The start of it all

What's the point in life if I only exist but not live in it?

One of those questions Katha had asked herself over and over again as she was lying beside the massive photograph of the universe, staring at it repeatedly. It was a stormy night that day, and she couldn't help but wonder what else there was outside. Outside of this small town called Crieff, in Scotland.

It seemed to be nothing but a boring, dull life to her, repeating itself day by day.

She was a waitress in a tacky diner with a not all too nice boss. She barely managed to pay all the bills with the money she earned, although working all the time over time. She hardly knew anyone in this sinister town full of mystery and disinterest.

After a long day at work, she was on her way home to her slight shabby 1 room flat right near the forest.

As she finally arrived at her destination, she froze instantly. The house where her flat used to be was being torn down with a bulldozer. Last minute she ran to the man steering the bulldozer and asked him what the hell he was thinking, tearing down her flat! He told her that the house owner had moved away and told them to tear down the house. Now she was getting agitated; they didn't tell her anything about their plan. She called the owner, and she explained awkwardly that she forgot to say to her and that she would give Katha half the rent money she paid through the years back as an excuse.

At that moment, she knew that her life was about to change. She knew she didn't have the necessary means to take all her stuff with her and move to an expensive house. Soshe picked up her most important belongings, such as her wallet, a few clothes, photos of her late parents and her bike.

She watched as her flat was torn down and eventually started her journey.

You might ask yourself where her journey leads to.

Well, she did not even know it herself yet. All she knew was that she was about to leave everything behind. The last thing she was doing in this town was quitting her job and telling the boss her opinion about him.

It was already around 9 p.m. by the time she left the town. No bus or train to reach.

There was just an empty bumpy street leading through the forest to a yet unknown place. She grew up in this town and had never left it. So, she took a deep breath and jumped on her bike, driving off into the unknown. She has never felt as free as she did at this exact moment. Her short blonde hair whirled around in the summer breeze as the sunset turned more and more into a vibrant red.

And so, she drove through the forest all alone, enjoying her freedom of not knowing where she would end up tomorrow. The forest didn't seem as much of a scary place to her as it used to. All she could hear was the rustling of the leaves in the wind.

As she finally reached the edge of the woods, the sunset was already starting to appear. She was pretty tired then and decided to lay down in a nearby meadow. She parked her bike next to her and laid on her backpack with her belongings in it. As she woke up, it seemed to be around 3 p.m. already. She continued driving and came across a town. She would have loved to know where shewas, but her phone didn't have any signal and was useless. As she walked past the bakery, she noticed her stomach growling out of hunger, but she didn't have any money with her, and you wouldn't be able to pay with a credit card; therefore, she had to find a bank and take money off her account. Thankfully, she was successful and found one. However, when she went to look at how much money there was in her account, she froze once again. There was an amount of 100'000£ on there!

How was this even possible? She then realized that the former landlord had told her that she would give her some money back... She didn't know what to think of it. But there was one thing she knew for sure, and that was that she was exceedingly hungry. So she took one thousand pounds off her account and went into the bakery. She enjoyed her stay there and the food as well. When she asked the lady owning the shop about her whereabouts she was, she then told her that this was Glasgow.

At that moment, she knew that she was far, far away from her so-called home.

She thanked the lady and searched for a hill. There was a hill with a tremendously big building, the University of Glasgow. She sat down on a nearby wall and took a more detailed look at this considerable town. She had never seen such a big town, which made her feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, they had trained in Glasgow, so she took her first train ride to Edinburgh. Sitting back and looking outside was new to her, but she certainly enjoyed it. And so, her journey continued. She was about to arrive in Edinburgh the following day. So she could astonish by the view Scotlandhas to offer. Around lakes, seas, over hills, through hills, through small towns, etc. She woke up to the announcement that they had arrived.

Glasgow was nothing but a tiny town compared to Edinburgh.

Its spires of dark stone, sombre theatrically, much of its quality

deriving from its setting among crags and hills and its tall buildings.

The capital of an independent country.

She decided to rent a small flat near the volcanic Pentland Hills for a few weeks to sort her mind out.

By the time she did sort her mind out, she had done some research on her phone that was finally fully functioning again.

She found out about a ship going to the northern part of Europe... This was it. She felt as if she was destined to get on board the DFDS Sealine ship, taking off in Immingham, going to Brevik, Norway.

And so she did drive to Immingham and got on board with her belongings. The more she distanced herself from the shore, the more she longed for a fresh start. The boat trip would take at least 36 hours...

The sea seemed so vast and furious, fierce and variable, hungry and relentless, yet limitless and majestic. She enjoyed sitting on one of those benches on the front row of the deck, getting all the wind right in her face. Smelling that sea breeze, hearing the seagulls squeal and seeing nature ruling its world. The seagulls reminded her of a book she once read about a seagull called Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The book was based on actual events, and it was about the meaning of life. This specific seagull wanted to do more in life than what gulls were determined to do, as the flock only flew to find food.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Livingston flew to find true joy, be more than just a gull, reachhis goal, fly as fast as an eagle, control an albatross, and the night vision of an owl. He didn't care about the others' disbelief and thinking inside the box; he did his own thing and succeeded after many falls and learning. "You were born with wings; why crawl through life".

-Jonathan Livingston Seagull

As she thought about this, the ship was only a few hours away from Norway...