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Post by ASGetty ((Zovo)) on Nov 14, 2013 18:59:07 GMT -5
 Deadline: November 22nd, 2013 |
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Post by Jenny (Reffy) on Nov 26, 2013 9:15:11 GMT -5
No Friends
“We have to do something about it,” the courtroom burst into action, again, as it had done several times that day. Men jumped to their feet to voice their own agendas, each attempting to be louder than the first, as anger rose to boiling point. The original speaker, an old man with weathered green eyes and a mostly bald head, waved his hands to silence the mass. “It’ll destroy the village if we don’t.”
Many heads bobbed in agreement and a mumble grumbled around the circular room. Most of the village had turned up and now crowded the entrance way to hear the decision. The problem? There was a monster just outside of the village had been ripping up huge scars of land for a week now and throwing the boulders in to the river. The course of water was slowly being changed and would eventually pour over the village.
“We can’t stop it,” a younger man stood. He was wearing a well-designed suit and had strong eyebrows. “The thing is too big.”
Another jumped up; a middle aged lady clad in an apron. She sported thick, matted black hair. “Can it be killed? The thing is a rock!”
The ruckus rose again. There was argument for war and how to destroy it and whether it could be. Suggestions were thrown like custard pies and batted back like irritating flies.
A little girl in a pink dress with smart shoes stood by the main door. Her family had just moved to the village. She watched and had done so for a while. She’d been one of the first to see the monster and saw what it was doing, while others had ran to raise warnings. Now she found her voice, “Have you tried talking to it?” her voice barely enough to clambered over the din.
The room hushed. It was the old lady who broke the quiet, “Does it have ears? I doubt it.”
“Have you checked?” she continued, not afraid now that all eyes were on her.
“Why are we listening to a little girl?” The argument surged around the room fighting to be reborn but her comments had silenced a lot of them.
“Have you checked for ears?” she persisted. Her brothers never listened even when she was right. She could tell them the sky was blue and they’d insist it was green. It would be exactly the same for these politicians.
“No. The problem isn’t its ears,” it was a short and curt answer, carrying with it the hope that the girl would shut up.
“Then, how do you know what it's doing? And does it know we’re in trouble?” she replied.
A man mumbled nearby, “Children: so full of questions and no knowledge.” It was almost an insult.
“Or maybe I’m right and you’re scared to find out. I know what it’s doing. Do you?” she turned and walked out, her petit hands holding the edges of her dress to swish it as she moved. The action was laden with innocence.
The arguing didn’t start again and the crowd of people moved out of her way. One by one they started to follow her as she passed through the village, out of the rice fields, and to the river where the monster was rampaging. Soon everybody was on the bank of the river as it swelled and struggled to stay within the banks.
“Excuse me?” the little girl called. The rest stayed back, aware of the massive rock not far away.
The rock was busy pushing more earth in to the river, turning the once blue to a muddy murk. The sound of grinding stone was enough to set teeth on edge; it was like nails down a blackboard. It hadn’t heard the girl.
“Excuse me?” she tried again, louder; fearing her lungs would burst and voice break.
This time it did hear her as it stopped and turned. There were no obvious eyes but the top part of it bent down until it was hanging above her. Small pebbles bounced off and rained down around her.
“Why are you trying to block the river?”
Giant slabs of the mountain slammed beside her and she shrank back. Small parts of the slab, rocks and boulders, dug in to the ground and pulled up the earth she was standing on. Dutifully she wobbled and the crowd gasped as she was lifted up. The rock straightened and another giant slab unpeeled from the monster’s body to point to the other mountains that looked similar.
Many from the crowd followed where it pointed to, finally taking their eyes off the girl. Its intents were clear.
“You know you might flood our village?” she pointed to the village and the thing set her down and turned. Again it seemed like it was looking. It repeated its point to the other mountains. “You want to be with your friends … can’t you just walk over?”
The monster lifted part of its solid base which split into another huge slab and put it in the river. The water kept rising. The river was too deep and wide.
The little girl looked to the village politicians again and folded her arms. “Well?”
A brave man stood forwards. The monster moved back from the bank and stayed stock still. The ground shook with a quake. “There is a way around further upstream. We could help.”
The lady with the apron also took a stand. “A few caravans go that way. It would be easy to organise something.”
Quickly a plan was hatched as all of the minds present came together. Everybody offered assistance from food, to maps, to hands for the journey. All were glad of the little girl that day. Meanwhile, she stayed next to the monster, one small hand on its cold rocky surface. The village would help it get back to its friends just as she hoped that one day she’d be able to get back to hers in the city.
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