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Pillars

Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Gender
trans-pan-demi-ethno-christian-math-autis-genderfluid-cheesecake
I thought of this idea on my walk home, and wrote it in like 20 minutes, so I hope this didn't come out too poorly. Thank you in advance for reading and for your critique.

Pillars

A man was walking down the street one day, looking at all of the interesting shops, trying to find something to add a bit to his life. You see, this man had lived most of his life at the bottom. He was always used to being there, and he wanted to change this unfortunate fact. Suddenly, an idea entered his head: If I am at the bottom, all I need to do is go higher up!

The man started planning it out. Used to living on the bottom, he decided he’d build a new floor above him, and he’d spend his days up on that floor for the time being. But how would he hold this floor up? he thought. Then, he saw just the place to help him out, a large store called “The Pillar Shop”.

Walking into The Pillar Shop, he was immediately amazed. Countless pillars, all of different shapes and sizes, filled the shops. An old fellow walked up to the man.

“Are you interested in buying some pillars?” the old fellow asked.

“Why yes, yes I am! I need some so I can go up!” the man replied.

“Well then, come with me.”

The old fellow led the man around his shop, showing him all of the different pillars; but only one pillar caught the man’s eye: a beautiful pillar, right in the middle of the room. The man went running over to the pillar immediately, and stared at it in awe. Its beautiful designs captivated the man, and he knew that the pillar he saw in front of him was the only pillar for him.

“I want this pillar,” the man declared.

“Oh, that is a fine choice,” the old fellow responded cheerfully. “And what else?”

“What else?” the man repeated the old fellow’s question back at him. “Why, this pillar is so beautiful, and it seems so sturdy, too! Why would I need any other pillar but this one?” the man questioned.

“Well,” the old fellow began, “with only one pillar, how could you possibly go any higher up?” the old fellow asked.

“I do not need to go any higher up!” the man exclaimed. “As long as I have this pillar, I will be high enough!”

“Then, what if this pillar crumbles beneath your higher spot? Certainly, then you will fall back down to the bottom,” the old fellow retorted.

The man hadn’t even thought of that. This pillar? Crumbling? There was no way. “Certainly, a pillar such as this would never crumble. It is much too beautiful for it to have a poor foundation,” the man shot back.

“Ah,” the old fellow started, “but that is not true. Not all beautiful pillars are as nice inside. Furthermore, several pillars would have an easier time holding up a higher up place than just one! Why, you may take out the pillar just with your weight alone!”

“Enough!” shouted the man. “I am getting this pillar and this pillar only!”

“Very well,” the old fellow said, “You may have this pillar.”




Within days, the man had created his paradise. Finally, he was higher up! He was no longer at the bottom, and he needn’t worry about ever falling to the bottom again, as he had the most beautiful, amazing pillar of all. For months, this man stayed atop his spot, feeling better than anything in the world. But one day, the man’s spot felt shaky, and so he walked down to see that his pillar had a crack in it.

“Well, this should be an easy fix,” the man stated. He walked down to the store, and picked up some plaster to fix his pillar. Quickly, he set everything right with his pillar, and went back up to his spot. He felt great again.

However, after a few weeks, once again, his spot started feeling shaky. Climbing back down to see what was the matter, he noticed there were now 2 cracks in his pillar! With optimism, he fixed these cracks, and went back up to his spot. He would repeat this every time his spot got shaky and there was a new crack to fix. It seemed that these cracks were happening more and more often as time went by, but he felt confident in his pillar, as it was so beautiful, and therefore, it would always hold him up. He would always fix the pillar, and spend all of his earnings on buying it a new paint job or sprucing up its design. He truly loved his pillar.

After a while, the man stopped fixing the cracks. Every time there was shakiness on his spot, he assumed everything was alright. Even when he saw the cracks with his own eyes, he would do nothing but paint the pillar and try to keep it looking beautiful. Until, one day, his spot felt so shaky, he was afraid it was about to crumble on the spot! So, he walked down to check out his pillar, and what he saw amazed him. The inside of the pillar, a pillar most beautiful, one that he loved dearly, was filled with a disgusting mold. He realized quickly that his pillar, which he thought was beautiful, was not actually very beautiful at all. In fact, it had always been filled with mold, and the man’s weight only caused the pillar to break down more quickly. While he was disgusted and hurt by the pillar’s betrayal, he knew it was too late to abandon his pillar. He was much too shy and ashamed to approach the old fellow and obtain a new pillar, and by blind faith, he convinced himself that his pillar would continue to hold him up. After all, he always did so much for his pillar.






Creak. The man’s spot came crumbling down. That was the end of the man’s pillar, and the man feared it would be the end of himself as well. Lying in a pile of rubble, all he could do was curse the pillar’s betrayal. He shouted out to the skies in anger, but no one shouted back. He looked around him: he was back at the bottom, once again, with no pillars.

Lying in the hospital, the man every day felt closer and closer to death. He thought he would never recover, and even if he did, what would the point be? He had no pillars after all.

He heard a knock on his hospital door, and soon someone entered. It was the old fellow from The Pillar Shop.

“Hello,” said the old fellow, “how are you feeling?” he asked.

“Well,” the man started. “You were right. The pillar which I thought was beautiful was actually full of mold. And with no other pillars to support me, I crumbled to the ground,” the man stated solemnly. “There is no purpose for me anymore, for even if I recover, there are no pillars with which to hold me up high.”

The old fellow stared into the man’s eyes. “But that is not true,” he stated. “There are many pillars still, many pillars that want to support you. You just have to allow them to.”

The man’s eyes widened. He realized the old fellow was right! That shop…it was filled with pillars! Even though the man had rejected all of those pillars, they were still there, in that shop, wanting to support him. How blind he had been, he thought. And yet, how lucky he is to have realized his blindness.






The man survived, and years later, the man built a tower that was many stories high. He had hundreds of pillars supporting him, all of different designs and sizes, never judging one based on their outward beauty. He picked pillars from all different parts of the world, and made sure to fill his tower with as many pillars as he could, for you never know which pillars are going to be filled with mold, and which ones will be strong and hold you up at your highest heights, staying with you if you fall, and never letting you touch the bottom.
 
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Jamie

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out...
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Gender
trans-pan-demi-ethno-christian-math-autis-genderfluid-cheesecake
sorry i just have to be mean to you by law
 

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