(Day 19 of this year’s Advent series. Yesterday’s piece was about note taking; today we consider side quests.)
A Million Mornings Long
A million mornings long,
By way of night –
A million sunsets, then
Some balance bright
And rich in time.
A million waits the journey,
A million steps –
On ways not circled round
By maplines kept.
Still, on –
Though moving not.
Only sun or star,
Face of moon or face
Of stranger; these ones are
The migrant ones
Who gift our timewards press
With side paths rich.
There’s a picture online of a cat sitting upright on the sidewalk. The cat is illuminated by a perfectly golden shaft of sunlight.
The caption: “If gaming has taught me anything, I know a side quest when I see one.”
Of course, side quests usually aren’t lit up like a burning bush. And the notorious trade-off of the side quest is time and attention from one’s main goal. But sometimes the benefits are worth it.
Sometimes, just knowing there are other routes enriches the main route.
Skeleton At The Feast 
Today’s poetry is excellent, I enjoyed it a lot.
Is this the cat picture you talked about by any chance?
Side quests are such an interesting phenomenon; even if you don’t engage with them they add value like you mentioned, but even failing the side quest can have its own fun consequences.
What are some memorable side quests you engaged with in the big 25? For me, a particularly memorable one was delving into an Egyptian pyramid! The reward was an impressive granite room, but the quest was mostly waiting in a line that goes through a narrow and difficult tunnel.
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I like the thoughts about side quests. I usually resent th
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