Even an immovable rock will be shifted by the caress of a gentle wind" –Metha Metharom
This is the story of love, a love which cannot be broken by any sort of intervention.
On a lonely beach sits a huge boulder, surrounded by rocks, and sand, it faces the sea, with a huge cliff standing behind it. For a human it would have been a lonely life but for a rock it was the life.
Unlike any other boulder it could think, it was sentient, it had become so like anything that has survived the test of time. In its mind it wishes for nothing else, nothing but the caress of the wind, which soothes its cracks and wounds, cooling its surfaces from the ever hot sun. Its enjoyment from the wind also too was that the wind would tell it stories of far lands and places.
The wind too, its only companion, who too has been around for a long time has become sentient. It likes to travel, without any place to go but for some reason it always feel the need to come back to the lonely boulder that sits in front of a cliff face. It loves the smoothness and calmness that the boulder offers, but what it would really like to do was to become a human, for it has seen these people smiling and laughing in their delight as they meet new things. Though limited by their bodies, it only seems to make them happier, so it wishes to become human.
As time passes by the heaven becomes sympathetic to the wind, and granted its wishes but that leaves the boulder to itself alone facing away from the cliff face, saddened by the loss but happy for the wind.
The Wind Maiden who now was reborn as a human became a maiden of beauty. Her personality and delightfulness attracted many a suitor. As a human she is a daughter of a silk merchant who travels far and wide. Her pursuit of happiness was in the arts; her main interest was sculpting, for some reason this is so because she enjoys touching the surface of the rock and to chisel slowly away its roughness to reveal its true form. It was a strange thing because she was never once taught in this art.
One day while travelling the high seas with her father and one of her many suitors, her boat suddenly hit an outcrop which brought the ship to a stop. As the crewmen scurry about trying to fix the boat, she and her father go on a row boat to look for food and water. As they row the boat, they came on a deserted beach. On it was a huge boulder, with many cracks, and wounds, burnt down by the sun, but aside from that it stood stronger than any man she has known. It was love at first sight.
On her insistence, she persuaded her father to get the crew to help get it back on the ship so she could bring out its true form. As their ship was repaired they continued on their way home.
Once she got back her only thought was to carve her new boulder into a form worth admiring straight away. In her travels she had found a culture that deeply attracted her, the culture that has many honours and bravery attached to it. Within that culture were warriors known as Samurais, and within this huge rock she saw a brave and handsome Samurai who could face all kinds of hardship without being broken.
Into him she carved, all day all night, for many weeks on end ignorant of all things surrounding her, until the perfect Samurai was formed.
Like all her carvings she would set it in the studio coming back to and fro to check on it, but for some reason she felt that this Samurai was not happy where it was, so she set it in the garden.
One of her suitors, a man of great standing, one she too found strong and powerful had noticed that she longer paid him any mind but only has eyes for the rock Samurai.
From day and night she would go into the garden and admire her Samurai, no longer feeling the need to travel far from her no longer lonely stone Samurai.
It was a strange thing because ever since the Samurai had come into her life, the amount of burglary attempts has lessened as if someone or something was watching over her. In fact every night it always seems as if an ever watchful but ever warm and protective set of eyes was on her.
One night as she was walking the garden she found that the Samurai was nowhere to be found in the centre of the garden where he usually was. The
Samurai too was surprised for he was content in watching over her from afar and not really having to be with her. Instead of fear and surprise she realizes at long last she was in love with him, he too was overjoyed and they talked from dusk till dawn. It was a happy occasion, but eyes watched from a corner of darkness with envy and hatred, which belonged to one of her suitors. Thinking that this new appearance was a new human suitor he plotted.
One night under the cover of darkness the suitor walks to find the Samurai. With knife in hand he plunges it as hard as he could into the surprised stone warrior. The knife broke but did not shatter on impact leaving the suitor stunned and in fear for his life. Unluckily for the maiden, she saw the whole thing and rushed to her Samurai’s aid, still acting in fear and not thinking straight, the suitor plunged the broken knife into the maiden's heart.
The blow was fatal and could not be taken back. In rage the Samurai struck with all the force in his body, killing the envious suitor instantaneously.
In his sorrow the Samurai held the beautiful girl in his arms weeping openly. For he had always known that the maiden had always been the Wind
Maiden that had left him behind but now was human who is now leaving him again.
As he held onto her the heavens open up, feeling sympathy to their plight, and granted their wishes to be together.
In the morning all they found was the dead body of the suitor, death from unknown circumstance, a bloodied knife in his hand but the maiden and the stone Samurai were nowhere to be found.
Together at last the heavens had granted their wishes as two gulls flying and travelling so far in the sky, until the day they will die.
The Golden Princess and the Dark Knight
"After all, all chunks of coals are diamonds in the rough"- Metha Metharom
Underneath the earth, lay two stones, one golden as the sun, the other as black as darkness.
Whether it be day or night, they would not know for they were mere rocks and rocks do not think. However, like all things that exist a long time, they became sentient and thought of things that they never might.
In the darkness of the ground they know nothing but only of each other and they would chat all day and all night for they are stones and did not need to sleep like people might.
One day the ground decided to move and did not stop until the sky had shown through and this is important because this is where our story truly starts for the lovelock stones.
As soon as the world opens for the two stones, it defines their destiny, though they were once intertwined; now they will split. For the gold was truly beautiful and the coal ever so dark that no one would pay any heart.
The gold laying there was such a treasure that many come from far and wide to touch it, hold it and love it. At first the gold was enthusiastic but when it became just an adornment seen only for its external beauty it loses heart.
The coal on the other hand was nothing but fuel for fire so was eventually gone but in its heart it wishes for nothing but to be with the stone he sat next to since time first started.
Though the gold eventually moved from that land, and the coal that was missing became nothing but dust wished only to see his long life mate. This was the first split in their destinies
Because the gold was loved such it wishes not to be something of adornment again in its next life.
Unfortunately for her she retains much of her beauty and once again reincarnates as a beautiful golden haired Princess but with one let down and that let down was a cold heart.
The Princess was fair and admired by all around. Suitors would come from far and wide and ask for her hand. Though this pleases her ego she would shun them all for it did not please her soul.
For in her heart, she wishes not to be admired for her beauty but for her heart.
One day a Knight came from a far off land, he was dark of skin and rugged of face. He came to see an example of this beautiful golden Princess he has heard of in his own land.
He went to see her like all other suitors would, in that golden palace to set upon the pleasure of her face. But when he saw her, all he could see was emptiness in the soul. She looked at him as if he was dirt, or even like a piece of coal.
As he was introduced he said to her, "The beauty that other see, I see not there, for I rather would think much more beauty in a piece of coal than that fair face and golden hair.
Shocked and angered by this the King ordered him out the palace, but the Princess’ reply shocked the King more than it did the Knight. "You are the first, who says honestly, I do understand, for a coal’s usefulness does indeed outlast the glittery of my hair and beauty of my face."
This was the first time that the Knight realized he was in love with the fair Princess not out of beauty but out of intellect and wisdom.
This too was the same feeling from the Princess, but neither knew of the other’s thought so they kept the feelings at bay.
The Princess fell for the Knight but she kept far from him for she feared he hated her for her beauty so she kept a space.
The Knight too kept away indeed because of her beauty but not because of hate but rather of fear because of what he had said. But he promised himself that he would keep her safe from any dangerous fate.
In time a suitable match for the
Princess did come along in the form of another man, at least in the King’s eye, so on his order she was sent on a route to her final fate, as a wife and Queen of that other land.
The Princess’ heart breaks more than it should for she would not be able to spend any more time with her Dark Knight.
The Knight too locked his heart away, in its cell, throwing away the key. But he had a promise to keep so he will see to her keep.
In the morning, as she was on her way, she was surprised to see the Knight's face, in her entourage of guards, though this was not his land, he is there at her coach’s rear.
He did not speak to her or seek her out but kept a steady pace, and an unweeping face.
All of a sudden they were attacked, this was planned a long time ago, because of her beauty; slave drivers wanted her face to sell as goods for gold that they can gain.
The Knight did his best to protect her but as he made his way through the blades and arrows she was snatched away
Many of her entourage lay dead upon the ground and the Knight, though heavily wounded, went back to report to the King.
As the King heard the news he grew faint but kept strong in the face of his colleagues, he pleaded for help from the groom's side but, though willing, they were simply too far away. The other suitors too were the same; all feared for their lives and did not wish to lend a hand.
Disappointed by all of this the King collapsed by his grief. The Knight, though still heavily injured, went to him and said "Though she is not mine by right, I will bring her home, for I made a promise to protect her life at the cost of my own. I will see to her safety because the wish is in my heart, and she will be here by the morning, this promise to you I will make."
Riding on a new horse, he went on his way, his expertise in tracking finally found her trace. Under the cover of darkness, his skin hid him well, and because of this he made his way in.
On the outside edge of the camp, one by one he dispatched them all but she is held in the central tent where many are still blissfully drinking unaware.
The Knight has no choice but only to move forward, his presence alerts them to stand up tall. Completely outnumbered but not giving up, he gritted his teeth and fought with the strength of ten.
One by one they lay at his feet but one by one his wounds would grow, but he would not fall for the Princess he would give his all.
Finally, all lay dying and dead at his feet, and he went into the tent to retrieve the Princess from her fate. The Princess was joyful but as soon as she saw him, but cries as he collapsed to his knees.
"I am sorry Princess that I come so late," said the Knight grinning broadly but his face far more pale than that of the moon. The Princess grabs hold of him and asks, "No, Dark Knight, please do not die, for it is you in this heart of mine that you have always lie."
The Knight perked up a bit but says seriously, "Take my horse Princess, and go your way my fate is done, but yours still lay, but perhaps if you truly wish it
I will wait for you at your fate's end." With that his last breath came, his eyes glazed over and his face rolled to one side, never again to smile to her with his dark smile.
The Princess still crying did as she was bid. She rode home on the Dark Knight's horse to her father's land taking with her the Knight's words.
As she got home, her father came to see her and held her in his arms but was surprised to see her weep openly with her tears. She explained to him of the Knight’s sacrifice. But to her surprise and anger the King replied, "Do not pay such attention to such things my dear child, for you are like the gold that glitters forever and he the coal that has been burned away by the fire."
In her reproach, which stills her father, she says, "Yes you are right father, he is the coal and I am the gold, but it is the gold that creates so much greed and the coal, which got burnt by the fire, it is the coal that saved this Princess and not the greed driven suitors that you selected."
The King suddenly realizes his wrong but it was too late to recall the words, she left him there standing at the throne, unable to say any more than he already said.
Though that was their only fight, it will last but because of this the King became better and stopped insisting on choosing new suitors.
When the King finally died, she succeeded his throne, and became a Queen but she had cut off her hair so she no longer shone as she did before. The Knight's sacrifice had given her heart warmth and she became known no longer as the golden Princess but the Golden Queen. Not because of her hair, for she is shaved bald, but because of her heart and honesty that beats any gold.
Finally she was at her fate's end and a large funeral was laid. But to everyone's surprise they could see a brief but fading image in the sky of a beautiful golden haired smiling woman in an embrace with a darkly handsome rugged man.
True to his words the Knight was there waiting for her at her fate's end. The Knight that was coal and the Princess that was gold, both stones in the beginning, one that glitters and shines while the other always overlooked but of more use than any other rocks could.
So ends the story of the Golden Princess and the Dark Knight.
The Giant Statue and the Mermaid
"A great man does not need to say but do, but sometimes an even greater man will have to stand up and say sometime" - Metha Metharom
Underneath the waves, and slightly exposed in the ocean floor there lies an unmoving relic of the past, a giant statue of an unknown god.
It has been there for eons, before the land it is on had sunk beneath the sea. Because of its age it has gained thought, for how long it has been like this it does not know. But for countless ages it had watched things live and watched things die, knowing only that immortality is loneliness.
Luckily for it corals and seaweed has grown on its head keeping its gaze left in a curtain of wavering darkness. It was blissful for it needs not see things live only to die again.
This was good for it until one day, something happened, something pulled off the corals and seaweed on its head, and then it saw it was a mermaid, one of the lesser immortal water deities. "I know you can see and hear me oh gentle rock but why do you hide away that handsome face?"
‘What business is it of yours, little mermaid your kind is nothing but grain of sands within the eternity of time,’ it wants to say but it has no tongue or lips to speak with, so it stays silent and grumbles in its mind wishing that the little pest would meander away.
But the pest did not go away, it merely in fact just pestered him day and night telling him this and that without any mind to just shut up and leave it alone.
Then one day, the mermaid did not come and stayed away for maybe a day or two or maybe even more it was not sure. It grumbles and growls, and then heard the noise from its lips, it was a surprise for it for it could in fact speak, for a while it reasoned to itself that it must be its age that had gained to it this power.
It thought so hard, it thought so deep, but every which way it had thought the mermaid would always come back in its head, now that she was gone, it felt loneliness worse than that it had felt before.
It did not know what was wrong but it felt a pang deep in its chest, and that was very far down underneath the seabed.
At that moment it decide to try and move but when it was about to the mermaid came, it seemed the little pest was back and excited and flushing at the face.
It was happy but it was still concerned but it did not say anything because the mermaid had made it feel something it had not felt before, it thinks to itself 'what is this, a heartburn that humans have spoken of, the very sight of her had bought this upon me, how there she flushes so cutely in front of my eyes, and how dare she speak so consistently, so rapidly and so loudly?'
It was a headache for the statue and it blamed it all on the swimming pest. This of course was partially true but for it was the mermaid's fault that the statue for the first time had fallen in love, and it did not know of its own heart.
But all this good feeling that it felt suddenly vanished and broke into shards as soon as it could make heads or tails of the mermaid's words.
The mermaid had apparently found a handsome fisherman up above the sea, and they had talked for many a day. It ended with the fisherman wanting her to be his wife, and now she wants to know what it, the giant statue thinks.
It was filled with rage as never felt before, rage so hard that it bought a tremble in the area, as its hands reach out from under the seabed. In its rage it finally says "GO YOUR WAY, YOU
PEST OF A MERMAID, YOU
CHITTER AND CHATTER
CONSISTENTLY PAYING NO MIND TO MY NEED FOR SILENCE, GO YOUR WAY!" and it points its index finger at the ocean surface. "GO YOUR WAY AND PESTER ME NO
MORE!"
As soon the mermaid heard this, it swam hard up the surface, crying all the way there to find her suitor. All the mermaid wanted to hear was the truth from the giant statue. She had fallen in love with it the first time she had set eyes on it.
But now in her mind were the statue’s final words, "GO YOUR WAY!! AND PESTER ME NO MORE!!!" This was the truth, she thought, she was just a pest and all she had been doing was annoying her beloved.
Finding her way to the surface, she finally found the fisherman beaming with a smile, the handsome man knows he had won a prize, and he took her upon his little boat, and promise her the entire world he could give.
But in truth the fisherman had a sinister plan, to make not the mermaid his wife but use her as a show and gain all the gold he could get, she would be the main attraction that pulls the crowd, and with the crowd, more and more gold he would take, and no more hard work would be made by this lazy sinister fisherman.
Unknown time has passed and the statue regretted it every day, but it misses the little pest so it crept up on the far side of the fisherman's town, hoping to hear the news about his little pest, so it could finally have his peace of mind that she was safe and happy as he thought she would.
But when it got up to land, all it could heard was a song, a mermaid's song but it was terribly sad; so sad that it was breaking its heart.
It has heard the mermaid play its song many a time before, but it had always been happy tunes, that lightened its load, but all it could hear was this sadness and pain and all it wants to do was stop the pain.
So it sunk back into the dark waters, not knowing what to do, and tried to think of what to do next, perhaps the best thing was to watch and see developments.
So every night it would creep up on the far side of the town and perk its ears and eyes to listen and watch what is happening until one day it heard drunken voices coming from an inn.
"Oy....what a beauty she is, this catch of yours, she sings so well but I bet she would be even better in my loft, I will pay you a thousand gold for one night with her, what do you think oh fisherman?"
The statue was angry, for if it heard right they were speaking about his little pest, but what angered him more was this: "For 1000 gold, you can have her for three nights, bring her back safe and you get some return, what say you oh great rich one?"
The statue could stand no more of this but before it could react the words inside the inn turn to laughter and then cheers and then a scream from that little pest. They carried her out in a big tank, cheering and jeering as they went.
There were more than two of them there was a whole group of maybe ten, they groped and grabbed at her body, tearing off their own clothes too, to do exactly what the statue feared.
With rage that it had kept for many, many days that it had let slip away for the love of his life. He leapt out of the water with a roar, causing a tidal wave to crash upon the shore.
The drunks were shocked to speechlessness, and completely sobered up as they trembled in their knees.
The Giant Statue stood more than ten foot tall, eyes glaring like some unearthed demonic entity, water steaming off its body in its heated rage.
The drunks let go of the tank, as they wet themselves from their fright.
As the giant statue's roar could be heard many came in throngs out of their houses and out of that sinister inn, but they did not stay for long as they saw a horror that was unimaginable in their minds.
They all would have stay rooted there in fear of their lives but when the giant statue smashed down its giant fist, the tremors caused their legs to uncontrollably move with a mind of their own.
They all could no longer think, but their legs surely could, for it seemed to them they have incurred the wrath of a god.
"THOUGH YOU CALL YOURSELF HUMANS; LOOK AT HOW INHUMANELY YOU HAVE TREATED HER, YOU ARE NOT HUMANS YOU ARE ALL MONSTERS," the giant statue spoke.
"I HAVE WATCHED YOU ALL EVER SINCE TIME BEGAN AND ALL YOU DO IS BICKER AMONGST YOURSELVES, CAUSING WAR WHEN IT BEFITS YOUR GAIN, HARMING OTHERS OUT OF SPITE AND TAKING BY FORCE WHAT IS NOT YOURS. I DESPISE YOU ALL, YOU LIVING PESTS!"
As the statue said those words he almost regrets them but then added gently while pointing with his index finger at the mermaid "BUT THIS PEST I DO LOVE, HARM HER AGAIN AND YOU WILL DIE, TRY TO HARM ANY OF US AND YOU WILL DIE, I WILL SAY NO MORE ON THIS."
With its right hand it scooped very gently the mermaid out of the tank and set her down within the sea, and slowly sunk down back into the ocean all the while glaring hard at the cowered throngs but before he sunk down completely he said, "FISHERMAN I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, I WILL ALWAYS BE WATCHING YOU!" and
it sunk back down into the sea.
Out of pure fear, the fisherman fell onto his knee grabbing his chest; his heart had stopped completely from the fright.
The throngs left the dead fisherman alone and the very next day they all leave, for they all reason that this place was haunted and they would rather be leaving alive than stay here and be dead.
The fisherman's skeleton is still there as a reminder for everyone to see in the now desolate town.
But for the two immortals under the seabed, it was happy bliss at least for one side, for the mermaid kept chatting away happily to her founded love. But for the statue he wondered if he made the right decision for he thinks if she does not stop, his ears will fall off.
But that is all for this little tale about the Giant Statue and the Mermaid.
The Volcano Deity and the Stone Sprite
"Life without love, is really not much of a life." - Metha Metharom
On a small island not far away, separated from civilization, lies a huge dormant volcano.
It has been rumbling for centuries upon centuries building up its heat and energy.
Within the centre of the volcano, is a small trickle of magma, running outward.
Not far from that trickle a tiny stone sits, it too had been there for countless centuries.
From the little trickle of magma was a small fiery woman. She is the Volcano Deity, her present form was stunted by the volcano’s current dormancy.
For countless centuries she had seen and spoken to the one single Stone Sprite who sat not far from her little trickle of magma but for some reason he would never answer.
"Why do you stand here all year long, neither moving nor saying one word?" She would ask.
"Yes, the stone may have given you life but now that you are a Sprite, you may move independently away from it at your will," she tells it.
And then silence would follow for he would not say.
But she would continue still to say, "If you stay, you will be burned by me and by my fire, just as your rock will melt away into me."
And as a complete shock to her, the Stone Sprite would smile, almost a knowing smile but would say no more on the matter.
"Why do you smile so? What is so funny? Bah!" She nearly burst into flame.
But the Stone Sprite merely smiled again.
"You may be a Sprite but you are also male, and all male have done nothing but done wrong toward me, you are the same!" she yells.
For centuries he never said a word until now, "Why do you say so oh fiery lady of mine?"
She is shocked by this sudden break of silence but even more so toward him calling her his own.
"Why do you say such? Why do you decide to speak now?" she says so at him
The Stone Sprite merely shrugged it off and remained silent as if waiting for a reply.
Steaming a little bit, but the Volcano Deity decided to answer anyway. "Very well I will answer your question but when it is done, you will answer mine. If you do not do so I will destroy you and all the villagers in kind," and without waiting for an answer she continued.
"A long time ago back when I was human, a man once said that he would protect me with all his life, he broke his promise and let me die."
The Sprite looked solemn but nodded as if waiting for the Deity to continue onward.
So the Deity continued onward, "Back then I lived in a village, and the times were hard, and in this village they believed that by sacrificing a young virgin they would appease a God that did not exist. The man had said he would protect me with his own life but did nothing and let me die."
"Because of my need for vengeance, the hate I felt for that man and the villagers turned inward toward my spirit, and because of the age of the volcano it granted me the power to become its Deity and I am now it’s one and only Deity. I can command it as I please and do as I wish."
"Now it’s your turn to answer my question; why do you stay here when you could go?" She asks him.
With a solemn smile he finally says, "It is nothing but a very similar answer much like your own."
Angered at his answer, and unable to accept it, she burst into flame, causing the volcano to rumble and the trickle of magma under her became a sudden stream. "I cannot accept what you say, and because of this, I will take vengeance upon thee and all villagers in kind"
Though the pool of magma started to grow, the Stone Sprite merely says, "That is fine by me, for I do not wish to live, it is my fault that you had to suffer this fate, but the villagers of now are not the villagers of that day, they should not be blamed for this."
Stunned and confused at the Stone Sprite’s words, she said nothing for more than a minute. This time the Stone Sprite took this as his queue.
"Yes, this is my fault that this is your fate, I was the one who failed you in your past. I was the cowardly man who could not say and did not die at the same time as his love did, and for that I am sorry for my sin, but please do not harm these new villagers for whatever they did, they are not the same as the criminals from before, let them be and let it go."
Suddenly pained by his words, "I cannot...why do you say this now, and you know because of your crime, even if I do not destroy those villagers I will destroy you for that crime you have committed."
He said "I accept those very sins, I take it upon my shoulder to be destroyed by the anger of your fire, you ask me why I am here, I can say now this to thee."
"I love thee, oh beautiful volcano Deity of mine. I love you so much that I wish upon the heaven that I be turned into this so that I could wait for my punishment for my wrong to you, or until such day that you could let go and finally be free of this infernal fate that is worse than death."
He continued on "Either destroy me and let these villagers go or please come with me and finally let go."
With those words the Volcano Deity started to cry, the flame around her start to disappear, until her fiery form turned back to that beautiful human form, her anger had disappeared but the result of her anger had not.
"Why do you tell me now, when you could have told me before?" she asks. "If you had told me before, your life would have been spared for it is too late
to stop this process, the lava is already up to your feet, you will die if you do not leave, nothing will happen to me for I am its Deity but you are nothing but a small Stone Sprite."
"Even if you say that, this fate is fine. I have waited a long time, but with this as the fire burns me away, I will melt into you and become one with your volcano until the end of time, and I will be together with you in eternity if you wish so for me to be," he said to her.
She cried some more and said "But I no longer want to be part of this infernal hell. Let us go together away from this fiery place and be free together as we can always be."
"Oh well, in that case, let us flee, for truth to say I would rather not die, but really you got to be quicker with your words, if death you do not wish upon me," he said with a smile.
And the Stone Sprite sprouted wings from his back, for he was an angel and not a Sprite. He had waited for her for a long time, and would have waited for eternity but really, really he did not want to die, so quickly he took her away and off they flew.
Surprised and shocked by this she kicked him hard, but too hard that he almost dropped her back to the ground, but in any case as she frightfully clung to him, he laughed it off and took her up through the gateway of the heavens above. While the volcano sits dormant once again, wondering what the heck was making such a ruckus in its bowels, what a day it thinks but at least it had the companion of the sea.
And so the volcano chuckled to itself while trying very hard to woo the sea but oh well that’s another story but this is the end of the Volcano Deity and the Stone Sprite.
