Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Division (07/13/23)
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TITLE: One More Brick | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
07/15/23 -
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From atop the ziggurat, a muscular tower of confidence nodded toward the grim figure nearby. “Serug, you’re looking weary. Don’t tell me those bricks are getting too much for you.”
“We’ve been at this for years, grandfather Peleg,” the newcomer responded, as he set down his load of bricks. “I can see that we need something to keep us from dividing over the horizon, but things are getting a little crowded these days. No matter how high we build, the heavens still seem far away.”
Peleg handed a gourd of water to the younger man. “Quench your thirst. If you were an ancient like our ancestor Noah, then you could take pleasure in spinning tales about how the Almighty washed the world free of wickedness and saved you to start a new world. We are starting our own new world right here and right now.”
Serug wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and drizzled a little of the water over his head, shaking his shaggy mane as he did. “Sometimes I find it hard to believe what the old man is telling our children. Water over the entire world, an ark that took a hundred years to build, only two of all the beasts on board, wickedness that angered some God who no one can see.”
“That water is still moving away from us,” Peleg said. “Why do you think we need a tower so high? Never again will all humanity be wiped away by Noah’s deity. We’ll build high enough to save ourselves and we’ll find our own way to survive whatever might happen.”
“So, you think we can save ourselves if we keep at this?”
Peleg waved his hand over the crawling mass of humanity beneath him. “All our women are birthing as fast as we can get them to. The beasts are showing their fruitfulness. The ground is flourishing. What can happen to stop us from making a name for ourselves?”
Serug plunked down on his load of bricks. “There are a lot of us, but surely we have a reason to live more than hauling bricks? Why do you think the Almighty spared the family?”
“Our first surviving ancestor says that the original created pair lived in a paradise until they displeased the Creator. He says that the hearts of our kind tend to choose what we want and to displease this sovereign. By setting up our own new world order we can determine our own destiny and future.”
“I think I understand what you’re saying,” Serug replied. “I’ve noticed that the young ones want to go their own way, set up their own sense of identity, build relationships and families different than the traditions you taught us. If we don’t give them something to distract them or to bring them together than they’ll wander off as far as the land allows. How far do you think we can go before the water stops us again?”
“That’s something we don’t have to think about,” Peleg said. “By giving the young ones a distraction like this tower they won’t have to ask questions and explore the unknown. Why would the Almighty want our own flesh and blood to probe into the dark corners where the wild beasts and dragons lurk?”
Rising to his feet, Serug hoisted his bag of bricks over his shoulder. “I see what you mean. If we allow them to wander then we’ll lose our chance to communicate, to pass on our traditions, to keep them from any evil which could bring judgment on all of us again. I better get these bricks up to the next layer. Who knows how far we have to go before we reach the realm of the gods.”
Peleg shaded his eyes and glanced toward the layer above him. “Just imagine the legacy you are helping to establish for our family with one more brick. As long as humans exist, they will speak of the creative genius we used to save our kind from any future disaster or division. No matter what, we will be united, right here.”
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Well crafted story.