Beginning

So where to start but at the beginning of course. Everything needs a beginning, otherwise there would be no middle and certainly no end. So to begin at the beginning seems like a very logical thing to do. Now this beginning needs some preparation, it needs it’s bag packed for the journey. The beginning can’t go on an adventure to the middle without a properly prepared pack.
This pack is empty but it’s time for it to be filled to the brim with everything that’s going to be needed plus more. The first thing that needs to be in is a blanket. The blanket is only there for an emergency, in case the beginning gets left out in the cold and needs to settle down for the night. With any luck it won’t be needed but in it goes. In the pile of things to add is the marshmallows but those need to go in last (we can’t have squished marshmallows, imagine what that would do to the sky), so in goes the sunscreen, the moisturiser (to keep everyone looking lush) and the good old bottle of mosquito repellent. There is nothing worse than an itchy beginning. The sunscreen should probably be slathered onto the beginning now, a layer of protection from the treacherous heat that threatens to dry out its energy but this beginning doesn’t make the smartest decisions and the sunscreen gets slapped into the bag instead. Next is the small box of matches for the fire, because wherever they go in the bag they’ll still fall to the bottom. Even when it’s not cold and not night a fire is always necessary. A beginning needs a little mesmerising flame to get it cracking. A torch needs to get thrown in, for no other reason than when you go off on adventures it’s always handy to have a torch. We can’t forget the handy notebook that can also be used for kindling and if there’s a notebook there needs to be a pen (which should not be used for kindling). A compass gets slipped in with everything else, because it can be good to know which direction to head in, though sometimes the direction wavers. What else is needed for our beginning to head off to the middle? Ah the food. In goes the crackers, the biscuits, the noddles (but no pot for the noddles- dry is better and doesn’t take up time), the bread, the sausages (which can always be roasted on a stick), and the marshmallows. Food is the most necessary thing for a beginning, it gives the mind both energy and a distraction. One more thing, something that’s absolutely necessary for our beginning to even begin; coffee. Now our beginning is all packed, the bag is closed, shrugged on and it’s time for the beginning to head off on its adventure to the middle. The beginning may not need everything in it’s pack, the moisturiser will probably just be an extra weight and if it’s that much of an annoyance it can just get thrown to the side of the road and forgotten. The compass might be alluring, the direction doesn’t have to stay true anyway and squished marshmallows don’t have to make any difference to the sky.

So the beginning is all prepared, for the foreseen and unforeseen. Nothing else is needed but to take the first step onto the path where the adventure of the middle awaits. The beginning just wants to know one more thing; have you got your bag packed?