-1To the Top

The Arizona wind whipped orange dust across a desolate terrain, making concrete the idea of an ever-changing earth. Jagged, mountainous rocks the same hue of the ground floor stood erect and proud, and they raised emotionless expressions toward the skies. These mountains were the masters of the earth, their silent authority etched upon their surfaces with the evidence of time and life.

Like all good masters, these towering fortresses protected those creatures that wished to seek refuge. They reigned over all living spirits willing to recognize their power and strength. This became the accepted tradition that none questioned, for it was a good tradition. Silently, the society watched as years passed, as other methodologies decayed and left an insignificant mark upon their world.

Among the tide of harmony, there was always one lesser being that became the proverbial black sheep. One peculiar individual did not belong in this day in age, and even the eldest mountain knew not of its origin. In wonder and curiosity, the mountains watched the strange creature. It scaled a shoulder of a mount that had long been withering down to its last centuries, yet it did not acknowledge the old stone's power. It continued its ambitious pace without even a whisper of reverence. And so it was that Earth's beloved peaks discovered man, a creature that, even in its primal state, defied all of their laws and their nature.

With bated breath and shaky limbs, the diminished fortresses waited for the anomaly to plummet at their feet. It continued to ascend with purpose, unperturbed and unafraid. The worry transformed into resentment. At once, the mountains rose up and bucked their shoulders, in an effort to intimidate and repress the rebellious outsider. Rocks and petrified citizens tumbled from the once tranquil society, and chaos enveloped the seemingly-fortified civilization.

Despite the crumbling base, the creature named man clung to the rock's face as his primitive mind refused to acknowledge the elders' superiority. He had one goal, to reach the top of this barrier, to discover what lay on the other side. He knew nothing, understood nothing but the need to learn, the longing to explore. The mountains grew livid at the audacity this creature had to ignore their presence. They battered and swiped at their new enemy, yet he ascended steadily.

It was not long before the elders grew weary and spent, as the new creature persisted all the while. The mountains had been defeated, and they knew their reign had ended. With bent shoulders and humbled spirits, the old stones shifted back into place and prepared themselves for a new age, an age in which they stood immobile, ever-changing.

With the stone's defeat came the new master's victory. As he pulled himself over the ledge of the diminished rock, he became something that gave light to that new era. The man looked into the sky, and he watched the sun burst over the horizon. That warming light spurred power in the ruler's young heart, and he wept at the beauty of it, at the beauty of his Earth's birth, of the birth of man.