Far away in the desolate mountains of australia in the Daintree Rainforest a man named Cyrus Channing begins his journey to find inner peace after becoming tired and stressed with his daily life in sydney. It’s June 8th 2070 and Cyrus begins his daily routine. He is a college astrophysics teacher and loves to study the universe around him. He is tall, african american, and stays fit on his downtime but has a cluttered stressful life.
As Cyrus headed to instruct the class, he became uneasy and felt like he was carrying bricks on his back. He entered his classroom and for the first time had a loss of words. A man with unfathomable knowledge of the universe, didn't know what to say. The students understood and tried to tell him it was okay to do a makeup work day so he could relax and they could finish their other projects. Afterall astrophysics can be a pretty stressful thing to try and comprehend 24/7. Class is dismissed, and Cyrus begins to head home. But driving through the cluttered city he notices that all the noise just contributed to his troubled mind. He seeks tranquility and silence so decides to do some research. After hours of looking he came upon the perfect place. A  place called the Daintree Rainforest.
Knowing where he was headed he began to prep for the journey. Cyrus begins packing the things he would need to lose and also find himself but bringing only the things he can carry on his back. He brings a day's worth of food and snacks like dried fruit and few vegetables.  After he prepares his next meals for the week, he notices that time is only a perspective, and it may be more than a week he is out there. With a flora and fauna booklet he will know what to and not to eat. He packs his trusty machete and a flint firestarter and next thing on his mind is how he will get water. Trusting in just the rain would be a fool's choice. He brings a metal canteen so incase he does find water he can boil and purify it. Along with the canteen he brings his LifeStraw. It sounds like a dumb thing to bring, but in fact it may save his life. The LifeStraw can cleanse water simply by putting one end to the water source, and sucking through the straw. Dirty water through the bottom clean drinkable water  out of the top. But he notices he only has two of the three survival necessities. He has food planned and can hunt if he runs out, he has a way to get water, and all he needs now is a shelter. His machete could prove useful for both making tools and hunting, but also for making shelter. So for warmth he wraps up his necessities in a small sleeping bag puts it in his backpack and heads back to the city to leave a note for his students, and get his last meal in town. He goes to the “Quay” in the city of sydney. Rated one of the best restaurants in the city. A bit of an expense of course but it seems worth it.
Driving away from the restaurant he looks back and doesn't know whether he is excited or worried. He starts thinking and started to wonder if his journey is gonna even be worth it. Although he is worried and anxious he knows that it's something he has to do. The mountain is a 6 day hike not including the hike from where you park at the trailhead to the start of the mountain. He pulls up to park and sits in his car. This is the last time he is gonna be in or around his car, or any for that matter. He locks his car and places the keys in a keepsake magnet case for the bottom of his car. Now is where the real journey starts.
Walking along the trailhead, he looks at the world surrounding and begins to feel ease within its beauty. And he has only put a scratch into the long journey ahead. He begins his trek up the mountain bobbing and weaving through trees in spirals around the great forest. Cyrus won't have any problem finding food there's life everywhere you look. His trip is starting to look up afterall. But with the sun going down in a few hours, he starts to move more quickly to set up for the night.  He stumbles upon a flat area with two atherton oak side by side. This is where he plans to sleep for the night. He gets his machete and cuts a moderately sized log to wedge between the divots in the trees. With his first piece up he can then build his shelter around that base log. He cut several sticks and logs and made a tipi like structure with palm leaves as flooring for insulation. Cyrus doesn't care that this isn’t the best shelter, afterall its only for the night. Now that he has a shelter he begins to make a fire to cook the few hotdogs he brought for a first nights meal. He uses a few large stones to make a circle to contain the fire and dug down about 8 inches making a pit. He gathered small sticks to start it and larger logs to keep it going. Cyrus grabs his flint firestarter and forms a kindling pile to start the flame. As he strikes the flint sending sparks  propelling into the kindling setting it ablaze almost instantly. He blows on the small flame seeming to anger it as it rose larger and with more fury until he set it in the pit and fed it making it large enough to cook over. For a first night it didn't seem too bad. But that was with food in his stomach and he hadn't had to struggle yet. With hope for his journey he feeds the flame a few more logs and goes to sleep in his makeshift hut.
Day two for Cyrus and he is up and on the move as soon as the sun rose. He packed his things put out the fire and started to head up and onward once more. He is blowing through more water and snacks then he thought, and kinda wishes he had brought more. But still his mind is set and he wants to reach the peak as soon as possible. Hours go by and he sees nothing. Not like before. As he first came up he saw the world teeming with life. Now he walks and sees nothing. Like a barren wasteland he sees no other life besides the trees and plants around him. There's nothing he can seem to find for food. His frustration starts to build up and he as he walks he begins to feel like peace is a far fetched idea. He continues his walk and finally sees something he can use in this forsaken part of the forest. He looks up into the trees and sees fresh carambola fruit. He knows this because of his booklet, but the fruit is also known as the starfruit. He forms a plan to get them down without taking the tree down. He gets small rocks and hits the fruit knocking them down for him to collect. The taste of the fresh fruit blows his mind and he begins to wonder if this is a journey or a vacation. But little did he know, frustration and sadness dwells inside him. After getting the fruit he continues his journey trying to be quick before nightfall. Where would he next set up camp? The forest around him is still barren and mountainous there's no place to start. Continuing his hike he gets tired by the second until he hears the blissful sound of a flowing river. Cyrus knows this is a good chance to refill on water. So he goes to check it out but as he approaches the water slowly noticing a plentiful amount of fish circling the offshore pond. And since he had eaten his only meal he was left with just his snacks. But conserving those could help him in the long run so he decides to catch some food. He has trekked a long way since his last stop where he built a hut, so this looks to be the spot for tonight.
Now that he has found a good spot he decides since this spot has a clearing he doesn't need a hut. Cyrus takes his sleeping bag nots the ends and uses thick vine growing in the nearby canopy to suspend his sleeping bag from two trees. A makeshift hammock was his plan for tonight. With nightfall hot on his tail he repeats the process he did last time for fire, and makes a pit for the fish he plans to catch for dinner. Using his machete he chops a thin piece of bamboo like a rod. Since the vines were too thick, he simply split one down the middle and fastened it to the pole. Now all he needs is a makeshift hook to use the bit of jerky he brought as bait for a bigger prize. He finds that the wire in his hat's bill would do just fine. With all the things he needs he baits his hook and  sits at the edge of the pond as the light began to fade. But there was a smidge of light from the moon. But that wasn't the only light, the light in his eyes sparked as he got a nibble. Jolting the pole back to set the hook he begins to pull the vine reeling it in. Somehow his luck has just been outrageous lately. And he felt as if a child in a candy shop. Since now he had dinner he could cook it,  store it, and take it with him on the next day's hike.
Day two comes to an end and day three begins. Even with his good luck he was beginning to feel drained. That deep feeling of sadness and frustration would soon grow greater as his luck runs out. He packs his things and  as he throws his backpack on he realizes this is going to be a hard day's travel. Tired and drained he begins the hike yet again. He still has three days or so before reaching the peak, and he is not feeling any better or happier. With the same outlook on life he is enveloped in his thoughts. Theres nobody to talk to and nobody to listen. Nobody to care and nobody to help him. This is his journey he must conquer alone. And as the day goes on he feels less and less alone. But not by presence of others but by himself. He continuously hikes on and on almost unable to stop like a machine set on go never to stop. Like a mindless being he battles his thoughts and tries to find sanity. The voices in his head tell him he s worthless, that he has no chance and he will die here with nobody to hear see or worry about it. But they aren't just voices. Its his conscience breaking him down like acids. But he wants to fight against it he tries to fight against himself, his own thoughts. This isn't the him he remembered, this isn't the version of him that he wanted to be. Cyrus wardes of the negative thoughts and tries to replace them with the positive, but sometimes the darkness consumes him from within. With his mental state seeming to deteriorate he is lost in the abyss of his own inner thoughts. As it continues his mind goes blank. No more would he listen to the side of him that wanted to give in, because this side of him wants to prosper. For now he has stability within his thoughts but he knows it will come back. It's been about half the day and he didn't even notice the time go by. The environment looks all the same making it feel as if he has been walking in place on a treadmill. But it's just too wonderous not to enjoy. The day is almost done and he begins to search for a good spot for the night. He doesn't have much of that cooked fish so he just prepares a quick hut and tries to make something to hunt with. As he sits he finds a nice thick stick bowed in. he knows that if he can find a sort of rope or vine again he could then make a bow and arrows to catch a meal. His shoes are double laced anyway so he takes one off of each shoe splits it in half and weaves it with a vine. With the rope having more elasticity he can get a good amount of force into the pullback to kill the prey he may find. He goes on a small hike and sits waiting for an animal to come by. He sees a small deer and as he focuses in on it about to shoot he muttered his apologies and let the arrow fly. As it pierces the animal's heart he watches it take its last breath. As it exhales he feels as if he sees its soul flee from its body. He stared at the now dead animal, first with anger and sadness for he had killed a piece of the universe, but he knew it had to be done to survive and for that he knows the animal is at peace. Cyrus heived the meat onto his back and took it to camp placing it by the fire to slowly but thoroughly cook the meat. He sat watching the flames trickle against the meet and began to think again.
It seemed as if thinking was all he could do. He contemplated how the deer had to accept its fate but with death gained peace. Cyrus wondered if it were the same for people, if his life came to an end would he then be free? Would he then be able to achieve peace? The negative part of him thought it would be the answer but the positive side was breaking down. He wanted to do it, but wasn't ready for what came after. All this thinking just made him angry, why did he have to do this to himself why couldn't he just be happy at peace. He wants to just end it and finally be free from his mental prison, but on the outside of that cell there he also stands holding the key.He is only hurting himself, and he is the only person that can stop it. Cyrus eats his dinner and goes to sleep for the day ahead just trying to ignore his conscience.
It’s day four now and he has made better time than he thaught. At this rate he would be there the next day. He is fast paced and focused on reaching the peak so that he can conquer his flaws and defeat his sadness. He will finally get peace if he plays his cards right to clear and open his mind at the mountainous forests peak. He treks on and on feeling just as bad as before. He has traveled four long days up through the forest, and as exhaustion festers inside him so does all of his emotions. Cyrus can't seem to wrap his head around anything, like things just fly by unnoticed. Why did he hate himself and his life so badly that it drove him to come out here? He wasn't quite sure really, all he knew was that he wasn't happy and could never get ahold of himself. As things get worse and worse for his goal of having peace and an open mind, he gets a little sense of ease as he works his way around a bend and down the valley. There at the bottom of a valley was a glistening pool of water. And to the back of it was an enormous waterfall feeding the pond giving it the crystal clear essence it gave off. The sound of the waterfall seemed to drown out the voices in his head, fending them off helping him to think clearly. Now his only trouble is getting up and over it before nightfall. Looking up he sees a difficult climb,  but the only way past it is up and over or back and around. If he went around it would cost precious time and would prolonge his journey. Afterall he didn't want to be up here longer than he has too. Cyrus decides up and over is the only way.
Beginning to secure the few belongings he had brought, he prepares for the climb. If he falls it would be an instantaneous death. If he misses the water that is. Hand after hand and grasp after grasp he makes his way up the jagged cliff holding on for life. He makes it up about a quarter of the way and realises this was a lot bigger than he thought. Then as he gets about halfway he looks down. A bad mistake since it had turned his legs to jelly. Knees weak and arms heavy he just looks away and continues upward, there's no going back now. So far so good but night is coming quick and climbing in the dark wasn't exactly his forte.  Cyrus begins to hustle climbing faster than before but as he looks behind him he can see the sun getting fainter by the minute. If he doesn't figure out his next move he may just be the cliffhanger for the night. But as the sun retreats and the stars emerge he notices an indent behind the waterfall. He isn't quite sure if its a cave or an illusion, but either way it's worth the chance. He shifts his body and begins to climb to the left toward the falls. The closer he gets the wetter it gets. Mist from the roaring waterfall trickles his face and body cooling him down. He almost got a little too comfortable, but that wasn't the problem. As he moves closer and closer the rocks at the cliffside get wetter and wetter making it dangerous to climb over since he could slip and plummet to the bottom at any point in time. Although he is cautious, he doesn't want to make a wrong move. But almost as if it was meant for him there was a tree growing out of the side of the cliff just above the cave mouth. If he could just reach the tree he could swing himself into the cave protecting him from the water and the night. He prepares for the jump, but as he builds his confidence up, the voices come back. They tell him that he should just leap from the cliffside, but as he looks down he knows what would come next. For him death did not mean peace, at least not like this, knowing that he shook it off and became angry. Not the angry that he was feeling before, but the kind of anger whose source was the negativity, like the positivity inside him became mad a the negativity ready to fight to the death. He begins to tell himself, “I'm strong, and  I can conquer anything i wish too,” and with that he took the leap. Flying through the air like a bird blissfully then abruptly ended by the thud of his hands grasping the tree. Cyrus made it. As he swings on the tree he thrusts his body sending him into the cave. As he stands up and looks around the cave, he notices that it's not just any cave, it's filled with diamonds and geodes. But one of the gems was not like the others. This one was at the roof of the cave hanging like a disco ball shining bright green against the color of the diamonds and blue crystals. If he had the will, or the tools for that matter, he would take it home as a souvenir. Seeing as he didn't, he left it be. He makes a small fire with the little wood he found in the cave, and lays his sleeping bag down to get sleep for tomorrow was his big day, the day he reaches the peak.
The sun shines bright through the falls and wakes him up. It's morning, and he packs his things to get to the peak that lies just over the falls. He uses the same tree he got in with, and makes his way back up the cliff. As he clutches the top of the cliff for one last pull up, he hoists his body over the top and looks to the peak of the mountain. He begins the walk to the highest point he can find. And as he approaches it he folds his sleeping bag into a square, and sits on it beginning to meditate.The only problem is to meditate you must clear your mind, and his was racing. He couldn't stop all these thoughts he had before. He looks back at his life and realizes that though he loves his life, he is tired and bored of it. Cyrus is a generous and kind man, but somehow hates himself. He respects everybody except himself. If everybody else thought he was great, why couldn't he.
He decides to try something new. Cyrus takes a deep breath and as if a sonic boom went off in his mind waves of time flew from his body like ripples from a droplet. his body sat still upon the peak in which he sat upon, but he wasn't in his same body. He wakes from his meditation and turns around to see that his body still sat there. What was happening? How was this possible? It's like his soul had left his body and he just stood there in disbelief towering over himself. He knew he wasn't dead because he saw his body breathing, but he knew he wasn't exactly alive either. Cyrus couldn't move his actual body but only the one that was much like a hologram he could move freely in. Is this what the monks do when they finally clear their mind? Do they become one with the universe and time itself? Do they get to  move freely and roam the world much like spirits watching what others do? Cyrus isn't really a religious man but he does believe in spirits and that everything is a piece to the universe all indirectly or directly connected. Back in town he would collectively study some of the world's symbols and their meaning. But could never really understand them, at least not yet.
Cyrus sat staring at his body pondering what the point of this was, and more importantly how to get back in his body. He waits patiently hoping that maybe whatever had happened was on a timer so when it was done he would be back. But Hours went by and he still stood hovering over himself. Then out of the corner of his eyes he sees a note stapled to a tree. How could that have got there? The only one around was him and he definitely didn't put it up. Cyrus walked up to the note and it read, “The path you seek is peace, it does not come with ease, to achieve your goal and gain control you must perform five tasks.” He had no clue how it got there but obviously it was meant for him. But it made no sense to him, what was he supposed to do how could he achieve peace and gain the strength and knowledge of the world around him when he can't even find the 5 tasks? He scans the note reading it over and over, but then he realizes there's something on the back. This time it read, “to complete these tasks you must comply, look to the sky and the guiding light. The tasks that you must now complete depend on your will and strength to succeed. But if you give up and lose your way then in this spirit world you'll stay.”\
Cyrus thaugh his mind was racing earlier, but now it was even faster along with his heartbeat. It was hard to comprehend how all this happened but the only way out was to do what had to be done. Now he was ready he had to be strong and follow the signs that would lead him home. He saw no light as the note had mentioned but out of the corner of his eye he saw a small glow. He thought his journey was already long, now it's even worse.