Hill Stones

In a lush, green, and rolling pasture a lone cow watched as it chewed lackadaisically.

The cow had never had much interest in the affairs of humans; besides the force behind the prod of a farm hand, or the hand temperature of the milk maid.

But as it watched, it grew mildly inquisitive.

For struggling mighty, two strapping men lumbered up the opposite slopes of two hills that rolled into one another. Both men pushing massive boulders, larger than themselves, away from each other.

Grunting and sweating, the two made slow progress up the hill sides, making only brief stops to rest against their respective stones.

Almost the entire morning it took them to labour up the hillsides. Usually the cow would have moved along to the fields on the other side of the hill to the west, to spend the rest of the day grazing in the warm afternoon sun. But it had decided to stay, eating and watching these two interesting humans in their odd tasks.

By noonday they had both reached the top of their hills and had steadied the boulders atop the level plateaus. They each slumped and sat against their boulders, huffing and puffing from their exertions.

After a moments rest, the man on the north hill stood and waved to his counterpart on the opposite hilltop, whom stood, waved back, and yelled something in response.

They then went around to the back of the heavy boulders, positioned their broad shoulders against the curve of the rocks, and yelled to each other loudly.

The cow, its cud chewing forgotten for the moment, stood and watched what happened next.

The two men, their arm and leg muscles straining underneath their simple leather hide outfits, pushed the great stones back down the hillsides they had spend the entire morning pushing them up.

Finally sending them off with great pushes, the men both fell to their knees with the force of their efforts, and watched with excited grins as the two boulders bounced and picked up speed as they careened down the hills towards each other.

All three spectators watched with anticipation as the massive round stones rolled ever faster down. Until, with a shattering crash, they smashed into each other in an explosion of stone chips and dust.

Shouting and cheering came from each of the men on the hilltops as they jumped up and danced jigs in celebration of their job well done. While the cow, only cocked its big head to the side inquisitively.

The pile of rubble from the collision lay scattered in small valley at the foot of the hills as the cow looked from the debris to the hooting and hollering men and back again.

Its cud chewing recommenced after sometime and it began to make its way towards the west side pastures. The bell fastened to the leather strap around its thick neck jiggling rhythmically as it sauntered along the cool grass.

the metal clanging pounded in its large head which was throbbing with a headache. A little from the effort of trying to figure out what the purpose of all that had just happened was; but mostly from the annoyance of having stayed to witness it.

How the human race had gotten the upper hand, the cow would never know.

Cavern of Light

For so long he had searched; a unending quest to win the heart of the whom he loved. And now, at long last, he stood within the Cavern of Light.

All about him, the walls lined with crystal jewels; each one more precious and beautiful than the last. Each one reflecting the small fraction of light that seeped through the darkness of the tunnels and multiplying it tenfold, illuminating the cavern deep within the earth with dazzling brilliance.

Surely, any one of these gems would win the love of the one he desired.

Moving carefully across the cavern floor, he scanned the walls for just the right one. He came to a large teardrop shaped crystal that glimmered in his eye. A smile spread across his face and he moved closer to inspect the treasure.

Within the heart of the perfectly shaped crystal, he could see her; his beloved. Her long, flowing hair falling about her playfully as she danced and laughed in the ever changing angles of the gem; beckoning for him to join.

His smile broadened and his heart filled with joy as he reached out to the crystal image of his love, touching its smooth surface as if he were caressing the soft skin of her very cheek.

In his ears he heard her laughter, felt her arms around him as they danced together within the glittering light of the crystal's prisms.

Dancing eternally, deep within the Cavern of Light, its high domed walls filled with thousands of different shaped crystals; each one containing the smiling and laughing images of their prisoners.

All trapped forever, within their own desire.

Mastermind

The Earth rotates peacefully, hanging in its orbit in the infinite of space. The sun's distant rays fall upon the slowly spinning globe, casting warm light on blue waters of the oceans and the green-brown continents.

Watching, a solitary figure floats quietly, a tiny speck against the backdrop of stars. The man watches with little curiosity as his limbs dangle about his body in serene calmness. He wears no protective suit, but seems unaffected by the lack of air and subzero temperature of space.

He only hovers calmly between the pale moon and the brightly coloured earth, his black cape gathering around behind him.

As he watches, the rotation of the world, barely noticeable at first, begins to slow down. His eyes squint ever so slightly as the earth slows more and more, until it at last comes to a soft halt.

Little objects start to float up from the still planet. Airplanes, automobiles, trains, oil rigs, and ships begin to enter the atmosphere as the junk and debris of humanity breaks away from the once heavy gravitational grip.

Billions of figures begin to join their creations out in the building junk piles around the stilled planet. Their faces frozen in silent screams of terror at realization of their fate.

All the while the lone figure watches with languid curiosity.

And when what little interest for the former occupants of the small blue planet fades, he slowly moves along, across the dying planet as its blues and green-browns turned to pale, becoming as lifeless as its tiny moon.

Perhaps he would find something of interest in the next galaxy, he thought as he moved through the frozen graveyard, but most likely not.

Elemental Man

The sun shimmers golden upon the ripples as they move across the surface of the water. The calm of the lake water begins to dissipate as the ripples grow more frequent; radiating from the center of the medium-sized lake.

The green trees that surround the lake rustle noisily as the wind picks up.

Back in the middle of the water the ripples become waves, moving swiftly toward the sandy shores.

At the epicenter of the disturbance, the water bubbles and splashes up as something can be seen underneath the surface; rising up.

Up and out of the dark blue water a bare-skinned man rises.

His eyes closed, droplets of water slide off his muscled body as the figure continues to rise from the surface of the lake into the air.

Up into the bright, blue sky he rises, until he hangs high in sunlight above the lake.

Far off, halfway around the world, the sandy dunes of an arid desert begin to rumble and ripple as the water had done; sand flowing down into a sink hole that grows larger and larger.

And at yet another point high above the slowly spinning globe, a cloud formation swirls in the otherwise clear evening sky, and the dark outline of a figure can be seen in the amassing cloud.

Finally, on the high peak of a massive mountain top, lightning arcs from the dark night sky and strikes the rocky surface of a plateau. A fire sparks from the strike and the sparse grass and shrubs catch fire.

The flames build with unnatural quickness and are soon dancing high up against the night sky backdrop. And from out of the flames steps a man, the same man who had risen from the sunny lake.

As his bare feet step onto the mountain's rocky surface, the fires die down and he soon stands silently in the smoldering ashes.

A wind blows and clears the smoke as the man looks with closed eyes to the star-filled sky.

From three different directions, three silhouetted figures move across the sky toward the mountain top. As they approach they appear to be the same three men; eyes closed, moving steadily toward their fourth counterpart on the plateau.

The three move down to him as he moves to the edge and turns his back to them. They continue to converge until they each move into one another, joining the fourth to become one.

The wind dies down as the single man turns around to face the openness of the night sky above, and as he looks down, he opens his eyes to see to the world stretched out before him. Eyes that flash with the life that burns, blows, shimmers, and grows within.

The Night

“Take off your mask.” her soft voice asked in a whisper. She put her hand up to his covered face and he backed away.

The two stood staring at one another in the dark street.

“Why do you hide from me?” Her pale face tilted as the light of the streetlamp shone shone behind her, outlining her slender figure.

She reached again for the masked figure that stood outside of the light. Her hand finding only the widening space between them.

“Do you not trust me? Do you not love me?” she questioned.

The eyes behind the mask stared intensely through the dark and melted the icy anger that had begun to grow in her.

“Please.” she begged once more as she took a step towards him, out of the boundary of the light.

The darkness seemed to lurch out for her, but the masked figure leapt back, keeping the dark at bay behind him.

“You mustn't.” He whispered in a rasping voice that was thick with the night.

The young woman stopped and clenched her fingers in futility.

“I do trust you.” The masked man spoke in his dark whisper. “And I do love you.”

The light around her swelled and her eyes glowed at his voice.

He moved his gloved hand up to his masked face. She put her hand to her mouth in anticipation as he began to lift off the mask that had hidden him away from her.

“I hide myself away from you,” his whisper grew softer, “only, because I do not trust myself.” He removed the mask in a swift motion and his form vanished into the darkness; only his eyes lingered for a fraction before disappearing as well.

The young woman, her breath taken away, stumbled forward; away from her lamp light.

As she did, its light was swept out, and she was enveloped by the darkness.

Her breath trembled in the pitch night, and a voice whispered in her ear, “For I am the night.”

Gentleman Cat

The gust of wind from the subway train as it came speeding into the station ruffled his fur and caused him to hold onto his little top hat.

Standing, waiting for the train to come to a stop, in his best suit and top hat, the gentleman cat looked small among the crowds of people.

The train slowed and came to a halt and he made his way on with the rest of the commuters. Some of them stared and pointed while whispering to one another and giggling.

But the gentleman cat paid them no mind, he simple found an open seat and hopped up onto it. He sat up tall and proud as he brushed a few hairs from his neatly pressed suit pants.

At the next station, more commuters boarded and a pregnant woman came on. Seeing that there were no available seats, the well-dressed cat hopped down, and offered his own seat to the tired woman, whom thanked him gratefully and sat down heavily.

The gentleman cat stood holding onto the bottom of the silver pole in the middle of the train car to maintain his balance as it rocked along.

The next time the doors opened, some passengers departed, and more boarded. Along with them entered a handsomely dressed dog; a black bowler hat atop his well-groomed head.

Immediately, the two spied each other as the dog took a spot opposite the cat.

Nowhere on their distinguished faces showed the animosity that boiled within the two gentlemen, but the tension filled the entire train car.

For a moment the din of the crowded car fell silent as all watched out the corner of their eyes; no one looking directly at the two figures standing in their suits.

Both regarded each other for what seemed an eternity, and then, casually, the gentleman cat touched the brim of his felt top hat and nodded a greeting to the dog, who in turn nodded politely.

The tension broken, the crowd went back to their conversations and at the next stop the cat straightened his bow tie and exited the car with another touch of his hat to the dog.

As the train pulled away and the cat walked proudly along the platform, the dog stood up on a seat and watched out the window.

The cat, not looking as the dog passed by inside the train, smiled a sharp-toothed grin as he took out his pocket watch to see that he was right on time.

Rain City

Sometimes she missed the sun. The blue skies; a dry breeze blowing through her hair. But all those were distant memories from her youth. Memories her mind would drift to as she stood waiting for the train on the high-rising platform.

The drops of rain splattering down on the roof top of the platform shelter above her head; rhythmically plinking their ever-present tune.

She looked out across the city, the gray clouds hanging in the sky; constantly heavy with moisture, which rained down up on the vast cityscape.

The many drain ways and devices that lined the rooftops throughout the city, catching the unending flow and using its natural potential energy to fuel the entire city's power needs.

A marvel of ingenuity and resourcefulness. Every brightly lit building; every vehicle; every piece of modern technology, powered by harnessing the rains that had blanketed the world so long ago.

The entire planet had put aside their warring and bickering when the clouds converged, blocking out the clear skies of the day forever, and the had developed a new, world. Using their natural plight to their advantage.

It was a golden age is some ways.

But at night, when the clouds inexplicably cleared, and the stars in the black sky above, twinkled and reflected on the watery surface, far below the high-raising buildings; built atop those of the ruined and flooded cities of the past, she would stand out and try to picture the blue skies of her youth.

And now, standing on the platform as her hover train approaches, she looks up at the cloud-covered sky and imagines the sunny skies that lay just beyond the gray rain clouds. And despite all the advancements humans have made since the rains, she still misses the sun, sometimes.