Looking back, the year I turned five marked the end of innocence. It was also the beginning of a long path that I never could have imagined.

The years that followed were full of training and learning. There was a lot of moving around as well.

In the first two months of the year I turned six years old, my study sessions were balanced with stamina training. The stamina training involved running laps around an open field following a training instructor.

After this, I was moved to another place along with some other children where I went through speed training. This one was not much different from the stamina training in that it was still just about running. But here, we ran much faster for the same duration of the day. All this while, our study sessions were maintained and somewhat balanced with our training.

Many children could not handle the mental strain added to the physical fatigue but nothing was done about that, and for another two months I got used to this routine. Then there was another sorting.

Along with a few others, I moved to a place where we trained body movement. The goal of this training as our instructor put it, was to have our bodies respond to what we want the way we want it to. This time, the training focused on acrobatics.

The third training ground was much bigger than the earlier two and it was separated into two sections, excluding the living space.

It was much like a city if you did not consider the fact that there was no incoming merchant or nomads but it could barely be noticed since we had almost no time for to be idle amidst the constant training and studying.

The region that served as living space was a set of five story buildings, which had their basement as a dining space. There was no need for a market or merchants since the only residents were the staff and trainee children, the oldest of them being 10 years old.

One section of the third training ground had various wooden structures with beams, poles, rope ladders and suspended planks arranged in a parkour, and it was all for acrobatic training.

The first time I really saw them, I was amazed at the inexplicable beauty. It wasn’t a colorful kind of beauty or aesthetic thing, but just something about it that called out to me. They had a sense of splendor that only spoke to the heart and had me fascinated.

I couldn’t help but want to face this parkour myself, even more so after witnessing the performance by the seniors prepared for the “new arrivals”. The confidence with which they approached the obstacles even as my heart almost stopped when I felt myself in their place, the elegance that came with how swiftly they moved. I was entranced by the whole thing.

Unfortunately, after showing us the marvelous performance, we were brought to the other section of the training ground and told to face the obstacles separately first. We had to conquer all the obstacles before we could attempt the parkour.

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Many times during our training, we fell down onto the sand which the structures seemed planted into but we kept struggling to conquer the obstacles. My desire to try the parkour kept my motivation to better myself even as I saw the others who arrived with me, some even older than me, slowly relax their efforts to balance between the harsh training the continued lessons on different topics we still had to learn.

It wasn’t that I was not getting tired or feeling the strain, no, I got tired like everyone else in the beginning but my body seemed to adapt faster to the increased burden each time.

Thanks to this, with every practice, I became better at facing the obstacles. For climbing the trunk, I went from hugging with all my body, to slowly reducing how much of my body was in contact with it, until I eventually could climb it using my fingers in a grapple and my toes to push myself up. Climbing had become much easier after much effort.

It was the same for other obstacles as well, I steadily became more proficient in affronting them to the point that I could safely say I had conquered them all.

I had my chance, I could now face the obstacle course, the parkour.

I remember being full of anticipation on the day the instructor called me out and said I could move on to the parkour section.

The obstacle course was still as splendid looking as ever. With the performance of the first day as a reference, I knew how to approach the parkour and the order of the obstacles.

I had two major issues in the beginning. Firstly, the fact that I could not smoothly transition between the obstacles, and secondly, I was too tired before reaching the end of the parkour. My attempts often looked clumsy and left my tired at the end.

But I knew what to do and how to do it. So, I kept on trying and pushing myself. It still wasn’t easy but I steadily adapted with every new attempt, I was faster and less clumsy in my transitions and this increased efficiency reduced how tired I was each time.

Until one day, for the first time since starting the parkour, I completed the obstacle at the end and reached the top most spot.

Standing at the top, I took in the sight, felt the breeze on my skin and the slight rustle of my clothes following the wind. Standing so high up, I took in a deep breath, and for the first time, I felt a sense of freedom like never before.

I had never considered myself to be shackled or restrained, I had never even entertained the thought or pondered on the issue but standing up there, whether because of the breeze or the sight, I felt great freedom. The world from up here felt different.

But then I had to go back down. The end of the obstacle course was not standing up there but sliding down a long rope that extended from the end of the parkour back to the beginning. A distance of 500 meters.

As soon as I reached down, I wanted to return up there, right at the top. I looked at the place in the distance, but the obstacles that separated us made it clear to me that I could not return immediately. All the muscles in my six-year-old body could not take it anymore.

Even though I yearned to return, my body lacked the strength. I simply did not have what it took to climb back up.

This realization gave rise to a new thought and desire. I had not really earned the right to be up there all I wanted. I yearned to be at the top and even though I knew what I had to do to be there, I was not fully qualified. I would strive from then on to be have the qualifications to stand at the spot whenever I wanted.

I yearned for the sky, and I was going to make it there no matter the effort I needed to put in. I was definitely determined to reach it.