Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey

Six o’clock struck on the bells of the church that was so conveniently near to Mr. Utterson’s dwelling, and still he was digging at the problem. Hitherto it had touched him on the intellectual side alone; but now his imagination also was engaged, or rather enslaved; and as he lay and tossed in the gross darkness of the night and the curtained room, Mr. Enfield’s tale went by before his mind in a scroll of lighted pictures.

This photo was shot with my DJI Phantom 3 in Thailand, Krabi in 2016. It’s possible to get to the Sirithan Beach (sandy island) walking from the mainland (more right) in the water. The maximum depth in the most shallow path is waist-high. A little inconvenience totally worth it because the beach is almost empty and feels like a paradise.
Photo by Denys Nevozhai / Unsplash

He would be aware of the great field of lamps of a nocturnal city; then of the figure of a man walking swiftly; then of a child running from the doctor’s; and then these met, and that human Juggernaut trod the child down and passed on regardless of her screams.

Travel with no regrets

Or else he would see a room in a rich house, where his friend lay asleep, dreaming and smiling at his dreams; and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

The figure in these two phases haunted the lawyer all night; and if at any time he dozed over, it was but to see it glide more stealthily through sleeping houses, or move the more swiftly and still the more swiftly, even to dizziness, through wider labyrinths of lamplighted city, and at every street corner crush a child and leave her screaming. And still the figure had no face by which he might know it; even in his dreams, it had no face, or one that baffled him and melted before his eyes; and thus it was that there sprang up and grew apace in the lawyer’s mind a singularly strong, almost an inordinate, curiosity to behold the features of the real Mr. Hyde. If he could but once set eyes on him, he thought the mystery would lighten and perhaps roll altogether away, as was the habit of mysterious things when well examined.

Leave yourself behind

He might see a reason for his friend’s strange preference or bondage (call it which you please) and even for the startling clause of the will. At least it would be a face worth seeing: the face of a man who was without bowels of mercy: a face which had but to show itself to raise up, in the mind of the unimpressionable Enfield, a spirit of enduring hatred.

With age, comes wisdom. With travel, comes understanding
It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after breakfast on eitherside of a cheery fire in the old room at Baker Street. A thick fog rolled downbetween the lines of dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed likedark, shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our ga…

From that time forward, Mr. Utterson began to haunt the door in the by-street of shops. In the morning before office hours, at noon when business was plenty, and time scarce, at night under the face of the fogged city moon, by all lights and at all hours of solitude or concourse, the lawyer was to be found on his chosen post.

Climb the mountain so you can see the world

And at last his patience was rewarded. It was a fine dry night; frost in the air; the streets as clean as a ballroom floor; the lamps, unshaken by any wind, drawing a regular pattern of light and shadow. By ten o’clock, when the shops were closed the by-street was very solitary and, in spite of the low growl of London from all round, very silent. Small sounds carried far; domestic sounds out of the houses were clearly audible on either side of the roadway; and the rumour of the approach of any passenger preceded him by a long time.

Even though we were surrounded by snow, it felt warm. The sun reflected and bounced off the snow to cover us in warmth. At this elevation in Switzerland, you feel almost in the clouds, it’s surreal. And yet, it’s a simple train ride to the top, no climbing gear needed.
Photo by Erol Ahmed / Unsplash
  • Mr. Utterson had been some minutes at his post, when he was aware of an odd light footstep drawing near.
  • In the course of his nightly patrols, he had long grown accustomed to the quaint effect with which the footfalls of a single person, while he is still a great way off, suddenly spring out distinct from the vast hum and clatter of the city.
  • Yet his attention had never before been so sharply and decisively arrested; and it was with a strong, superstitious prevision of success that he withdrew into the entry of the court.
  • The steps drew swiftly nearer, and swelled out suddenly louder as they turned the end of the street.
  • The lawyer, looking forth from the entry, could soon see what manner of man he had to deal with.
  • He was small and very plainly dressed and the look of him, even at that distance, went somehow strongly against the watcher’s inclination.
  • But he made straight for the door, crossing the roadway to save time; and as he came, he drew a key from his pocket like one approaching home.

Mr. Utterson stepped out and touched him on the shoulder as he passed. “Mr. Hyde, I think?”

Mr. Hyde shrank back with a hissing intake of the breath. But his fear was only momentary; and though he did not look the lawyer in the face, he answered coolly enough: “That is my name. What do you want?”

Elegant entrance hall
Photo by Crew / Unsplash

“I see you are going in,” returned the lawyer. “I am an old friend of Dr. Jekyll’s--Mr. Utterson of Gaunt Street--you must have heard of my name; and meeting you so conveniently, I thought you might admit me.”

“You will not find Dr. Jekyll; he is from home,” replied Mr. Hyde, blowing in the key. And then suddenly, but still without looking up, “How did you know me?” he asked.

This article was written by:
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Apurba Talukdar

Apurba is UI & UX designer by profession, photographer by passion. Solo traveller, blogger, badminton player and movie lover.

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