Sora's Various Works

Seeing as how I'm too lazy to contribute in any way, and this website seems to need more activity, here's a little story a wrote a while ago.

The story 'Why?' inspired by Thomas Barbey's picture 'Stump'

The soft rustling of leaves permeated throughout the morning Spring air, soothing the minds of it's residences. All of the tourists and regulars of Shangri-la Hot Springs were chatting of their daily businesses and other matters. Two men sitting by the edge of a pool, shaded underneath a gigantic oak, were having a heated debate. One of the men, Caucasian with a balding head, had a stretched and stubborn look to his face, arguing fiercely with the other man. The second man seemed to be in his late twenties with a head full of black hair, and seemed to be of Indian decent, he had an informed look, talking calmly without faltering.

"I'm telling you, Hari, the only reason we are here is because He wills it. We are only his tools, to be used as He sees fit." the first and older man barked at the other. His eyes were sagging slightly, as from lack of sleep, "Bah! Your ideas of evolution.. Preposterous! How could some monkey grow up to be a race of powerful beings. Only He could have given us this power we have, this intelligence. It is our duty to repay him for his gift."

"But James," Hari said, calmly, "how could your God exist, all powerful and all knowing, and there still be all this evil and corruption? There is, in fact, evidence supporting the Theory of Evolution. Look inside yourself... The Coccyx is clear evidence that we evolved from primates. As we changed, we lost the need for tails, but our species has never fully removed the bone. It shows us that we came from primates, which have similar vertebrae."

The two men, Hari and James, battled on for several hours, each giving conflicting evidence as to why their definition of Life and it's meaning were correct, while the other's was wrong. A Cross and a Star fell down into a heavy book, yet nothing more happened after that confrontation. Hari and James were at a stalemate, neither being able convince the other that they were right. But hours went on, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Finally, Notre Dame's bells struck ten, and people began to shuffle out of Shangri-La Springs. One by one the masses thinned, and Hari left to catch his flight back to Sri Lanka, and James to Britain. None were left at the Desert springs, just the soft night air and the tall Oak tree. There was no one to hear it, but would that stop it? The tree and the wind danced in the air, singing and playing and showing their spirit. Wind blew through it's branches, it's root's and it's boughs. The Tree stood steady as a drum to be hit. Their dance went on throughout the night, and dawn broke out, Notre Dame struck six, then seven, then eight. The doors to Shangri-La opened up again. People poured in, one by one, the masses filled the Desert spa. The pool shaded by the great Oak Tree was empty at eight, James and Hari gone. Silence. Notre Dame struck ten more quickly this day. The dance went on, through the seasons from Spring to Summer to fall. The tree was left alone save for it's friend the wind. Finally, some came.

The pool hadn't changed, but now it's occupants had. Two women walked in. One of Asian decent with long black hair, and deep piercing eyes. The other with darkened skin from years out in sunlight, with short brown hair. They sat down and began to talk. "Samantha," the Asian sad, "we live because we are free." She, named Loli, had a look of conviction in her eyes, staring down and stirring Samantha's soul, to make one see things her way. "We are here so that we may live, and that is as simple as we can make it.. We exist to exist, because we can exist."

Samantha had been watching intently, although not listening so, "That's just a rationalization, Loli," she said, smugly, "There isn't a meaning to life, to our existence, we're just a mistake, a natural fluke. All these people chucking it up to God and Evolution and others, they're all wrong. There isn't a way we can know how we came to be, because there is no real definite way. Trying to figure it out is pointless and contradictory to existing. Trying to figure out why we are here is only wasting the life we have. Knowing why isn't going to benefit us fiscally, so why even bother?"

The two bickered and fought in the relaxing and shaded waters of the desert spring, hours passed. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Notre Dame struck ten, and the masses started to file out, one by one. Shangri-La was empty. The bells tolled day after day, but no one filled the great oak's pool. Years passed, yet it remained empty. Every night the beautiful dance between the Oak and the Wind happened, making it's wondrous song and image. In the end, life continued, despite conflicting views on why. Life is what you make of it, so enjoy it while you can.

Here's another story, albeit not quite as good as the previous one:

The Garden of Eden

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there stood a house, a very old house, once that seemed as though it had been there forever. With creaking walls and screeching shutters, it stood erect in the middle of the Arizona desert, while off in the distance, a cloud of dust begins to gather. As it begins to clear, an object could be seen, a car, it seems, has wandered out into the harsh forbidding desert. The car slowly sputters to a stop as it approaches the abandoned home. “Well well, what a sad home out here in the middle of nowhere,” a mad says from inside the car. He steps forth from his vehicle gazing upwards at the large an seemingly malevolent house before him, “Anyways, I guess it's a better place to be stranded than out in the middle of the desert,” he sighed to him self, walking up to the house's door. He was a man of average height, and of mild appearance, with short flaxen hair, his attire was, quite simply, plain. With a plain T-Shirt and worn jeans, one wouldn't think so much as to notice him. Reaching the portal, he slowly turned the knob and, after finding it unlocked, opened the door and glanced inside the dusty and dark dwelling. “Oooh, real spooky, I wonder when the ghosts will pop out,” he half-mocked into the darkness, talking to himself to lighten the mood of the dreary building. The man now walked all through the house, looking for food or water or something that might be useful, after he searched through the house, he walked what would be the living area, which (Oddly Enough) was well furnished. As he walked over the rug laid down upon the floor, he heard a sound, a hollow echoing sound, similar to that when one raps on a wooden box. Figuring it's better than standing around in the lonely box, he investigates. Upon lifting up the rug, he finds something unusual for the environment of the harsh Arizonan landscape, a trapdoor. Lifting it open and traveling down the stairs, he finds a small room, with the floor dominated by a large stone slab with a relief depicting an Oak Tree, and with a lever in the middle of the rock, tilted slightly. And, upon this level there was, a snake! A large snake was coiled around the lever, larger than any snake could or should be, and as he stared in wonder at this being, the snake spoke, “Welcome, friend, to The Garden of Eden.”

Very good, I liked both of these stories a lot. They seemed to flow very well indeed. I hope to read more of your work soon!