The sun beat down like the hammer of Hephaestus.
Pulled along into the open plain by some ill-defined horizontal gravity-well of iconic desperation, they persistently shambled forward as if threatened with falling flat on their faces should they cease the motion of their feet. An undignified prospect, indeed. Yet, it was a burning need, rather than concern over lack of dignity, tugging this pair of gods onward.
Eventually, the one stooping just a little less than the other slowed to a stop, standing straight up as it released a sigh of pent up boredom, as if any sense of need no longer mattered. Following this, ironic resignation emanated from the god. Yet, within the space of a godlike moment, its expression went from resignation, to dawning awareness, to light-bulb-coming-on-comprehension, to relaxed and calm acceptance.
"What, what, #%&@%! Where are we, what's #%&@% going on?" sputtered the other god as it came to an abrupt halt due to the fact it had collided with the back of the god who had stopped first. This second god cringed rather than stand upright, its gaze darting around every which way with a razor sharp, manic hunger. It spat out, "Why have you #%&@% stopped?"
In response to the inquiries flung its way by the cringing-god, the standing-straight god intoned, "We have arrived. This is the place."
"What?? No! It can't be, it simply can't be. It can be? It can't be! You are wrong and we must keep moving!"
"we have arrived. This is the place. This is the preordained open plain. The very one, in fact, which we ourselves preordained."
"You are wrong! I tell you are wrong; this cannot be it! We were promised!! We were promised posts with sacrificial offerings on them!! You idiot, you #%&@% halfwit... THERE ARE NO POSTS!!!"
"I am correct. This is the place. And the word you are looking for is 'stake'... we were expecting a display of fresh sacrificial offerings set on sharpened stakes..."
"And they SHOULD be here!! It is our due, our right! They are obligated to offer up themselves to us!!"
"We are no longer needed here."
"What, what?? What are you saying?!?!"
"We are no longer needed here. They have grown beyond us."
"That is impossible!! Such things are not #%&@% possible, not possible at all!! They require us! They have NO existence without us!!!"
"And yet, they are not here. And here we are... seeing what we are seeing, experiencing what we are experiencing. Can you not feel the change?? Clearly they no longer have a need for us and are moving forward without us... and I applaud them for this; it is quite an accomplishment."
"Ha! Incontrovertible idiot! You inescapably obtuse simpleton! They are measly creatures and can do no such thing! Everything they know is us!!"
"Oh... is that so."
"You know nothing! We are GODS! They owe us allegiance, obedience, outright subservience! They have NO existence at all without us!!"
"Nevertheless, present circumstances clearly show..."
"#%&@%, I thought you were my co-creator, my co-ruler, but not at all. I now see you for what you are. You are my enemy, my adversary! You want to see me fail, don't you? You want to undermine my power, don't you? You think you know it all, don't you? You know nothing! You bring no light, No light at all! Only I have the light!! Only I have the true power!!"
"You know... you can scream all you want, pitch a fit, have one tirade after another. But, all you are doing is irrefutably proving what an ABJECT FOOL you are.You continue to miss the point."
"Oh? And that GRAND point is...??"
"The denizens of this realm no longer have a need for us because things have gone RIGHT. We've done GOOD. I choose to see it as a job well done by us. We helped them evolve, become more than what they first were at the birth of their existence. They've grown up. The important distinction to be made here is that, instead of leaving the proverbial nest like a bird does when it comes time to do so, the nest - meaning you and I - is what needs to move on. Anyhow, do what you want, I'm finished here."
"But, I don't understand... what will you do?!?!"
"I shall simply dissipate... until I am pulled into cohesion for the next role I am called upon to fulfill."
With that pronouncement, the standing-straight god strode forward into the horizon. When it arrived at the nonexistent doorway, it stepped through, no longer to be heard, felt, seen, experienced in any form or function in that plain of existence.
~*~
Aghast, frozen in place, watching the departure of it's now former compatriot, the cringing-god looked like an inescapably lost child.
Upon feeling the other god's passage through the nonexistent doorway, the cringing-god burst into inarticulate bellows/screams of rage/sorrow, alternately beating its fist on its thighs and clawing at its own chest and face. After a godlike moment, this activity resolved into howling, wailing sobs of self-pity as it squatted down on its heels in an upright fetal position.
After a further godlike moment, in between softer sobs, a fierce mantra began to emanate from the cringing-god's lips, "They will worship ME! I will have their SUBMISSION!"
It began madly scrabbling around on the ground, grabbing what sticks it could find in the scrub brush of the open plain. Once it had accumulated a godly sized bundle, the cringing-god jammed them into the ground, one by one, until there were disorderly rows upon rows of upright sticks.
In the frenzy of the cringing-god's roiling emotions, showers of tears had created puddles of mud in the dry ground. Gleefully jabbering its mantra, the frenetic god scooped up the mud, using it to mold figures, each with a head, torso, arms, legs, hands and feet. Lovingly, carefully every individual one was fashioned with due consideration.
Upon completion, each one was immediately impaled on a stick.
When all were impaled, the cringing-god, drooling with excitement, then scratched and clawed at each figure. The scratching and clawing was so artfully done, it appeared the tiny, impaled beings had been whipped to the point of strips of flesh being flayed away.
Where the rabid god's saliva fell, stains and rivulets of blood formed.
~*~
The sun ceased beating down like the hammer of Hephaestus.
Past sunset, on into the night, through the clenched teeth of a death's head scowling grin, the cringing god chanted on.
- - - - -
[The following, except for the last paragraph, is taken from Wikipedia.]
The Llano Estacado... commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle.
Coronado (otherwise known as Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján) named the region after seeing the cliffs of the Caprock Escarpment from the north on his way east from Cíbola. They appeared to be an impenetrable defense for the land, and he called it Llano Estacado, Spanish for "Palisaded Plains." The name is often mistranslated as "staked plain," giving rise to fanciful stories to explain it.
The story I came across, when I was growing up, is that the name of the region came about because the Spaniards put stakes in the ground - with scraps of cloth tied to them - to mark their way as they traveled across the plains. Yeah, many a Conquistador dreamt of being like a god in the New World. Some got a taste, others died. Ultimately, it was the diseases they spread that most contributed to the "success" of their endeavors. What a "blessing" they were to those who were already here in the so called "New World".
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By Hunter Sangfroid
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