One of the intrinsic facts of life is that we must all, at some point, face trials that test our willpower and try our best not to succumb to the vices available. My life too carried these such tribulations. 581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hQFW9GNYk
When I was formed from the union of my parents it was clear to me that I was the amalgamation of all the traits (good and bad) passed down from my forefathers: Short and stout but lacking in integrity. My family's nature meant that we could never have stayed close for long, often resulting in someone flaking away from the family and leave for parts unknown. Despite this, I tried my best to hang on to what little I had, that was until we were come upon by people brandishing weapons.
The barbarous men separated me from the family, making sure to haul us away carefully as to not damage their quarry (prey). I had no chance to fight back and was dragged away to their city and placed into a small compound full of my brethren, all too scared to make a move against their captors. Slowly one after another they were taken away never to return back to us, each of us knew that it was an envitablility. We had no will to fight, to revolt. We all just sat there in a huddled group waiting for our impending doom.
Another morning came, the men walked into our cell ready to reap their daily harvest. Beside them stood a man in expensive robes who wandered about inspecting the prisoners for signs of good health, carefully looking and running his fingers over their rough skin. His eyes locked on to me, and ordered one of the men to lift my ragged body into a cart to be taken to whatever fate was to befall me.
We arrived to a worksite full of people slaving over the construction of a new mansion. The man opened the back of the cart and spoke to us.
"You're going to help me build this house. If I find out that you are unwilling to do this I will order my men to grind you into dust and cast you out into the sea!" he yelled.
The workers were all penned in by a outer fence manned by guards to ensure that everyone did their part; for me this meant carrying vast amounts of weight without of all the rest periods awarded to the masons and carpenters working around me.
This began the longest part of my life, an endless and unforgiving time of shouldering this heavy burden. Eventually, when the building was completed I remained as a cornerstone to the family who lived there, including the wealthy man who enslaved me. For years I served under them, never faltering in my task, unflinching, lest I be obliterated. This was to become my resting place, or so I had thought.
During the eve rather mundane day the land fell into a violent maelstrom as it was invaded by a foreign army, who took no time to raid the land of resources and wealth. In desperation men and women of the land were conscripted into a defensive militia and even I was taken to aid in there last-ditch attempt. As the aristocrats sat behind thick walls quivering in fear they used the army to throw me and my enslaved brothers towards the enemy, giving us as much dignity as a you would a pebble at the side of the road.
The war took the lives of many innocents and even forced my brothers to aid them in attacking the land that had enslaved them initially. A year passed, the land was barren for any life. I wound up as battered and scarred from the events as much as anyone else who was there. Around me there was nothing, nothing to see, no one to hear, no reason to continue living.
As I sat on the beach in the warm glow of sunset that floated on the horizon I gave into my wounds, slowly to be taken away by the soft waves on the seashore.
#######################################################################
-ANALYSIS-581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgHlMVYhKK
There is an underlying plot that the main character is actually a stone as can be hinted at in various lines in the context as follows:
"Amalgamation of traits" - Refers to the process of sedimentation in which new rock is formed from pre-existing rocks that have been broken down and then compressed again to make sedimentary rock.
"Men Brandishing weapons" - Refers to quarry workers arriving with picks to separate the rock into smaller pieces. (Quarry being used in the story as a term for a 'hunter's quarry').
The prisoner compound - A stonemasons storage area to group his pieces up and out of the weather (shares the same confined and dark atmosphere of a prisoner cell.
"Man in the expensive robes" - A wealthy man, maybe of aristocracy collecting suitable masonry for his new house. He checks their (health) by looking for cracks on the stone's rough surface.
"Working as a slave" - Refers to his position carrying (supporting) the building that is built atop him, this is why he remains after construction as a quite literal 'Cornerstone'.
The War - Note: This is a bit historically focused but: In Greece and Rome (among other locations) they used a weapon called a 'sling' which they used to hurl projectiles in war. As the main character was 'conscripted' he was actually chipped apart so that he could be used in the warriors' slings (During long wars the people would desperately disassemble stone houses to use the raw stones as weapons.).
When it refers to the enemy army was forcing the other slaves / brothers to fight back it means for the stones that have been thrown to have been picked up and reused by the enemy.
Scars & Ending - Since he was used and reused the protagonist accumulated wear and tear resulting in small chips to be taken out of him. The ending is something symbolic of the circle of life: as he dies on the beach he will become eroded and then the resultant sandy particles will be used for the 'Amalgamation" (as seen above) of other newer stones.
-ANALYSIS-581Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjynv2ra3m
#######################################################################
ns 15.158.61.6da2
