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Summary: In a remote village, not far off the coast, stories have been passed down from generations to generations. Stories of fascinating adventures and the grueling journeys of legendary heroes have touched the ears of the village's most wisest let the tales be heard and learned from by the mono children; children under the influence of spiritual understanding. Ellis is such a child, but her rambunctious personality will lead her astray from the ways of the wise men.
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Even from a distance I can see the shadows that the wise men make as they make their rounds through the village, making sure everyone is in their homes, asleep. I wonder every night, how they can wake up at the right time, when the moon is at the highest point in the sky, and go out when it's so cold and frigid. It's a mystery to me.
The sun rise wakes Ellis up before the village bell could. Between the cracks in the wall of the little hut, the sunlight shines through onto Ellis' eyes.
Unable to sleep any further with such an annoyance, she promptly gets up from her small bed, which, more or less, looked like a gigantic pillow filled with straw.
Ellis yawns very loudly as she makes her way to the door, ultimately tripping over some unknown lump in the middle of the hut.
"Yeowch," Ellis cries out, "What the-?"
Ellis looks at the lump she just tripped over, vaguely making out the shape.
It was definitely the size of a human, but... strange, it didn't make a noise.
Ellis pokes at the lump with her toe... it's hard.
Well, there's a small chance of such a hard object being any dangerous creature, but she still removes the cloth covering the thing with caution.
Slowly, she takes off the covering, revealing a large, human-sized rock.
"What's this rock doing here?" Ellis demands. Answering her question, a hand from behind gently touches the rock and a voice says, "It's your birthday present."
Ellis immediately turns around and recognizes the familiar face. Suda!
Suda is Ellis' uncle who has been gone for a few months already. In the village it was customary for a young man to visit the other villages in the area and present their leaders with small, expensive gifts to appease them and keep away from conflict.
"Present? But wait, when did you get back?"
Ellis was very confused because she knows that her birthday is still many weeks away. Why is it that her uncle is presenting her with a present before that day? And why a rock? She certainly was more interested in her present than the fact that her uncle has returned.
"Wait just a minute."
Uncle Suda moves the rock upright so that it stands four feet tall, about the same height as I am. He takes out a hammer and a metal stake. He positions the stake at the top of the rock and prepares to split it.
Ellis' eyes sparkle with anticipation. She can already guess what it might be. Crystallized Water.
The rock splits perfectly. Suda pries the two halves apart. To Ellis' disappointment, it wasn't the crystallized water she thought it was. The inside was a different color from the outside, but it was a dull color, and it wasn't beautiful at all.
"What do you think?"
"It's ugly."
Ellis is also a very blunt kid. But her uncle doesn't blame her for having said that and begins to explain.
"I guess you haven't heard about this story from the wise men yet."
"What story?"
Ellis is always interested in knowing what her friends don't and she was eager to listen to the story and shows her excitement through her clenched fists. But the morning bell sounds throughout the village, signaling the time for the adults to start the harvest and the children to begin their studies under the wise men's lecture for the day.
Without hesitating, Ellis hurriedly gathers her things into her leather bag.
"Wait for me when I get home!"
"Of course. Bye Ellis."
"See ya Uncle Suda!"
Ellis leaves the hut without shutting the door, leaving her uncles to accomplish the task. Many of the other children in her age group are also hurrying into the Central Hut, which was four times bigger than the regular huts.
Each day, a different wise man would teach the children, while the other wise men would take care of the infants and, while doing that, ponder about the questions we want, so much, an answer to.
(to be continued)
(If you think you might be interested in reading the rest of this story, please post a comment or send a pm.)
 hai qi · Sun Mar 20, 2011 @ 07:35am · 0 Comments |
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