By Werthworld
We crave to carve permanence from the elusive present. Etching daily reminders, we cling to children’s crayon drawings, ticket stubs, t-shirts, photographs, and videos. Our memories remain faint and fleeting.
Desiring durable monuments, we inscribe gravestones, chisel statues, and dedicate parks, public buildings, and entire cities. Nonetheless, cemeteries are forgotten, buildings fall, parks are redeveloped, and cities are abandoned.
Ancients erected obelisks and pyramids. Eventually they were buried in overgrowth or sand, their meanings forgotten over time.
Memories fade. Living things die. Civilizations fail. Stones crumble. Continents drift. Suns exhaust their fuel. Galaxies collapse, consumed by their cores.
Everything is ephemeral.
This is stunning. “We crave to carve permanence from the elusive present.” Just stunning.
Thanks, I reworked this story many times before submitting it. I’m glad it came out well.
Good, truthful, yes…but kind of depressing thoughts, nonetheless. Everything might truly be ephemeral, but that does not mean it was not meaningful. Some great imagery, however; and the fact that you worked hard on the story is apparent because it is so well written.
Thanks for your feedback. Yes, this is a little dark for me, but I’m trying to mix my work up a bit. I appreciate your comments.
Very thought provoking and well written. The words were well selected to express your image of each thought.
Thank you, word selection is a very deliberate process. I looked up lots of words.
Great job on this story.
Thank you for your comment.
Really enjoyed this, thanks, especially the voice.
Thank you for your feedback.
I see this as not fiction, but rather as a brief synopsis of Buddhist philosophy:
“Decay is inherent in all component things”……..
Yeah, feedback from a previous story questioned whether my writings were really stories or “just” observation pieces…this threw me off my game for a bit. Ultimately, I decided the distinction wasn’t important to me – if I could say it well, I’d try to put it out there. I hope you liked the piece regardless as to how you label it.
A great reason (excuse) for hedonism!
Does hedonism need an excuse? Thanks for responding to my piece.
This is one of the best written stories I’ve seen on 101 words.
As someone else commented before: I liked the voice of this one. I think this piece also has a nice cadence to it. Great work!