05-11-2013, 12:00 AM
Once there was a great, hidden prison.
A man escaped one day and after months of walking through the wild, he found the remains of a settlement.
FOLLOW THE GREAT RED STONES UNTIL YOU SEE THE STAR-SHAPED MOUNTAIN. THERE YOU WILL FIND US.
He saw these words carved on a great monument made of wood.
The man went as far as he could but decided the trip was suicide.
He returned to the abandoned village and made it his home. He burnt the monument, fearing others may venture to find it.
Others did make it there.
"This is all there is. I am all there is. There is nothing else out there", said the man. "This is it"
The people believed and joined him. He became a leader of sorts and he married an unusually young woman amongst the people.
One day a young man arrived. He, however, was determined to look for something more.
The leader, tried trickery, tried offering him great gifts of power, secrets, even artefacts he had found and hid.
The young man's will was unbending.
He gathered some food, stored some water and left.
The great leader was overcome by lust of power and feared that his great lie would be discovered.
He decided to go after the young man. Every night he followed him and stole some of his food, threw away some of the water.
The young man did not know what was happening and his journey became even more difficult.
One day, however, they reached a great, desolate desert.
The great leader was hiding behind a tree, laughing to himself.
"He is done. He will never make it."
The young man looked ahead, knowing there would be no way back, knowing that death lies ahead. Feeling helpless, he wept for some days, thought of the people left behind, his chance to live amongst them.
He decided to go back.
The night before his journey to the settlement, he had a dream: he was climbing a great mountain. When reaching the peak, he saw a star, brighter than the sun itself. He went towards it and there were people there. They were strong, just and kind and their presence warmed his heart beyond words could tell.
He woke up and looked in the distance. He felt full of hope and decided to continue.
The great leader was speechless. He followed as much as he could, setting traps, stealing, doing everything that he could to stop the young man.
Nothing worked anymore so the great leader went back to his people, cursing the young man all the way.
Months passed and no one heard anything of the young man.
The people settled in, became sedentary. The great leader started to gather servants, henchmen and extend his rule and settlement.
"Smoke, smoke!!!", a young girl yelled one morning.
Everyone gathered to look a great white trail of smoke, far, far away, towards where the great leader had last seen the young man trying for freedom and hope.
The smoke must have come from dozens of big trees. There was no other way it would have been visible from such a great distance.
After exactly three days, the smoke was up again!
And after three days, once again!
And so one, for seven days in a row.
Everyone understood it was a message.
The people started to talk amongst themselves and the great leader started to loose power.
"There is nothing besides your own death, beyond the great desert! Stay here where I can watch over you! You will never make it anyway! The best you can hope for is a tome, a story to tell your grandchildren!"
Seeing the greed for power in the great leader's words, the people organized themselves and left, leaving the great leader alone with his wife and henchmen. The two soldiers left themselves, cursing the great leader but doing exactly the same in their own, separate paths, as they followed in a mad man's shadow for too long.
The great leader lived =13pxuntil the end of his days in obscurity, always looking back at the power he once had.
As for the group of people, they went towards the source of the smoke and endured a great, difficult journey through the vast desert.
After many weeks, after some of them almost died, just when they were about to lose hope completly, they saw a familiar silhouette in the distance, waving, under what they could distinguish as a star-shaped mountain peak.
A man escaped one day and after months of walking through the wild, he found the remains of a settlement.
FOLLOW THE GREAT RED STONES UNTIL YOU SEE THE STAR-SHAPED MOUNTAIN. THERE YOU WILL FIND US.
He saw these words carved on a great monument made of wood.
The man went as far as he could but decided the trip was suicide.
He returned to the abandoned village and made it his home. He burnt the monument, fearing others may venture to find it.
Others did make it there.
"This is all there is. I am all there is. There is nothing else out there", said the man. "This is it"
The people believed and joined him. He became a leader of sorts and he married an unusually young woman amongst the people.
One day a young man arrived. He, however, was determined to look for something more.
The leader, tried trickery, tried offering him great gifts of power, secrets, even artefacts he had found and hid.
The young man's will was unbending.
He gathered some food, stored some water and left.
The great leader was overcome by lust of power and feared that his great lie would be discovered.
He decided to go after the young man. Every night he followed him and stole some of his food, threw away some of the water.
The young man did not know what was happening and his journey became even more difficult.
One day, however, they reached a great, desolate desert.
The great leader was hiding behind a tree, laughing to himself.
"He is done. He will never make it."
The young man looked ahead, knowing there would be no way back, knowing that death lies ahead. Feeling helpless, he wept for some days, thought of the people left behind, his chance to live amongst them.
He decided to go back.
The night before his journey to the settlement, he had a dream: he was climbing a great mountain. When reaching the peak, he saw a star, brighter than the sun itself. He went towards it and there were people there. They were strong, just and kind and their presence warmed his heart beyond words could tell.
He woke up and looked in the distance. He felt full of hope and decided to continue.
The great leader was speechless. He followed as much as he could, setting traps, stealing, doing everything that he could to stop the young man.
Nothing worked anymore so the great leader went back to his people, cursing the young man all the way.
Months passed and no one heard anything of the young man.
The people settled in, became sedentary. The great leader started to gather servants, henchmen and extend his rule and settlement.
"Smoke, smoke!!!", a young girl yelled one morning.
Everyone gathered to look a great white trail of smoke, far, far away, towards where the great leader had last seen the young man trying for freedom and hope.
The smoke must have come from dozens of big trees. There was no other way it would have been visible from such a great distance.
After exactly three days, the smoke was up again!
And after three days, once again!
And so one, for seven days in a row.
Everyone understood it was a message.
The people started to talk amongst themselves and the great leader started to loose power.
"There is nothing besides your own death, beyond the great desert! Stay here where I can watch over you! You will never make it anyway! The best you can hope for is a tome, a story to tell your grandchildren!"
Seeing the greed for power in the great leader's words, the people organized themselves and left, leaving the great leader alone with his wife and henchmen. The two soldiers left themselves, cursing the great leader but doing exactly the same in their own, separate paths, as they followed in a mad man's shadow for too long.
The great leader lived =13pxuntil the end of his days in obscurity, always looking back at the power he once had.
As for the group of people, they went towards the source of the smoke and endured a great, difficult journey through the vast desert.
After many weeks, after some of them almost died, just when they were about to lose hope completly, they saw a familiar silhouette in the distance, waving, under what they could distinguish as a star-shaped mountain peak.