Once upon a time, in a distant land, there was a road famous for never ending.
People said this road led to whatever you wanted most, but no one had ever walked it all the way to the end.
A girl named Yaow set out on that road to search for her father, who had left home two years ago.
The first day, the road was beautiful — through forests, across fields, past small villages.
By the second day, the road started to feel repetitive, as if she were passing through the same forest, the same field, over and over.
On the third day, Yaow spotted a large tamarind tree with a strange, twisted shape — the very same shape she had seen on the first day.
She stopped walking and sat down at the base of the tree.
This road looped in a circle. She had been walking the same loop for three days.
Yaow looked around and noticed a small side path branching off the main road, hidden behind a bush. If she hadn’t stopped to look, she never would have seen it.
She followed the side path, through a small forest, across a stream, and arrived at a village she had never seen before.
In that village, she found her father, helping the villagers build a school.
Her father was startled to see Yaow. He ran and hugged her tight.
“How did you find me?” he asked.
“Walking the main road got me nowhere,” Yaow said. “But once I stopped and looked around, I found the right path.”
Her father was quiet for a moment, then laughed. “You’re smarter than me. I guess I need to stop and look around sometimes too.”
Father and daughter walked home together — not on the main road, but along the small path that could only be seen by those who stopped rushing and paid attention to what was around them.
Moral: Sometimes, when we rush forward without stopping, we miss the path right beside us. Pausing to rest and look around can lead us to the right way faster than simply running ahead.
