Wild yellow grass stooped under its own weight, sagging more and more as it got nearer to the edge of the shallow pool. The pool was still and stagnant, and here and there, the odd spot of green algae stood out against an undisturbed black background. Rocks dotted and rose out from the surface of the water in the hot summer sun. On the other side of the pool was a dense wood, where damp, dead trees drooped slightly, casting shadows which fell silently onto the trees next to them.
On both sides of the pool, trees dabbled on the ground, though on the side where the grass was, a brisk rustling could be heard coming from the direction of the nearest town.
A man emerged from the wilderness and into the open, cupping leaves in his hands and pushing them outwards like a pair of wild curtains as he stepped into the threshold. The man was slender and small, he was of bony nose and hands, who's veins gasped for breath on the surface of his rough skin. Behind him walked a shaggy, black dog, whose main had been scruffled on the path through the trees.
The brown haired man strolled towards the pool, his dog, overtaking him, galloping like a horse to drink.
“Hey, hey,” said the man in a pleasant, 'at peace' kind of voice, found only by the type of people that have given up on society, and what society thinks; found only by the type of people that are completely comfortable with themselves and haven't got a care in the world. “Hey!” repeated the man more sternly as the dog drank from the murky, shallow pool. At once, he stopped gulping and ran back to his master who stroked his head without looking at him. The man's distant eyes looked out to the far mountains, who's blunted peaks arched and swayed over the landscape, casting a large black shadow onto the empty plains beneath it.
The man crouched by the pool and pulled at a strand of grass with two fingers. He dipped the grass into the stagnated water and swirled it around. Waves of filth rippled along the surface and reluctantly swam away, lapping quite calmly against the rocks but breaking instantly as they hit.
He sat contently, the man, and watched his anxiety be released with nothing but a gentle wave of his hand. There was no one to tell him to stop it, or tell him he is no good; he was free.
-But for how long?
