Journey of a Thousand Miles

Previously

…The compass was still in his pocket. He pulled it out. The needle pointed east, unwavering, indifferent to his crisis. He had to keep walking. That was the only thing he knew for certain. He looked at the photograph one more time. The older Jacob stared back at him with a kind of weary resignation, as if he had known this moment would come. As if he had been waiting. Jacob tucked the photograph into his pack, along with the paper bearing his name. Then he turned east and began to climb out of the canyon, the weight of a thousand unanswered questions pressing down on him with every step.