Nobody expected to see any movements, or rather, any sign of life ever again in these forsaken lands. Not after the aeons passed in silence, innate desolation and emptiness. The song of decay was ever so haunting, reverberating in the ether. Then something happened. Those giant Longnecks appeared.
The eastern sky ladened with reddish glow slowly gave birth to the giant fireball that would soon dazzle the entire land with summer’s caress. There’s hardly anything in this vast, barren wasteland to receive that offering. Nonetheless, when was the sun less generous?
A stranger was navigating the wasteland, ever so slowly but with a steady gait. He was pausing sometimes, taking glances at his map and looking around to find some noticeable landscape. Heaps of wreckage all around him looked all the same, making his job harder. No one really came to this part after the automatic megastructures failed all over the world due to intense solar flares. How many lives were lost? Perhaps all of them. That knowledge too was lost to the well of time. Even the empty concrete rotted away, turned to dust.
A clanging sound alerted the stranger. It was coming from the west. No, northwest. Behind a pile of trash. He stopped. Is it one of the longnecks he came to study on? His heart missed a beat with anticipation.
A few moments later the source of that sound appeared from the pile. It wasn't a longneck. A shabby looking pale face stared back at the stranger in its place.
“And who might you be?” asked the pale face to the stranger in the trader's tongue.
“I...I’m a traveller.” the stranger mumbled.
“Well, Mr, traveller, I’m a forager.”
“Really? In this land? What are you looking for?”
The forager stopped at that question. Looked at his hands. The traveller followed his gaze. Now he saw all the metallic scrapes the forager was holding onto. These are what made that clanging sound, especially with each taken step.
“What are those for?” The traveller changed his question.
The forager hesitated. A moment later he slowly uttered in a hushed tone, "I'm building a city." As if he was confiding in some grand secret and saying it any louder would crumble the city.
The traveller seemed baffled. "Here?" he asked.
"Where else?" the reply came. "I haven't started building any structures yet." He admitted somewhat reluctantly, "I need materials. These shiny trinkets, you see? Must be god sent. They don't rot. Oh, no, they sure don't!"
"I see." the traveller clearly wasn't impressed with this loony bin in the middle of nowhere. To make a city, you need much more than some metallic trinkets. You need people. Societies. Order. Food and water along with other resources. Transportation. But of course, there's no point in telling him all that. He eyed the torn clothing hanging from the forager's slender body.
"Have you seen any longnecks nearby?" he then inquired.
"Who?" suspicions rose up in the forager’s voice.
"You see, I picked up some movements and saw shapes of animals with long necks roaming around. I was wondering if you’ve seen them is all."
“The big geese? Why? You're hunting them?” The forager seemed defiant and defensive in a way. “Listen here, mister! If you've stepped into my city with ill intentions towards my citizens,” he hissed, ‘I will end you!” Then he waved the trinkets like a sword.
“What? No! I was just researching…” The traveller stopped, his eyes suddenly glittering. “What do you mean by citizens?”
“You’re not gonna hurt them, are ya?” The forager was still suspicious.
“Rooble’s holy beard, no. I only want to see them.”
Perhaps the forager could pick up hints of earnestness in his voice.
“Alright. Come along then. Watch your step. You don’t want them black biters getting to you. Hurts like hell.”
This revelation enough could shock himself if he hadn’t known about the longnecks. Perhaps the wasteland is not so barren of life anymore.
The forager led the traveller among the hills of trash scattered all over. Through a tunnel that smelled like death and despair into an open place, the traveller couldn’t believe his eyes upon taking in the details all around him.
No longer wasteland, lush green was poking here and there, watery pools were flashing back light beams to the sun and... and… giant long-necked beings were grazing. No, that’s not right. Some were singing, some dancing, some gathered around and watched. Smiles all around. It was a festival of sorts. These animals, these longnecks... had societies. Like the homo sapiens of the forgotten past.
The traveller dropped on his knees. He looked at the forager whose smile reached both of his ears as he saw himself as the proud guardian of these sentient beings. Traveller then placed his gaze at the longnecks again, wordless, motionless.
“You know what”, the traveller finally said to the forager. “Let’s build that city of yours.”
The End
The title photo source
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Hopeful story 😍
Haha yes. For someone who claims to be a nihilist, I'm self contradicting enough!
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I love the story, especially the part when the traveler was surprised by what he saw and finally gave in to build the city
Yes, he saw the possibility of a probable civilization.
That's true
This is sooo well written bhai! Cant believe i missed this!! Felt like a pixer short no less!
Not so cynical now, are you? eh!:33
P.s. i could picture you as both the traveler and the forager:p and they are right out of fairytales! Not even optimistical nihilism is visible in them:3
Thank you!
I believe it is underdeveloped. I wanted to expand the characters and the tale but that would take too many words and I'm lazy. :(
The traveler is supposed to be a worn-out tired nihilist and the forager is a cynic who's secretly an altruist. But rushing out all of it didn't really help the story one bit.
I think it would work great as a 100-page novella.
As a matter of fact, Id be the first guy to buy that novella!:3
Haha! Now that's some reassurance! 😄
Oooh, I love this!!!
The surprise twist reminds me of Luke Sykwalker discovering the identity of Yoda.
Great story! You make me want to build cities. :)
And the "god-sent" shiny trinket makes me think of that classic movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy."
This is not to say "Oh this has been done before" - some themes are so epic, they will done again and again. We never tire of the Cinderella story, or the Horatio Algers rise from rags to riches, or the archetype of the farm boy (Luke Skywalker e.g.) breaking away from the safe, familiar, "known" world of his childhood home and facing unexpected, unthinkable dangers on the quest to save the universe....
Hey, many thanks! I'm glad that you've enjoyed it!
I have seen Gods must be crazy and that's one hilarious film indeed! I understood what you meant, no worries there.
You know, the farm boy becomes legendary hero archetype reminds me of Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. In it, literally, a bunch of farm boys becomes legends. Although I only read the first three of the series. 12 more to go!
Ooh, great premise - off to find The Wheel of Time! !
The first book may remind you of The Fellowship of the ring but don't throw it away! Jordan took some inspirations from Lord of the rings, yes, but from the second book, everything goes differently.
Soon to be an original series starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine!
And $153 for all 14 books as ebooks - not physical books. Time to visit my local library....