Writer's Quarrel

the authorship of a famous book

Somewhere beyond the seas and of years unknown; on a wretched night where all things sought shelter. Five men set out from their homes and places of worship to attend to their business. A business of the kind which could only be communicated through a hushed correspondence of enigmatic symbols and encryption laden letters.  Out into the desert's darkness they tread beyond any travelled road or sight of sentinels' patrol.  Without lamplight or star-sight to guide their way, each set out on a journey to  a place faintly sketched in riddle as,

"Swallowed by morrow's sun where all shadows shall come to one.
 A crescent moon of rock where the damnation of man is won." 

The wind lashing at their back and the sands peeling the flesh of their feet, they sought this place of myth and legend to achieve a remarkable feat.

Late into the hours of night each on their own, individually came upon an indistinguishable sight. A mouth of a cave or catacomb enshrouded by all imaginable roots and stems seeking to rip its boulder jaws apart. Their appendages unnaturally reaching towards the cave's gaping gullet into its abysmal and rotting gut. Through their combined strength of years forgotten only a crescent crack was heaved.

The last to arrive was a spy and a thief only interested in spoiling these foolish men's illusion of grandeur; he plotted and conspired by learning their tongue and mode of contact, impersonating a man of stature. In their letters they spoke of a correlation of ancient tomes only known to a few thought to be found in this exact place. Their plans were to compile a work so final and grand that it shall answer all known questions. It was on this night they hoped to bind their combined knowledge into that final and ultimate piece. The thief slithered his way in.

Upon entrance the thief was blinded by the darkness only finding his way by touch. Echoes reverberated from deep within that faintly resembled speech and argument. It was until he crawled his way deeper that he heard the contents of their conversation,

 "This shall be a book that will bring us fortune and fame; engraving our names into the slate of eternity." said the first man with the foreign voice.

"No, no it must not concern ourselves. This book will be written to bring enlightenment and knowledge to those who precede us. So that we may leave this age of darkness into one of illumination." said the second who sounded more educated.

"Poor souls, this book is beyond us. It shall be written with divine inspiration so that all Men can revel in the glory of our prophecies." said a feeble and soft-spoken man.  

"What foolishness is this? Do you not all know that this shall be a book of Law? A book of standards by which all mankind will abide by eliminating all forms of disorder and perversion!" shouted the last voice in all its hoarseness and strength.  

The thief second guessed himself and his intentions but yet he scurried closer for a better look. He found himself above the rest in a little nook which tunneled from the main cavern by which he entered. As he watched, their arguing escalated and grew more chaotic, none letting another speak . Eventually the rambling was broken by the hoarse man who grew more unruly and drew his sabre; silence fell upon the rest. He looked like a soldier or general, which could be told from his broad shoulders and thick limbs. His voice overtook the rest as he began shouting and demanding for order. The thief watched in silence, hesitating on his next actions.

After several minutes of shouting the soldier took the book from a stone pedestal into his hands and deemed that he would be its worthy protector and guardian. To the foreigners dislike, he cursed the soldiers intentions  and as quickly as he drew his dagger he drove it into the soldiers temple dropping him to his knees. With the sole of his boot the foreign man pried the slick knife out of the soldier's shaking skull and satisfyingly wiped it with the dying man's garments. In the educated man's horror he quickly swiped the tome and made for the cave's entrance. Enraged by this action the foreigner unlashed the sabre from the corpse's stiffening  hand and charged at the fleeing coward. His legs didn't carry him far enough before the blade's tip emerged from his chest.

 The thief began to tremble and shake at the horror unfolding before him, not sure what to do he decided to remain still as not to intercept the scuffle and possibly lose his life. At this point the  foreigner and the wise man were out of the thief's sight but the gurgles of pain from repeated stabbing could be clearly heard. All that was left was the feeble old priest who in his robe cowered in the darkest corner of the cavern clutching some holy symbol that seemed to bring no relief or salvation. His prayers grew quieter as the murderer could be heard returning with heavy and labored steps.

To the priests horror the man returned carrying a granite stone just light enough for him to heave but heavy enough to crush the strongest of bones. In shock the priest began to tremble and fumble his pleas for mercy but to no affect the cold man approached unrelentingly. The thief, not wishing to see the old man's fate, came back to his sense. Hurryingly he crawled himself out of the nook and ran to escape this wretched place full of evil. A brief cry muffled by a repeated crunch and an unnatural grinding made the thief stumble to his belly and cry out in terror. He tripped himself over the slashed remains of the fleeing man who still clutched in death onto  this unholy book. Purely out of instinct he plucked it out of his brace and clamoured toward the entrance.

He knew the madman was not far behind as he climbed over the cave's steep entrance knocking back rocks and sediment down the pit's throat. To his relief he finally reached the entrance and stumbled out. During his escape he unknowingly wedged loose a significant stone which seemed to bear back the rock and as he spilled out of the cavern's mouth a hand which grabbed onto his foot was crushed by the immense weight of the descending boulder. The writhing hand's grip let loose turning a dark shade of blue and swelling from its agony.

He could tell none of the horrors that took place that unfaithful night, but he had the tome which now meant all the world to him. 

 

He opened the book and on the first page, it wrote in gold laden letters:

 Genesis

Author's Note

first draft

Reviews

[John Alexander McFadyen]

An enthral long and dramatic piece that reminded me of The Arabian Nights tales. It needs a lot of crafting. There are many errors of syntax for example Missing words: It was NOT until he crawled his way deeper that he heard the contents of their conversation.
So that we may leave this age of darkness AND ENTER into one of illumination." said the second who sounded more educated.
The piece is full of rich description but in writing it one has to read it as if for the first time and describe the scene more simply yet fully. For example in paragraph 12 there is much confusion for a reader about who did what to whom.

He opened the book and on the first page, it wrote in gold laden letters: the final part of this is again wrong simply written in gold laden letters.

Hope this helps