STORY STARTER
Submitted by Ellipsis
'…and all they could do was cry.'
Write a short story that ends with this as the final line.
ill of illusions
The illusions of a utopia you dream of, the wrongness of man. Does the god of almighty not constitute for the life of all?
The world was a vast and luxurious place; it could accommodate every and all beings who desired a place to call home. Always on schedule, the sun would rise and set. Predictability was man's greatest strength. Yet, time waits for no one.
God knew that mankind could mature far too much had their time been infinite. So he created time.
God knew that mankind's willpower was too delicate to inherit all the knowledge in the world. So he created the mind.
God created the world knowing that the beginning and end would solely be in his hands. To destroy the very craft made from his fingertips weighed greatly on his omniscient mind. Yet if it meant he could share it with others, for them to feel the same euphoria that stemmed from his work, it wouldn't be a waste.
Over the years, he watched his children born, grow, and die. Not one day went by without shedding tears in grief for his children who are no longer. Every death added to the endless weights that sank his shoulders down lower, and lower, and lower.
Lower until it was as low as it could go. As low as his mind and body could handle.
A prophet offered him, "If you take your life in the name of your people, I shall grant them eternity without your guidance." The prophet's hands unclapsed, and there sat a shiny golden dagger.
And what was he to do? All he could do was watch as his own hand thrust the knife in and out, and in and out again.
Everything had its beginning and end, but it could also accommodate the unexpected. In the world, an unpredictable storm arose. His people knew that the end of their excursions was near. They insisted, "Our lives are nil from this point onward. We are the living dead!"
But they weren't.
Not them, but him. And after the storm had taken its toll, they knew.
...And all they could do was weep.
(NOTE: no this is not about any religion you're thinking of. this is a purely fictional world with a purely fictional god)