Marcia’s Tale

            It was a bright, fall day. Children scattered at the sound of the bell, and gathered with their friends to walk home. No one could walk alone, outside of their homes or out of the school grounds in the Toronto district. There were mentions of gangs in the area, so people were scared.

            “Why are there gangs?” Kat asked furiously.

            “There are many reasons why gangs form,” Marcia explained. “Some think it’s cool to fight, while others just want to act tough.”

            “This is so silly! Who ever thought fighting was cool?”

            “I know it’s weird, but some people just think that way. No one can explain it,” Marcia replied.

            “It’s so unfair! Why are we the ones who get punished, by having to walk around everywhere with a partner, while all gangs do is fight and never get caught?” Kat asked, ducking from the aim of a leaf-blower on a nearby lawn. The boy controlling the noisy instrument snickered, as bits of leaf and dirt were caught in her frizzy, brown hair.

            “Well, they will eventually be punished, once they’re caught,” Marcia disagreed, giggling at the incident. “Everyone who is mean receives a punishment in some way or form.”

            “Oh yah? Prove it then!” Kat demanded, narrowing her eyes with hatred at the boy, who seemed to be dying of laughter as he rolled on the ground.

            “I was wondering when you were going to ask me that!” Marcia beamed, beginning to tell her favorite story…

~*~

            When the Earth was formed billions of years ago, it was a giant sphere made entirely of hard, jagged stone. There were no plants, animals or any type of landscape. Water’s touch had never been felt on the dusty, dry world, and neither had Fire’s embers. Wind’s breath was constantly blown over the land, causing rubble to fly about, with no break or pause in the cycle.

            The Sun felt shivers coming from this planet, making it impossible to give warmth to the others. Using the heat from his colossal body, he created three creatures, to form and give life to Earth.

            The first to be sent was a bold and temperamental coyote. He was named Sornik of the Creation, being the creator of fauna.

            Iconore of the Pangaea, was a frustrating, but alas a hard working spider. She was the creator of flora and of the regions on earth, and used her webbing to pull trees and mountains from the soil and rock.

            The last to be sent was a wise and patient serpent, who was to become ruler of the cycles of time. As the large spirit, named Eiorak, slithered his way into the ground to sleep, clouds formed, pouring Earth’s first rain onto the dry land. An ocean was sculpted out of the dusty clay, surrounding the one great continent of the Pangaea, and the rhythmic patterns of the waves lapped against the warming rock. As magma drained from Eiorak’s body, forming the mantle, he called on the moon and sun to rotate around the planet, controlling night and day, fall and spring, and winter and summer.

            All of Iconore’s lush, green forests and frosty, tall mountains, interrupted Wind’s path of cool breath, warming the Earth, ever so more. As Sornik howled, with a long slow sound, the waves captured his echoes and molded them into millions of creatures. Depending on the time of day, each species was called from the ocean’s bottom. Some of which were too scared to find new homes, so they formed gills and swam below the surface for all eternity.

            Eventually, Sornik of the Creation announced his first disapproval: “There are not enough homes for the animals!” he reported bluntly, “They are too weak and will not hold against Wind’s harshness. Animals are lying outside freezing to death! You must establish more homes, so Earth’s life does not die out, Iconore!”

            “It takes a lot of my energy to create trees, bushes and caves for your little, selfish creatures,” the spider replied, raising her voice, “I cannot possibly make more! Maybe if you’d settle down on your weak and impatient creations, I could…”

            “I refuse to stop my duties! The Sun gave me specific orders and I must follow them! You aren’t working hard enough spider!” The argument lasted for months.

            The two of them started neglecting their work and claimed two massive groups of animals, to solve the problem. Iconore forced the carnivores to devour all other creatures, while the herbivores were trained by Sornik to consume as many plants as possible. Ultimately, the world turned deathly silent. The frigid air of peace draining from the planet woke Eiorak abruptly. He felt no warmth in the soil surrounding him. No clear energy flow was nearing his shaking body. He closed his eyes in panic, envisioning a deep purple sky above him. Animals scattered and hid from unknown sources of evil. Burning flames flickered furiously in front of him, as shrieks of dying souls shook the world in fear.

            He made his way franticly towards the surface, shifting rock and magma out of his way. Violent storms were harshly pouring rain over the broken earth, desperately trying to flood the land. Seeing the starters of the chaos, Eiorak trapped the spider and the coyote in a miniscule box, preventing them from controlling the outside world. He split the Pangaea into seven smaller areas, scattering the plants and animals around the Earth. Eiorak kept a few reptiles and transformed them into great, scaly monsters, which roamed the planet, eating everything in sight. He then released the other two spirits, and told them that the only way for them to destroy the monsters was if they worked together.

            Sornik hated the idea of having to work with a measly spider, but hastily agreed to help when Eiorak threatened to put him back in the cramming box. The power hungry coyote placed a few animals as bait, to lure the oversized creatures into a small, deserted area, while Iconore used her webbing to pull high, frozen mountains out of the ground to trap them. The monsters started to rampage around their little circular cage in frustration. Sornik howled and moaned, creating a thin and bright, silvery line in the air. The line stuck the creatures, like a large game of connect-the-dots. As it did, each monster started to screech, as steam puffed from their large pointed ears. Their eyes rolled in their sockets and their feet vibrated. The creatures started jumping around, out of control Then, everything stopped. Not a sound was heard, nor an action made. Sornik eyed the creatures nervously, half expecting them to reach out and snap at the limp body of Iconore, who had fainted in all of the commotion. Suddenly, one of the closest animals started to bubble. One by one, each of the creatures’ skin turned a deep scarlet, and started to boil, as more steam flew from their ears. Flesh bubbling, the monsters lurched forwards and started to regurgitate their bones. As the gigantic masses were spat up, shrinking the reptiles’ bodies, they sunk into the ground. When the creatures returned to their normal size, they too vanished into the earth, and the peaceful stillness brightened the evil sky back to a crisp, clear blue.

            The exhausted coyote picked the limp spider up and carried her to her web in the sky to rest. He hid away in a mountain close by, as the largest spirit, Eiorak, slithered back into the ground to dream for all eternity. His hope for everlasting peace was ruined, but he decided to start a fresh, new life on Earth, not knowing that it would be destroyed again, by the people of the world. As he thought, he crept into his home for an eternal sleep…

~*~

            “Wow! Where did you hear that?” Kat asked, interested as she picked a few leaves out of her hair.

            “I wrote it last week for the story telling period in school.” Marcia said proudly.

            “Ugh! I was away that day,” Kat exclaimed, rather disappointed, “What did we have to do?”

            “Well,” Marcia paused to think, “We had to write a creative story about a problem in our city of Toronto. I decided to use “gangs” as my problem. You might have realized that, when Sornik and Iconore formed to groups of animals to fight each other.”

            “That shows a gang fight.”

            “Right. Afterwards, we had to vote for the best story. I came in second place, next to Grace,” Marcia scowled at the thought, “It’s not fair! How can anyone beat someone so popular and mean? Even if she didn’t win, she would force her friends to verbally the people harass the people who didn’t vote for her!”

            Kat rolled her eyes, “Sounds a lot like a gang… and bullying.”

            “Fighting doesn’t solve anything! It’s wrong! If people work together and help each other through problems, we’d achieve more. Everyone knows two wrongs don’t make a right!” Marcia said sadly, her head looking at the ground. A tear trickled slowly down her cheek. Kat looked and crossed the street towards her small, humble home. She stopped to look back at her best friend walking silently down the road.

            “I think you story is the best! You deserve the best writers award!” Kat yelled after her, from her flat, green lawn. Marcia smiled slightly. Kat thought she heard her mutter a soft “Thanks,” though she didn’t go into her house, until the soft, slender shape of her friend turned the corner and slowly walked out of sight. Marcia was right. Fighting doesn’t solve anything.

…“~*~”…

Just a little story I wrote a while ago for a competition just like the one mentioned. If you have any questions in your reviews about “Marcia’s Tale,” I’ll be glad to answer them. Hope you enjoyed it and please review and correct. Bye! (You can read any of my other stories- which will be posted soon)