriend/male partner. If you're male it's your father.

PERSON: How you react when meeting new people and making friends.

HOUSE: Your emotional interior.

FENCE: How you deal with hazards/problems.

GARDEN: Your romantic/sensual side.

WALL: Death

THE OTHER SIDE: After death

It's a neat writing exercise. I'm not sure about the answers though, some of them made me laugh. XD I'm posting my results though!

---

I'm walking down a path and it is a fairly dark path, a trail through the woods, but with spots of sunlight shining down and on the plants surrounding it. It's a dirt path, wide in some areas, narrow in others. It heads in one general direction, but twists a bit.

The trees around it are tall, deciduous trees, green with leaves in the prime of summer. It's a clear day and that's why the sun is shining down through the leaves. It's a warm day, but not too hot, and there's a fresh breeze winding through the trees.

On the path I find a key. It's an old skeleton key, though not yet rusted. I pick it up and brush the dirt off. I imagine it belongs to an old house. Probably someplace a bit worn, but still old and comfortable. One that has housed a lot of life, and will continue to do so as long as it stands.

After a while, I come to a lake. It's a small lake, with clear water. It's almost smooth except for a bit of movement from the breeze that's blowing past. There are cattails and reeds around it. Since it's a fairly small lake, I walk around it while peering into the water, searching for life below its surface.

After getting around the lake and back to the path, there is a tree... it's a large old tree that has seen many years, with a thick trunk. It has many branches, full of leaves. It's an old tree, but it's still full of life.

I notice a person coming from the opposite direction. It's a man, he seems to just be taking a stroll down the same path. A young man, maybe upper 20s or lower to mid-30s in age. He's dressed casual, in earth tones. I try not to stare at him as we near each other, but when close enough I look up and nod an smile, maybe say "hi" as we pass.

Next I come up to a house, it's locked. I wonder if maybe it's the one the key belongs to. I'm not going to try to unlock it to find out though. I peer in the window and see a humble living room. It has some comfy chairs, maybe a sofa. There's a table with a vase on it, within the vase are some flowers that are starting to wilt. The floor is carpeted and there's a coffee table with yesterday's newspaper on it. There's a fireplace too, a wood one. On the wall and the mantel of the fireplace are some pictures... paintings of landscapes.

Next to the house is a garden that is fenced in. It's a white picket fence. The paint hasn't chipped at all. There's a gate, but the fence isn't that tall, so I stand on one of the boards and climb over it just for fun.

The garden is small, but full of many flowers, most of which are in bloom. At the far end is a bench swing under the shade of a willow tree. Besides the flowers, there are also butterflies and other insects moving about the garden. There is a path from the gate back towards the swing that is made... well, it looks kind of like cobblestone.

I head away from the house and then come to a wall. It's a tall brick wall with ivy crawling up the sides. It seems pretty long. I can't see past it, but I certainly wonder what's there. I think of some old castle-like house. Sturdy and silent, private from the outside world, with landscaping much more marvelous than the little garden from before.

I'm walking down a wide plank covered walk way that seems to stretch almost to infinity, but is obscured by fog and darkness. Around me its windy and the smell of salt water is drifting in the air. Every so often a very cold/damp gust cuts through my trench coat, and the few light posts, battered by the mist and whistling wind lighting the way.

I stumble over something hanging between two of the planks, a silver key it turns out.It was wedged pretty tightly between the boards, but I managed to free it and take a look. Though I didn't want to stop very long. It was a classical odd shaped key with some interesting designs on its head, swirls of metal intertwining about eachother, doubling back and disappearing.

I come to the end of the long plank walkway and find a railing, a final light post and the vast ocean about ten feet from my toes. I hear a cowbell type sound coming from below the boards and I notice a metal set of stairs decending downward. Curious, I began to climb down. Before I knew it, I am standing in a craft. Quite possibly a fishing boat, but it is tangled amidst tarnished ropes down near where the muscles grow off the wood supports of the peir. There is a lantern swaying with the wind and water poorly illuminating the floor of the vessel. My eyes follow the floor, noticing a few objects. A fishers net, a small box, and finally a pair of boots. I continued to follow the boots up to find a pair of pants, and then a yellow rain coat, and up to an older bearded man. I jump back at first, startled by his presence but he just turns and goes back to freeing his lines of the pier. With a few more tugs he frees the boat and then points in the direction perpendicular to the pier, motioning me to come with him. We left the relative safety of the underside of the pier and made our way away. The waves were crashingly large now, but the man continues to stand his course, one hand on the throttle of the small engine, and the other across his chest holding his coat in place.

Some time passes and I'm now growing more nervous of the water around us. Are we drifting out to sea? But just as I was thinking that, we struck ground in a sheltered shoal. The weather is clearing up, and the moon light shows the outline of a stone path, reflecting the light from the water of the storm. Along side is a large tree, rocking a bit in the wind, its fully leaved branches shaking in unison.

The man in the rusty boat and I both hear a faint whirring of another approaching engine and he quickly hands his lantern to me, and bades me to follow the path as he shoves his boat off the smooth stoney landing. Before I know it, he is gone. Out of site. Never seeing the other, but hearing the whirring of an engine growing louder, I am compelled to run.

I keep running along the slippery moon lit path, choosing at random left or right from forks in the path, until my eye catches a shack. How great it would be to get out of the cold night air and dry off for a while! Out of breath I walk to the door and test the knob. Its locked tight. I knock on the thick wooden door but to no avail. So I leaned over to one side and peered into the window. There are no lights on, and no signs of anyone around. To my left is a peeling white pickett fence to a garden. The garden has nothing but decaying plant life, possibly drowned out by the rain. I shake the fence gate back and forth and am again defeated.

I decide to leave the shanty alone and continue on my path. Perhaps I'll find a phone, or some way of telling me where I am!

Night is drifting towards dawn now. The moon is still in the sky, but I can see the clouds on the distant horizon being lit up ever so slightly by the slowly creeping sun. The path ends at a huge stone masonry wall, thick with algae and dripping wet. I look to my right and see nothing but thick brush, and to my left the path continues along the wall. Naturally I follow.

--

Thats actually pretty freakin cool. Hehe. Quite interesting IMO.

I am walking down a narrow, winding path. It is a calm day; warm with only a gentle breeze. The big trees surrounding the path block out most of the light and make me feel a little claustrophobic, but the greenery looks beautiful in the dim light. In the distance I can make out mountains capped with snow.

I find a silver key lying on the ground, partiallly hidden by fallen leaves. It is heavy and old fashioned. I wonder what it could be for and put it into my bag to keep as a souvenir.

I soon come across a thin trickle of water flowing across the path. I carefully step over it - I don't want to get my shoes wet!

Further down the path, a tree catches my attention. I stop and admire it. It's a big willow with branches drooping down and overhanging the path. Very different to the other trees in the forest.

I continue walking down the path. A stranger appears from around the bend and is walking towards me. I'm suprised to see someone else in this place, but we walk past each other without acknowledging their presence.

After a few more minutes of walking I spot an abandoned old cottage next to the path. I try the door but it's locked. I peer in through the window. The window is dusty and the room is dark so I can't see much but I am able to make what looks like very old furniture. I think I can see a rocking chair, a table and a fire place.

Peeling myself away from the window, I notice a garden next to the cottage. It's surrounded by a wooden fence, which I quickly climb over.

The garden's about 2 by 2 metres. In it there are many different coloured flowers that all have this: sort of shape. They're planted in tidy rows and look very healthy. I pick a flower and continue on my way. I soon wonder if the key I picked up earlier would have worked in the cottage door, and why I didn't think of that earlier. It's getting dark and I don't really want to go back and try it now.

A big red brick wall stands in my way, going right across the path and as far as I can see into the forest on both sides. I can't think of any way to get around it but I wonder what could be on the other side.

Y'know, I was thinking back about the mother/girlfriend and boyfriend/father ones and since they're including those together it just sounds... rather oedipus to me. XD;; I'd think it'd make more sense to have mother, father, and significant other ones seperate.

me, being a very tired person right n ow just imagined my responses but they actually suprised me quite a bit! i might wirte em down later in my case seeying its 12:45 and im getting rather tired.

EDIT: this is actually a very reaviling kind of test, u know? it shows how you feel about people/things/yourself sub-concioulsy eg. mom,dad,life,freinds

I think I broke it when I got to the bits that involved having a mental concept of gender, but I always tend to break "and this represents your mother/father!" things anyway.

I did it in my head - brain was too tired to describe it properly, just picture it. Apparently my emotions are very dusty, however...and I had a white picket fence and brick wall too.

My white pickett fence was there too, but was peeling and crappy looking :P

It's not what the fence looks like, it's how you deal with it! :D

My god. I had even forgot my password for this account! Didn't imagine this forum would have any life left in it. I'm overjoyed to find at least one interesting topic!

I also had the wall with ivy as my final wall. Kind of weird how similar some of our stories can be. All of our treatment of the person seemed about the same. Our trees are also all "large." I'll have to pass this on to some people.

---

I’m walking down a fairly narrow dirt path. It’s sunny out, probably summer. The grass on either side of the path is extremely green and besides a few dark trees to either side, it is the only flora. The green serves as a deep contrast to the soft tan of the dirt.

I walk along and find a key in the middle of the rode. It’s a very ornate silver key with what looks to be wings sprouting from the top. In the middle is a rather pretty ruby. I simply put the key in my pocket and continue on. I figure it’s the key to some sort of jewelry box.

Eventually I come to an extremely vast, clean lake. The surface sparkles, but I can tell that it gets very deep in the center. I fear something lurks below the surface, just out of site. I search for a bridge in order to cross it. Eventually a come to one. It glows the color of ivory and provides passage to the other side.

As I find my way back on to the path a come to a rather large tree in a ravine. Its roots are very old and seem to make a sort of protective shelter under them. It’s much taller then any other tree in the area, easily dwarfing them even deep down in the ravine.

I spot a person down the path walking in the opposite direction. He’s wearing dark clothing with a high collar and some type of hat. I walk by and cast a nervous smile towards him as I pass. I was not happy to run into him.

The sun sparkles against the window as I peer inside. From what I can see, there seems to be remnants of a little child’s tea party. Beautiful cups, though not overly fancy are placed in front of seats on a large redwood table; a very pretty, but inviting table. In one of the chairs sits a beautiful doll dressed in formal attire. Its stare is not cold but it’s clear that it’s been waiting for some time; however, that merely increases its beauty.

I spot the garden and head there next. It’s a rather old, black fence laced with years of ivy; probably four or five feet high. The paint is not chipping but it is still clear that the fence is old. I stop to admire the extremely green ivy before hopping over the one place devoid of it. I somehow manage to avoid the spikes on top of it.

The garden is perhaps the loveliest part of the house. Flowers are broken up by color. To the immediate left are what looks to be white roses. The right, yellow. In the center there exists a large plot containing both red and black roses. The black roses have a bit of red in them and the red have a little black. Despite this, the blacks and clearly separated from the reds down the middle. The walkway is laid with bricks, though rather smooth ones. There’s a very clear pond to one end, with a mini replica of the ivory bridge from before. Trees are dispersed randomly with breaks where grass creates clearings.

I continue walking and come to a large stone wall, reaching as far as the eye can see in either direction. It is a very pretty mix of white and grey stones and also contains large batches of ivy. It’s impossible to tell by sight but my impression is that it’s the oldest thing I had run into on my walk. It’s a good eight feet high and I cannot see anything behind it. I get the impression of something old, perfect, and hidden on the other side and I long for it.

---

Lots of goddamn ivy and old stuff. The answers are interesting, but don't really shed some light on what a lot of the stuff means. My key has wings. Does that mean I place marriage on some holy pedastle? What about the vast details of the garden? Am I that much of a romantic sissy? :(

When I did this in class, whenever there was something that could be connected to a male love-interest my friend's journey had something "very young" in it. Being the good, honest friend I am, I told her she was a paedophile :P

Going over my story, there are a few things that I think are true about me, but there are a things I think aren't true either.
My friend interpreted my trickle of water/mother part as: "Momo's mother doesn't have much influence on her. She deals with her easily." Which is what I would think about what I wrote as well. However,my mother has influenced me a huge amount. The "She deals with her easily." is sort of true though. Mum doesn't get in my way. She lets me continue along the path I've chosen without blocking it.

For my house/emotional interior my friend wrote: "Momo is dark and old fashioned". I may be old fashioned, but I don't think I'm dark D:

...
Meeting new people: "Momo is cold and a heartless wench. She takes no notice of new people >~<"
That's not true, is it?

I like your key~. Thinking that it might be to a jewelry box adds to you being romantic sissy, though :P.

Heh, I hadn’t written a story at first and just jotted down my answers, but seeing as how other people wrote a short story, why not adapt my notes to story form!

First though, calling this “The Journey” reminds me of Uru. <_<

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A cold chill brushes around me, twirling through the air. I shiver, wishing I had worn a bigger coat. It was autumn after all, and the sun had disappeared, leaving the world behind lit by twilight. I look down the path I was walking along, and wonder when it will end and why it’s so long. It wasn’t a hard path to follow, though, shooting straight through the forest with few twists. It didn’t even hurt to walk on that much, being made of dirt that had collected over an old stone trail and been compacted down by a thousand pairs of feet over the ages.

A glint of light catches my eye, and I glance down at the trail, bending down and brushing some dirt away from a metal object half buried in some dirt. Picking the object up, I realize that it’s a short key; perhaps belonging to someone’s house. It looked like it had been there a while, so I figure there would be no harm in taking it with me. I pocket the key and continue walking.

The sound of moving water makes me look up, and I realize that I’m almost at a break in the forest. Ahead of me lies a crystal clear river, churning peacefully along. An old footbridge stretches from shore to shore, and I hesitantly take a step onto it, worried that it may collapse with too much weight. It seems to be sturdy enough to support me so I slowly walk across it, thankfully stepping off the end of it and continuing on my way.

A tree by the side of the path catches my eye, and I stop to look at it. It’s the biggest tree I had seen yet, and was evidently very old. Despite its age it seemed to be the strongest tree around though. I noticed evidence of bird nests on the ground around it, as well as stray twigs inside holes in the tree’s trunk. It must have been home to several animals throughout its long life. I continue walking.

It is not long before I realize that someone is coming towards me, down the path. I look up at them and fear grips my heart. They are dressed in a black cloak that obscures their entire body; even a hood covers their head, their face hidden among shadow. My breathing and heartbeats slow more and more as we near each other, and right as we pass their head turns in my direction. We pass, and the fear is gone. I can’t help but give one last glance over my shoulder, but find that the figure is gone as well.

Finally the path ends, and I find myself on the front lawn of an old country-style house. It is made of wood and seems to be rotting before my eyes. I walk up to the house and gaze through one of the front windows, observing the derelict interior of the house. The floor has mostly fallen out, leaving a large gapping hole and exposing a cellar. An old stove sits on one of the few fragments of floor remaining, tipping precariously over the hole where the floor used to be. As I watch a piece of the roof falls down and into the cellar, and I back away.

Walking around to the side of the house, I find a small garden. It is enclosed with a fence made of un-painted wooden posts and barbed wire stretched between them. A wooden gate is in the fence close to the house and I place my hand on it, noticing that the wood around the lock had mostly rotten away. I give the gate a slight push and there was a small crack as the wood easily splintered around the lock, the gate swinging open. I walk into the garden.

It looked like the garden had previously been used to grow vegetables, as rows of disturbed dirt ran lengthwise through the garden. There were no plants there anymore, all that remained of previous vegetation being dead plant matter such as leaves and twigs. I walked through the garden and pushed open another rotten gate on the other side. My destination was close.

A tall brick wall appears before me, and I stop. I cannot see what is behind it, but I know that it is my destination; what I had been seeking all this time. Some vines and ivy cover the wall, and I gently pull on one of the strands. It holds. I grab the vine with both hands and begin climbing up the wall, my destination so close. I grin as I think of what treasures could lie on the other side for me to discover. I mount the top of the wall, and bask in the glory of success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A nice story, but my dad isn’t that old... The house is spot on though; I am emotionally unstable :D

Gah, I just realized that I slip into past tense in places. I normally write exclusively in past tense, but felt this was better suited to present. Can't change habits, though...

lol, basically I said the hell with it!

I also find it interesting that in everyone's story, the key serves no real purpose, and nobody is adventureous enough to break and enter the house!

I thought about it! But I couldn't be bothered walking all the way back to the house :P

I've just realised that I climbed over the garden fence without even thinking about looking for a gate. Typical ^^;

Yeah, I would sure would want to enter a house that was falling apart and lacked most of the floor :D

Maybe that we don't care about the key means we don't care about marriage? I took the key, but I don't really want to take marriage...

Considering the setting, I pictured a fancy/old fashioned type key. Just say "key", I picture something practical, just used for opening what it's supposed to.

WOO SYMBOLIC.

PAth:
It's a little dirt path of sand with long grass hanging forward and obscuring most of it. There is a lake to the side and a dense undergrowth that wanes towards reaching the water. Willow trees dot the path and surround the lake. Their long tendrils dance slightly in the breeze.

Key:
The key is a rusted old skeleton key that was peeping just outside of a rusty tin can. I pick it up and pocket it for safe keeping and continue to travel along the path.

Water:
As I had stated before, there is a large lake nearby, but right beside it there is a long rain-worn bridge that is like a pier and extends directly across the lake. I simply walk across it, minding the missing planks of wood.

Tree:
Just as the others, there is a willow tree, but this tree is different, it's bark is scarred by the knives of time and humans who felt it their duty to make a mark on this old beast.

Person:
There is a man in a suit who has no face. He's walking towards me and motioning for me to walk up to him. I can't. Instead I run away from him. As far and as fast as I can.

House:
The house I meet is abandoned. It's windows cracked and dusty. It's innards are peeling and cracking. Very soon the house itself will collapse and nothing will remain.

Fence:
The fence surrounding the garden is a small iron one. It only reaches up to my knee so without much effort I hop over it.

Garden:
The garden is full of dead rose bushes and overgrowth. There are a few old stone benches covered in moss.

The Wall:
The wall is a tall brick wall that extends a good two feet over my head. There is no end to it on the right or left side. I cannot see past it. I can only see loose bricks laid to the side of it. As for what's on the other side? The end of everything. The wall is the barrier between myself and that which is unknown and unknowable.