You Could Feel the Sky (Day 59)

He felt like he couldn't just move on after discovering such an unusual object, but what could he do? Its featureless surface was refusing to yield its secrets. Feeling his way along the length of the monument, he couldn't find anything that wasn't perfectly uniform, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was some sort of living, breathing creature slumbering in its confines. He couldn't imagine what sort of creature could inhabit it, considering its bizarre shape. It was relatively slender, thinner than any man he knew.

He'd come so far without seeing anything remarkable, and he felt like he'd finally found something important. His bones were tired and his muscled ached terribly. He just wanted some reason to stop. He wanted to feel like he had a destination. He'd finally found something that he knew in his heart was important but as far as he could tell, there was nothing he could do to make it give up its secrets.

The man sunk to his knees, partially because of his weariness but also due in no small part to his frustration. He slid his grimy hands down the surface of the structure once again, noting that none of the dirt rubbed off. Evidently, outside forces were not capable of making an impact on the monument, nature or man. 

"What are you. . .?" His voice was hoarse and ragged, in stark contrast to the voice in his mind's eye. Sadly, the structure did not have an answer for him, at least not immediately. The man fell into a seated position in front of the structure and stared at it intently. After sitting, he had no desire to get to his feet again so he decided to get some much-needed rest. He didn't want to leave the monument; perhaps he could set up camp? Unfortunately he'd not yet found a source of water and wasn't at all confident in his ability to find food. He sighed, and threw himself to the ground, the uneven surface of the clearing somewhat uncomfortable against his lower back wound.

How much longer will I last?