Salvation

By Cliff Lake

 

Salvation

 

The forest was cursed.

Everyone knew that.

No one went alone, not often…

Children would sometimes sneak off,

And when they returned, if at all,

They were changed.

More solemn, more thoughtful,

And such strange thoughts…

Ideas about the world

That spoke against the gods,

And the priests,

Or built even stranger devices,

Things that clicked and whirred,

That did the work of two men or even more,

But which burned merrily at the Solstice bonfires,

And thus ensured the protection of the village.

On a time,

Four children ventured into that forest together,

And these returned changed also,

And it was thought to separate them from one another,

In the hope that they might return to themselves.

Some years passed, then all four went missing again,

And days later returned with a large contraption.

It needed but two beasts to pull it,

Yet harvested an entire field in just one day,

And not the usual five.

The village elders met that night,

Their meeting over soon.

The following morning, the machine was burned,

But so also was the now-cursed field,

And finally,

The forest itself.

Then the men of the village sought the source of the ill,

And deep within the smoldering coals

Was found the shell of an archaic building and within:

The remains of many ancient bound volumes,

Scorched papers, diagrams, and texts arcane,

And then did the priest, the banker, and the mayor themselves

Pour out blessed oils on these artifacts and fire them anew,

And in this way was the village saved.

Then such dark tidings did not again trouble the village,

Not for many generations.

And the world passed them by,

Until they were no more.

And so it goes…

 

Cliff Lake 8/13/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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