One day, two rival stepbrothers met in the town forum. The older sibling, Hab, was strong and fierce - a warrior with no fear and enormous battle experience. He was tall, muscular and handsome, with menacing eyes that would send a bear back into its cave. He also had many beautiful wives. All this earned him the respect of many, apart from the mild annoyance most experienced due his ever-growing ego. The younger one, Bon, was short, pudgy, and unusually wrinkled. His left leg was skinny and deformed, and it caused him to walk with an awkward limp. He was humble and reserved, yet doubted and ignored by many. Despite this, his intelligence and patient demeanour did give him some degree of value in the community, mostly as a casual advisor to the town elders.
The forum was already cluttered with people, but the two stepbrothers stood in the middle, with the elders sitting around them. There was a bit of an argument going on, and there was not one person who did not display a sign of frustration or worry, with the exception of Bon. An elder stood up and spoke in his raspy voice, and everyone crowded around to hear.
"Our enemies have pillaged our town and allies, and we are running out of goods to trade. We barely even have enough gold to exchange amongst ourselves, our economy is failing! What are we going to do?"
"We should raid them back! Only that way will we be rich again!" said a voice from the crowd.
"Raid and kill them!" shouted the townspeople.
Bon glanced around and cleared his throat. He then spoke in a soft voice, and everyone leaned in to hear what he had to say.
"War is expensive, it costs lives and resources. We have other alternatives, why not try something that won't hurt us any further?"
"What alternative do you suggest?" asked another of the elders.
"There is always the treasure on Terror Rock; one of us could go up there and retrieve it. Then we will no longer be poor, and our town will regain the comfort we had just lost," suggested Bon. Hab rolled his eyes at the idea, scoffing at what had just been said. He stood up and opened his mouth, but was cut off by an elder.
"No one has ever returned from Terror Rock. To go there is to ask for death - the creature up there kills everyone who attempts to take the treasure from it! Don't be foolish Bon, we don't need anymore people dying."
"I shall go and risk my life for the better of our town," Bon proclaimed. He seemed to want to prove himself, and everyone stared at him in amazement. Hab, however, was not impressed.
"You idiot, you couldn't even fight off a child! What makes you think that someone as lame and inept as you could do such a thing?" barked Hab. He chuckled and looked around, expecting everyone to laugh along with him. No one did.
"Then go with me if you think I'm so useless, brave Hab," replied Bon. "You are skilled with the sword, maybe you will defeat the monster on Terror Rock!"
"So be it! I shall go with you, and return a hero!" stated the arrogant stepbrother.
Everyone agreed, and the forum cleared.
The next day, the stepbrothers met once again in the forum. An elder was there, and he seemed eager to speak to them. He stumbled his way to them, and handed them a satchel full of food. The stepbrothers thanked him and left, then made their way to the foot of the mountain. Looking up, Bon realized just how high the mountain really was, and began to wonder what would happen if he ever lost his footing during the trip. He urinated himself, and Hab laughed at him for it. Bon watched his familiar companion climb several meters with relative ease, and after several reassuring breaths, he too climbed.
The day turned to evening, and evening to night, and Bon was lagging behind. Hab observed the struggles of his companion, and couldn't help but to feel a little bad for him.
"Bon, I have pity for you. I will slow down to help you keep up, just don't expect to reach the top before I do!"
"Thank you, Hab," said Bon, his voice raspy with exhaustion. With a deep breath, he picked up the pace and almost caught up with Hab, but when he got too close, Hab sped up just to prove a point. This made Bon doubt in himself as a man for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and continued his onerous task.
An hour later, Hab stopped climbing and waited for his brother.
"We shall rest for tonight, Bon. Regain your strength for tomorrow, and be ready to continue at sunrise," Hab announced, all the while opening the satchel and dividing food evenly. They both ate bread and dried fruit, then fell asleep a few feet from each other.
Morning broke, and the stepbrothers resumed their climb. After another strenous hour, they both finally made it to the summit, with Hab proudly standing at the top, and Bon barely making it there. They looked around and saw a forest of tall grass, and the scenery seemed unexceptional until Bon noticed something orange glowing in the corner of his eye. He brushed aside some vegetation, and once he saw what was there, his eyes widened with shock. There was gold lying around - pure, raw gold, orange and glowing, as if it had rained down from the sun. In fact, there was so much of it, not even the whole town could bring it with them had they all gone up together. As soon as Bon walked towards the treasure, Hab pushed him over and told him to stay where he belongs. Hab ran towards the nearest chunk of gold and picked it up. He held it up in the sun and it sparkled magically; it was the most beautiful sight he had ever witnessed. Hab filled his pockets and backpack with as many pieces of gold as he could carry on him, while Bon merely watched, his wrinkly face scrunching up in disappointment.
Suddenly, there was a clinking noise, and both brothers looked to see where it came from. About 20 meters away stood a short, hooved creature covered in white hair. On its head were massive horns, and it's face showed nothing but savage anger. It shrieked, and Bon's heart almost stopped from the terrifying 'BAAAAAAA!!!' the creature let out. Hab merely laughed.
"Is this it? This is the feared monster? Hahahahahahaha!! I've killed chickens bigger than this!" Hab then charged towards it, drew his sword, and cut off its head. The creature did not let out a single cry of pain or fear, and its glassy eyes stared back at Bon in an almost unnatural way that made it seem as if the defeated monster still knew they were there. This made Bon highly uncomfortable, but Hab merely walked away from the corpse, ready to climb back down.
"I shall be a martyr, and you shall be the man who witnessed my legendary feat," boasted Hab. The stepbrothers were just about to make their way down, until a piece of gold fell out of Hab's pocket. He leaned forward to pick it up, as it was too precious to leave behind, and just then they both heard a loud gallop, and the same shriek which had terried Bon earlier. Before either of them could react, another monster just like the first was charging into Hab's rear end, and the massive impact flung the older stepbrother off the summit and down below, and with him fell his gathered riches. Bon screamed after his sibling, and then faced the beast eye to eye. He was paralyzed in fear, and did not know what to do. The beast charged into him, and Hab nearly fell off the edge. He coughed up blood, and his ribs felt like they were on fire - he had never felt such pain before, but this did not prevent him from falling off, and he held on the edge with all the strength he could muster. The creature stared back at him with bloodshot eyes, and it was obvious it intended to kill him. All seemed hopeless until Bon noticed the satchel sitting at the edge with him, still full of food. He grabbed it and waved it around, and it caught the creature's attention. It snorted after it, and it seemed interested in the food held within. Bon threw it over the side, and the creature foolishly went after it, only to fall to its death. Bon was relieved, and after a heavy sigh, he made his way back down.
He returned to the town at late afternoon, and his hands were blooded and his feet burning with blisters. Bon collapsed and passed out, and people ran to tend to him. After waking up the following day, he was told that they had found his stepbrother's dead body hanging from a tree near the foot of the mountain, and there was gold scattered everywhere. Bon asked about the beast that had fallen as well, and they said they had found nothing but a slab of gold the size of of a dog. Bon was surprised, but did not try to make anything of it. He simply laid back in bed and passed out once again.
He awoke a few hours later, and as soon as he walked out of his hut, he was greeted by cheers and praises. His town was rich once again, and he had become a hero. The elders thanked him for his extraordinary work, and asked him if he would become town leader. Bon calmly declined with words that would be repeated for centuries after:
"I am just another man trying to do what's best for his people. Power means nothing to me, and neither do pride and greed. That was the downfall of my stepbrother, and it will be the downfall of me and everyone else if we do the same thing."
Bon then walked away into the forest, and that was the last time anyone ever heard from him. No one knew where he had gone, or what why he had left the down, but every now and then, more gold would be found at the foot of the mountain, and people would carry it back to the town and thank Bon's spirit for the stability he had brought back to everyone.
The end.
I wrote this for English class, and intend to hand it in soon. I just felt like showing it off on my blog, lol.
No comments:
Post a Comment