Once a Kingdom

We are, we have always been.
Holding council, ever unchanging.

As the pleasant warmth returns, the discussion continues where it left off when the cold time came.
Old Abarak weighed in first, as usual. “We were once part of a great society, A KINGDOM on a mountain; we WERE the mountain, that was the expanse of our kind…Together as ONE!”
The elders nearby murmured in agreement.
“Nothing could touch or harm us. Harmony and peace for ages.”
“Then one day… One horrible day…”

He trailed off. It often ended there, the memory was too painful. It didn’t matter, the smaller ones had heard the story enough to recite it themselves.

After millennia on the great old mountain, the kingdom was attacked by outside forces, torn asunder, families were ripped apart. When the dust settled, all was in ruins. Survivors found themselves isolated, alone. Over time new families grew, new allegiances were formed from the rubble. But no more mountain kingdom, now only scattered tribes.

Abarak was among the few elders that still carried the memory; a frightful vibration that lingered on and on. The rest were more anchored in the present. Savoring the warmth when it came, sharing the simple richness of being among the tribe, and the fragrant earth beneath them.

Life was peaceful, despite the constant admonitions from the elders of future tumult.

“What happened BEFORE, will happen AGAIN” went the warning.

“We have known peace for as long as most of us remember” was the response.

With no mountain kingdom to defend there seemed no threat to the safety of the tribe.

Then one day, the little ones disappeared. There as always, then gone.

JUST. GONE.

“We warned you! We warned you this day would come. WE ARE NEXT!” cried the elders.

“I think the garden looks so much better without all those stones cluttering it up.” she said, after hauling away the last wheelbarrow load of rocks.

“I told you it would!” he replied, gazing around at their backyard project. “Those big boulders are just too much to move ourselves. Maybe we can hire someone to haul them away, then we can really enjoy the space.”