Wednesday, July 03, 2024

1315 - The Consequence

 


The Sunday Whirl presents twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece.  
This weeks words are:

riddle, hunt, barren, bits, ominous, thud, grave, keys, box, drop, temper, secrets

They took me down a dark rabbit hole.


The Consequence

“How much more grievous 
are the consequences of anger 
than the causes of it.”
– Marcus Aurelius

The consequences of anger
Are so disproportionate to the causes.
That ominous rush of blood,
That fatal burst of temper.

He looked at the city before him
Hardly worthy of the name.
Burnt, broken, barren.
Scared, furtive animals hunt for food,
Finding bits here and there 
And defending them from the jealous.
Snarl.  Teeth bared.  The new world.

He walked slowly through the wreckage
A city that was no more.  A grave.
The drop saw to that.  Dropped in anger.
It did not fall with a thud. 
It did not even fall really. Delivered.
It delivered light.  
And wind. 
And heat.
And death.

How many died? he wondered.
Pointless speculation really.
That is the secret of the drop.
He knew it had dropped.  The riddle—
The riddle was why.  
Why was the genii released from the box?
Did it solve anything? he pondered.

The keys to the city
Have little value now.

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7 comments:

  1. Ouch. A very dark and sadly possible (probable?) rabbit hole.

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  2. Very interesting build-up and a fine close.

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  3. Very detailed and vivid. You bring the reader right into the city.

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  4. A real fable - dark and thought provoking - Jae

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  5. Kind of apocalyptical like a scene in a dystopian movie.

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  6. Yes we live by the consequences of our hearts - this is a great picture.

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  7. Sometimes at the end of an apocalypse, answering the question "Why?" has to come after the question "what next?"

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