Sand Man: The Divine Clock Maker

"I HAVE HEARD tales of this man, this immortal being of utter and sheer power. He controls a world which is said that all worlds meet, and all mortals will see.", my grandfather said with his raspy, withered voice.

"He claims all, child. He knows all as well. The past and future are well acquainted with him. What he cannot see is our current time, they are obscured views that only we can see.: That being said, is it safe to say that my grandfather believes our lives are predetermined? Yes, you could say that might be true. Grandpa closed his eyes now. He drifted off to sleep. It was late, so I too fell fast asleep at the foot of our household hearth.

I woke in the midst of a lush, green grove. surrounded by tall oaks. Light danced on the grass as it pierced the canopy of oaks. I looked to my left and saw my grandpa sleeping next to me peacefully, without a note being spelled from him. I rolled over onto my stomach so I could push myself to my feet, once standing, I filled myself with a deep breath of the crisp and cold morning air while stretching my arms. It was such a serene environment. I could hear birds chirping, running water on a brook, the leaves swaying as they're buffeted by the gentle gusts of winds the flow through the forest.

I stumbled from the clearing down to the brook to wash my face off and try to wake myself up. The birds flew away though, their songs ceased. I knelt before the river and dropped my hands into the water and drew water to my face. The water was warm, until it touched my cheeks. It was ice cold.

Something was wrong. The water trickled down my face to the creek, but I couldn't hear the droplets hit the body. Not only this, but I couldn't hear the leaves rustling with the wind. I reached for the brook again. This time, when my hands touched the water, it too, was ice cold. Withdrawing them revealed that my hands were no longer hands. They were bone and ligaments. I was overcome with awe and pain, Beneath my hands was a murky mixture of blood and tainted water. I rushed up the hill, tripping the many stones that covered its bank until I met the treeline.

Suddenly, the leaves of the canopy fell in troves the forest was disintegrating at a rapid pace. I made it back to where the grove once was, but the leaves were all gone; stolen by am icy wind. Grandpa was still sleeping on a big boulder. I screamed cries of anguish and desperation in hopes that he might wake up, but he still slept on the rock. I reached to grab him with what was left of my hands, but the strenuation of the muscles upon the bone, collapsed them. Grandpa's eyes shot open, pitch black, he said: "Time is coming." and he turned to sand.

➡➡

     A BRIGHT LIGHT pierced the darkness of this very large and empty room; only flecks of dust are found littering the gray and void space. From the light which gave life to the room came a pair of withered hands. The hands were completely identical A snap from the fingers of these cadaverous hands spawned a box, whose enormity dwarfed the hands. The hands cracked the fingers of one another, and then promptly delved into the box.

     The box shuddered rapidly and violently from time to time. The convulsions were followed by a series of esoteric sounds; a cacophony of sounds befell the now populated hall of gray. From the sounds of bells ringing, to the roars of mighty beasts, the mania ceased; the hands had returned from the interior of the mysterious box. The hands were grasping something unseen, however, it was clear that the what the hands held in their clenched fists was something of immense power. A miraculous and incredible light, more mysterious than that of the light that currently illuminated the hall, peeked through the cracks in between the fingers of the hands. The hands fluently drew away from one another, then clashed, creating a blast of light, and from this light, another pair of hands was made. Different from the creator pair, this pair had a left and right hand.

     Following the second pair's creation, the hands smashed together, again, with tumultuous force, joyous of what they had made. The spawned pair were confused by this display, but, nevertheless, awaited orders. The creator hands ushered their creation to the box of enormity. The creation did too, delve into the void of the box for some time, whilst the creator hands took the light that graced the grey room and clasped it between themselves.

     The creator revealed the "light", which was no longer light; it had been formed into a small, babbling little beast, pink as flesh, cute as a button., adorned atop a pedestal of bone. The beast wold babble and babble nonsense about how he lacked a means of moving about. He cried for arms and legs, and a torso for he to sit about. The creators took more light and did grant the miserable little beast his wishes.

     Meanwhile, the pair inside the box had tilted the box over, and dragged a great mass with them as they departed from the box. The hands created a sphere, flawless and lacking any evils. the sphere was blessed with light from the creator's gift, which, in turn, created Life.

     The Creator Pair had but one more bit of light and hadn't thought as to what to do with it. They turned to their ever-babbling creation to ponder. Time and reflection upon the creation allowed the Creator Pair to decide that the creation should hear itself, so it may be silent. With what light was left, the Creators gave the beast ears, and it was silent.

     The Creators took their creation to the pair of "Perfect" hands and gestured towards the now, silent little being, so silent, that only the murmur of its heart could be heard. The Perfect hands elevated their fifth digits to their Creator and plucked the beast and cast it onto the sphere.

     Life on the sphere flourished. The creation of the Creator's hands multiplied. Each beast was given a box; a box with infinite possibilites. All the creations were the same. Identical. The boxes which they possessed had infinite possibilities within them. Still, they were all the same. Their creators saw this, and lowered their fifth digits.

     But the Creators had forgotten.

      They gave their creations not the gift of sight.

      A day once came though, when a creation found itself taking pieces of the world around him, instead of what lay in the box, and crafted itself a means of vision. This single creation, could see.
   
      He saw that his hands were both that of right.

Foundation

The stone of which the builder refused has become the cornerstone.
The morals and values I had once had,

those instilled within the confines of my mind,
were most definitely not my own.

those crusaders who tempted me with tales of a holy land, at the cost of my free will,
are all but memories, left behind in these sands I now trek.

Though the sands may burn, it is better to continue to march with the hope that I will find water,
than to stand and blister away.

I will find this land, conquer it, and make it my own.
I will take this stone,

seldom thought of, set aside,
and build the most magnificent of temples of it as my foundation.

Ah-Loth (Three Plains/Planes)

I had heard the echoes of the lost calling to me from the city's most prominent temple. The echoes called out from the Astral Planes, where I was born. The darkest monstrosities come from that world. Even I am considered to be a being of evil.

The temple was dedicated to the omnipotent titan who rules all of astral-kind. Lothos. Here in the Terran Plane, those who escape Lothos's clutches live within a devastated island, known as Ah-Loth.

A gate from our realm, the Astral Plane, was opened in the Terran Plane. A light from the Terran world's heavenly bodies was release late one night. People from the "Earth", as they call it, believed this to be a catastrophe, the end of their world; the largest and most renown city in their world was sunk by this fallen star. It was a blessing to us.

The cathedral of which our god dwells was built in this new world. The fallen star was the product of an attack against Lothos. A hero among astrocities, Uurlok. He led a rebellion against the titan, but was obliterated by He who enslaves us. The titan lost an eye during the attack of Uurlok and his men. Because Lothos lost an eye, a gate to the Terran Plane was opened for a short period of time. The many slaves of the Astral realm had escaped to the Terran world, and spawned in the land, which was nothing more than a wasteland, but the escaped called it home: Ah-Loth.

The cries grew louder as I approached his statue. Anguish and sorrow beset my heart and tears grew within the heights of my cheeks.

A proud monument to his sin; he stood piercing the titan's right eye with a long, heavy sword. The expression of the titan's face could not foster the agony the titan had felt, nor could an artist depict the suffering Uurlok should feel as he was promptly ripped to pieces by the titan's gaping maw.

I presented my offering to his statue so that I might appease his cries for another day.

The titan watches from his void while the Terrans sleep.

Dream, dream, O restless ones, you may never dream. Kneel before the savior of astrocity kind, the giver of salvation and freedom, so that we might steal yours away.

Capitulation

A sharp, yet defined rap echoed through my hall as I was seated upon my throne, gazing into the sands of my hourglass.




The last few grains trickled down the bulb, and the rap grew into a cacophony of hands, beating at the iron spiked door of oak, coated with the greens of moss.




I saw the face of an old man, staring back at me from the reflection of the glass. His face scarred with wrinkles and littered with cuts and bruises.




I saw myself, of course.




The rapping grew into a steady and continuous pounding. Cries of anguish could be heard from outside the powerful door, holding back all the angry and crazed hands. I raised my hand from the armrest and slew the watch glass to the ground; it's contents lay splayed about my court on the marble tiles.




Louder and louder, they had beaten down the first door.




The captain of the guard and his men stood before the souls. Their plate emblazoned with the luminosity of the mob's torch.




"Schießen!" the guard ordered. The royal guard stood with their pikes in hand, forming a strong wall that prevented the advance of the mob, and overhead, archers fired volleys into the mob.




The mob, of course, didn't stop at this. Their shouts could be heard from inside my hall. I rose from my throne to my plate. My armor. My blade. Once used to unite my realm with the bonds iron and flesh. No more.

Again, I saw myself. A broken man. Once a proud and honorable monarch, true to his word, true to his people, but now? I am no more.

I walked about my scarlet carpet, leading to the steel doors that lead out onto the facade of which my men where. I found our sculptures. Busts of our family. 

We were once gods. 

There was no one higher than I or my brother.

We were respected by all men and women alike. Where are we now?

I forced the busts to the ground. The beautiful and meticulously carved marble fell to the ground, and shattered.

I no longer heard the commands of my captain. The mob was afoot once again, this time, at the door of steel, ramming the door. I found myself on the balcony, looking over my kingdom, my dominion, my realm. My home.

All in a wave of red and orange.

The mob was finally rushing through my hall.

But when the came to meet me on the balcony, all they found was my crown and blade.

They were not ready for a reign of love and wisdom. Blood and iron was forever in this land. 

Forever the dream of my brother.

Will

I saw him bound on his hands and knees, in a pool of his own sweat. For long, he writhed within his bindings, helplessly trying to piece himself free, his efforts in vain. Incapacitated, he lay there, slump in a pool of his own failure.

Sad, isn't it?

He was beautiful too. A work of God's art, from his long, flowing brown hair, his crisp blue eyes and a very defined nose.

His hair cut, locks scattered in a puddle of blood, which had poured from his now cracked and misshapen nose. What could have done this to him?

One thing.

It is a almost holy thing, talked about all one's life.

It battered his will, once wrought of iron. Tore his mind, cast of gold. Shattered his heart, once of glass.

His cold eyes meet yours and you feel them, piercing your soul, melting your heart.

Everything he does is a blatant attack of your home, your temple. He only seeks now to defile every temple he can; to steal the tithe and upset your font.

Nothing can save him, he is unbound. His soul was swept away from him, as he lay bound. Wisps of smoke rose above his head, the soul sought no more anguish. He forced it from himself.

He feels no longer.

His body is warm.

His touch is cold.

His eyes?

Much colder.

Your temple will become his own. A house of pain and sorrow. He will pray to your god so that he might be set free, but the same of him will happen to you.

You will know sorrow, you will know pain.

He will smash the stained glass windows, mutilate your effigies and destroy your altar.

He will become your god.

He will become all your think of.

All you dream of.

You will have many sleepless nights.

All because you let love crush you the way it had crushed him.

Reditio Naturorum

Dollar sign.

DOLLAR sign.

DOLLAR SIGN.

That's all I see them as. That's all they are. Dollar signs with legs. You think they have heartbeats? What makes you think that they have the same thought capacity as you and me?

Do you see the gods they worship? Silicon bodies and their teeth so perfect? They're royalty.

But truly? No. They simply have more paper than what they know what to do with. Benjamin's pure power, baby. Nothing can stop the almighty dollar sign.

That's why we keep our eyes on them, our dollar signs. These mindless thralls that wander the streets we call ours. All we have is because of them. All they have is because of us.

Without that little ping every so often to make them feel like they're important, they draw less and less away from the almighty dollar sign.

Eventually, they'll see that it's all a sham. They'll realize that it's all a power struggle. It's an obsession.

One big game of "Who the hell can hoard the most paper?".

They dedicate their lives to us, unknowingly, yet willingly.

The more paper they collect, the more powerful they become. That's why they die before they can see the world from where you and I do.

Some of them are more dangerous than others. They see past our ruse, they see our game and they think they're strong enough to become a part of it.

They too, are pawns just as all the rest are.

No matter what the case may be, the mindless demoralize those who speak out against us, shunning the thoughts of those who care to think, who care to try; those who want to make a difference.

Perhaps someday, they might.


WITH THE ADVENT OF MACHINE, Man has achieved many splendors.

Man has even replaced Man with Machine.

The coming of the age of machine means one thing though: The downfall of the almighty dollar sign. The dollar sign will no longer possess the strength of a god, machine will.

Machine will make all of Man return to it's roots. The return to nature.

In troves they will flee from cities to the darkest of shades under canopies that cast a divine shade.

Man will learn once again to work with one another and live in harmony, but in fear of the mad gods who manipulate their machines.

The gods though, will find themselves powerless.

Without their thralls, their workers, their slaves, there is no power to exercise over Man, thus, leaving the gods much less than gods. They simply become false idols.

Without any followers, they lose power, they lose their will. They submit to the power of Man and leave the Machines that they have tried to replace Man with.

The men who once sought to change the hearts of Man have had their wish granted to them. They wish not to abuse the power of leading Man, they only wish for Man to love one another as they have been made to.

They have awaited this day.

The day that Man could finally live in perfect and true harmony with it's home, it's goddess, it's mother.

Earth, the one and only god that Man should and shall ever have.