Choices

As I stare out the window I watch the landscape float bye, changing from one scene to another.
The beauty of the world stuns me as the fields turn to streams and the streams fade toward the mountains
It all moves by quickly, but I take it in just as fast
The contrast between this world and the one which I left makes me thankful for my time here.
I left a world of brown and gray and stepped into one with hues more vivid than a artists palette

The snow capped mountains slowly melt away and green hills spring up around me
The train begins to slow and stops in a small town where villas line the streets, all covered by burnt orange tile
Vineyards drape the surrounding hillsides and a snow fed stream winds through the valley and into town
Small stone bridges span its waters allowing people to carelessly stroll from one bank to the other
I’ve heard of places like this, but never imagined I’d find one
A place where people would live with less because of the calming beauty they wake to everyday

I pictured the dry and dusty alleyways a thousand miles away and feared going back
It would be too easy to get off here and disappear forever
Could I live with less to spend a lifetime in this place
A place so far away from war and the life I’ve grown accustomed to
Do I dare get off and leave that life behind?

I close my eyes and feel for an answer
I picture the life I could have here
A small house in the hills just outside of town
Raising a family in a place where peace and tranquility is the way of life
They would never have to know the things I know and fear the places I’ve come to fear

It would be so easy.  I just have to take that step and leave it all behind me
What kind of man would I be? 
A man who left responsibility and friends behind because he found a easier way
Would they understand?  Would they do it if they found a place like this?
A sense of duty fills me as I realize what must be done

I take a deep breath and smile as I live that life one more time
Then the train slowly begins to pull forward leaving my dream behind
The town begins to blur into an orange glow as the setting sun reflects off the rooftops
I found a place so far from away from the tragedy and horror of war but I’m leaving it behind
All I can think of is did I make the right choice?  I sigh and think of the future.