It was early morning, a young family of three, a mother, father and their young daughter, sailed a boat across a lake, taking nothing with them other than the clothes on their backs. They made their way to the center of the lake, stopping there and looking out through the forests that surrounded the body of water. They shared a peaceful moment together looking at the beautiful scenery, but in a split second the weight of three soon disappeared. No sound, no lights, nothing, just the boat feeling lighter. Hours flew by and the usual hustle and bustle of humans hiking would be at their peak, but the usual busy paths were silent and desolate, the pleasant sounds of nature overtook the world. 

The lonely boat remained as still as it could, waiting for its humans to return and take it back to shore, it waited and waited but nothing, the sun dipped behind the horizon and the moon rose hundreds of times, the weather constantly shifted and changed, pushing the boat this way and that way but never moving far. creatures temporarily joined the lonely yet loyal boat but quickly left when they no longer needed it. Over years the boat started to mould and wither, parts were breaking apart and parts were getting weak, but the boat remained steadfast, staying close to where it was left, believing that its humans would soon come back. 

More decades passed and the scenery had completely changed compared to when the boat first joined the lake. Now after so long the lonely boat was in a miserable state. It was completely covered in moss and mould, vines dangled down, spiders cob webs, both old and new covered any place that could be used, all animals and insects used the boat in whatever way they could, whether for temporary shelter or for building their nests or borrows, whether for finding food or as a place to relax, the lonely boat was used and never offered anything in return. However it still remained, waiting for its humans. 

More time passed, how long is unknown, but long enough for the boat to decay, barely holding on, the memories of its people faded, holding on to that same spot but not knowing why. It was tortuous, all it knew was that it had to stay there, it couldn’t move, just in case something happened, what that something was was unknown. It was painful for the boat, it wanted to move but it felt like something was holding it back. It endured everything nature threw at it, but what was the reason, why did it continue on like something momentous would happen, like everything would get better, like it would eventually get fixed. The boat remained, unmoving. 

At this point time didn’t matter, the boat was no more, it was merely pieces of wood floating on the lake, partially attached to one another but each pulling in different ways. One day a strong gust of wind broke those few pieces apart, however one single plank of wood remained. It continued to wait, always and forever. Never knowing what it was waiting for, forever stuck in place not able to move on.