"52,292,097…52,292,098…52,292,099…”
The front of Amani’s boot scraped the threshold. The cool aluminium was like a balm against their big toe, which was a few threads away from peeking out of the boot. The boots had clocked more than 52 million footsteps and ground against multiple thresholds in 346 days. The big toe was leading the fatigued body’s rebellion.
This is it, I promise.
It had to be. No more thresholds remained. No more footsteps remained.
Amani peeked through the gap in the doorway. The night sky that hung over this land sparkled with celestial bodies. A fragrance that was a blend of milk and honey curled through their nasal orifices and filled every pore. A susurrus of happy voices floated through and fell upon their ears. Amani strained their cochlea to detect any strain of melancholy.
None.
Amani waited. Their diary held records of the many thresholds whose first impressions had deceived.
“Coming in?” the guard’s voice interrupted Amani’s thoughts.
“Is this utopia?”
“It is,” the guard replied, jabbing his thumb at the board above the portal.
Tears rolled down Amani’s eyes as they pumped their fist towards the heavens.
I told you I would find it, didn’t I?
“...even if I have to walk to the end of the earth, I will find utopia,” they had vowed when they took the first step away from their land.
They opened their diary to mark their triumph.
They wrote,
Threshold Number 19-
They thumbed back to the previous entry. It said,
Threshold Number 195
So, was this 196? But only 195 thresholds existed. He did a quick check. No error; he hadn't missed any number.
Amani peered through the door and waited for the eyes to accustom to the silhouettes. The shapes held a familiarity, the kind that the mind’s eye never forgets. The familiarity of home. It was the threshold Amani had walked away from 346 days ago.
The moon rose up in the starry sky and shone down on the board above the portal,
WELCOME TO EUTOPIA
Fool! You disregarded your backyard, which had been struck, had survived, yet blossomed. All for what? To chase the allure of perfection, a fantasy as true as a mirage?
“Welcome home,” the guard interrupted the tirade of thoughts and stretched his hand towards the entrance.
Amani stepped over the threshold.
Very nice! Reminds me of something my friend Gavin told me. He left New Zealand, lived in Slovakia, lived in Florida, travelled all over the world, was married and divorced twice, and returned to New Zealand only to realise the fulfilling life he'd been chasing had been waiting there for him all along.
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