What a Beetle Overheard (a one-shot)
Feb 24, 2017 23:57:09 GMT -5
[~Ghost Writer~] and Owlmoon like this
Post by Jackalstep on Feb 24, 2017 23:57:09 GMT -5
Imagine you are a beetle on the bark of an oak tree. It is nearly moonhigh on a summer night, and two cats are camped out on a branch of your tree; one is a fully-grown tortoiseshell she-cat, while the other is a young gray tom. As you sit there on the bark of the tree, you can’t help but eavesdrop on their conversation…
“Emberspots?”
“Mm… Huh?”
“Oh, good, you’re still awake.”
“Barely.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did.”
“I mean, I have a different question I want to ask you.”
“Fine…”
“Is StarClan all that’s up there?”
“Well, there’s the moon, and the sun…”
“That’s not what I meant. Is StarClan, I dunno, the only thing that watches over us? Or are there other things?”
“You woke me up to ask me that? I’m not a medicine cat; I don’t know much about that kind of stuff.”
“StarClan can’t be all there is. Even if you don’t know, what do you think?”
“I suppose there might also be the spirits of kittypets and loners, but I doubt they’d concern themselves with us.”
“But what was there before there were spirits? Like is there something, someone, beyond all that?”
“Who knows, little one. We certainly don’t.”
“Maybe, but it’s interesting to think about. Don’t you ever wonder why the world is here? StarClan can’t be the all-powerful force. They’re just like us, except dead. At least, that’s what I think.”
“Right now, you should be thinking about going to sleep.”
“…I’m not sleepy.”
“Well, just try.”
…
…
…
“Emberspots?”
“Uhhh… What now?”
“How did the world get made?”
“It’s always just been here, I guess. Nobody knows where the world came from.”
“Always? But everything has a beginning. I was born. Seeds sprout. The sun rises.”
“There isn’t a true beginning. It just goes around and around: Your mother had to be born before you could be born, a flower had to make the seeds, and the sun must set before it can rise.”
“Yeah, but what started the cycle in the first place?”
“Go to sleep, Flypaw.”
…
…
…
“Emberspots?”
“Flypaw!”
“I was just thinking—”
“Don’t think. Close your eyes and your mind and go to sleep!”
“Just thinking, what if there is something kind of like a spirit except more than that. What if that’s what made the world?”
“…Where’d you come up with an idea like that?”
“I just did. It makes sense, someone powerful and who isn’t affected by time, you know, so that spirit-creator doesn’t need a beginning. Because that’s who made time and the world.”
“If a powerful spirit doesn’t need a beginning, why can’t the world just not have a beginning?”
“Because new things keep coming that have a beginning. So maybe my mother had to be born so I could be born, but then her mother had to be born to have her, and so on. Where did the first cats come from? There can’t have just always been cats.”
“Flypaw…”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Something or someone has to have created beginnings. Maybe there once wasn’t any time or any beginnings and there was just a spirit who wanted to something with all the power that it—he—I don’t know—had, and so now there’s a world.”
“If that’s true, how come more cats don’t talk about it?”
“We’re talking about it.”
“Yes, but have you ever heard anyone else with ideas like yours?”
“Well, no, but I think it’s possible we all have these ideas when we’re young, but we just don’t think about them, not really, and then we forget and get distracted by other things when we grow up. Or maybe we just ignore the ideas when they first come when we’re young.”
“Then how come you’re even talking about this now?”
“Maybe it’s the right time. Maybe the creator-spirit wanted me to talk. If it’s powerful enough to make the world, it’s powerful enough to influence my mind.”
“But why you?”
“I don’t know.”
“If things happened as you say, why isn’t it more obvious in the world?”
“It is, though. There are so many things with beginnings, such a variety of things, that I just don’t see how it could have just always been there on its own.”
“But it’s possible.”
“Well, beginnings had to have started somehow. Or else one day we’ll reach the beginning of the world again and start all over, and many, many seasons from now, we’ll be having this conversation again. If it was all going around like you suggested, history would just happen over and over with the same exact cats.”
“Maybe, but it’s impossible to know.”
“I’m not so sure that we can’t ever know. I believe I’ll figure it out someday.”
“You?”
“It could happen. But you know what? I’m finally starting to get sleepy. Maybe we can talk about this in the morning.”
“It’s almost morning now, what with all your thinking and talking.”
“Hah. Good night, Emberspots.”
“Good night, Flypaw.”
“See you in the morning.”
…
…
…
“Flypaw?”
“I was almost asleep…”
“Now you know what it feels like to be me!”
“Emberspots!”
“Little one, I just wanted to say thank you. You made me think about life more than I ever have before. I think maybe you were mentoring me tonight.”
“…You think so?”
“I do. Good night, Flypaw.”
“Good night… Again.”
Author's notes: What is this?! Another story just days after posting one already?! Thanks to Brownie's little contest, I'm on a roll! Anyhoo, this story was written late at night (and it takes place at night, so...), partially out of a desire to practice dialogue, but also because I've just been thinking a lot about worldview and culture in one of my classes. I've found that writing is one way for me to process things. As a side note, if anyone has read my fanfic "The Fox and the Pigeon", this is the same Emberspots who is in that story, but as for Flypaw, let me just say that this takes place a while after the events of F&P, so naturally there are more young cats in BrickClan.
I was experimenting with word cloud makers, and this one-shot was my guinea pig for that, so here's the best one I made:
“Emberspots?”
“Mm… Huh?”
“Oh, good, you’re still awake.”
“Barely.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did.”
“I mean, I have a different question I want to ask you.”
“Fine…”
“Is StarClan all that’s up there?”
“Well, there’s the moon, and the sun…”
“That’s not what I meant. Is StarClan, I dunno, the only thing that watches over us? Or are there other things?”
“You woke me up to ask me that? I’m not a medicine cat; I don’t know much about that kind of stuff.”
“StarClan can’t be all there is. Even if you don’t know, what do you think?”
“I suppose there might also be the spirits of kittypets and loners, but I doubt they’d concern themselves with us.”
“But what was there before there were spirits? Like is there something, someone, beyond all that?”
“Who knows, little one. We certainly don’t.”
“Maybe, but it’s interesting to think about. Don’t you ever wonder why the world is here? StarClan can’t be the all-powerful force. They’re just like us, except dead. At least, that’s what I think.”
“Right now, you should be thinking about going to sleep.”
“…I’m not sleepy.”
“Well, just try.”
…
…
…
“Emberspots?”
“Uhhh… What now?”
“How did the world get made?”
“It’s always just been here, I guess. Nobody knows where the world came from.”
“Always? But everything has a beginning. I was born. Seeds sprout. The sun rises.”
“There isn’t a true beginning. It just goes around and around: Your mother had to be born before you could be born, a flower had to make the seeds, and the sun must set before it can rise.”
“Yeah, but what started the cycle in the first place?”
“Go to sleep, Flypaw.”
…
…
…
“Emberspots?”
“Flypaw!”
“I was just thinking—”
“Don’t think. Close your eyes and your mind and go to sleep!”
“Just thinking, what if there is something kind of like a spirit except more than that. What if that’s what made the world?”
“…Where’d you come up with an idea like that?”
“I just did. It makes sense, someone powerful and who isn’t affected by time, you know, so that spirit-creator doesn’t need a beginning. Because that’s who made time and the world.”
“If a powerful spirit doesn’t need a beginning, why can’t the world just not have a beginning?”
“Because new things keep coming that have a beginning. So maybe my mother had to be born so I could be born, but then her mother had to be born to have her, and so on. Where did the first cats come from? There can’t have just always been cats.”
“Flypaw…”
“It’s weird, isn’t it? Something or someone has to have created beginnings. Maybe there once wasn’t any time or any beginnings and there was just a spirit who wanted to something with all the power that it—he—I don’t know—had, and so now there’s a world.”
“If that’s true, how come more cats don’t talk about it?”
“We’re talking about it.”
“Yes, but have you ever heard anyone else with ideas like yours?”
“Well, no, but I think it’s possible we all have these ideas when we’re young, but we just don’t think about them, not really, and then we forget and get distracted by other things when we grow up. Or maybe we just ignore the ideas when they first come when we’re young.”
“Then how come you’re even talking about this now?”
“Maybe it’s the right time. Maybe the creator-spirit wanted me to talk. If it’s powerful enough to make the world, it’s powerful enough to influence my mind.”
“But why you?”
“I don’t know.”
“If things happened as you say, why isn’t it more obvious in the world?”
“It is, though. There are so many things with beginnings, such a variety of things, that I just don’t see how it could have just always been there on its own.”
“But it’s possible.”
“Well, beginnings had to have started somehow. Or else one day we’ll reach the beginning of the world again and start all over, and many, many seasons from now, we’ll be having this conversation again. If it was all going around like you suggested, history would just happen over and over with the same exact cats.”
“Maybe, but it’s impossible to know.”
“I’m not so sure that we can’t ever know. I believe I’ll figure it out someday.”
“You?”
“It could happen. But you know what? I’m finally starting to get sleepy. Maybe we can talk about this in the morning.”
“It’s almost morning now, what with all your thinking and talking.”
“Hah. Good night, Emberspots.”
“Good night, Flypaw.”
“See you in the morning.”
…
…
…
“Flypaw?”
“I was almost asleep…”
“Now you know what it feels like to be me!”
“Emberspots!”
“Little one, I just wanted to say thank you. You made me think about life more than I ever have before. I think maybe you were mentoring me tonight.”
“…You think so?”
“I do. Good night, Flypaw.”
“Good night… Again.”
Author's notes: What is this?! Another story just days after posting one already?! Thanks to Brownie's little contest, I'm on a roll! Anyhoo, this story was written late at night (and it takes place at night, so...), partially out of a desire to practice dialogue, but also because I've just been thinking a lot about worldview and culture in one of my classes. I've found that writing is one way for me to process things. As a side note, if anyone has read my fanfic "The Fox and the Pigeon", this is the same Emberspots who is in that story, but as for Flypaw, let me just say that this takes place a while after the events of F&P, so naturally there are more young cats in BrickClan.
I was experimenting with word cloud makers, and this one-shot was my guinea pig for that, so here's the best one I made:
![[~Ghost Writer~] Avatar](http://storage.proboards.com/6575102/avatar/vVGNctuvWjTLXOffDYEW.jpg)
