Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.
With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.
SEED OF WISDOM
Upon a stone altar, there sat seven wooden cubes framed in brass with ornate patterns circling and spiralling over each flat surface. Despite their intricacy, they revealed nothing of the content within any.
Having climbed two-thirds of a mountain to reach the high plateau, by a spiralling path ascending the base and various sets of carved stairs so steep they may as well have been ladders, the traveller looked up to the man seated on a platform above the array of mysterious vessels. Bald and skinny, his beard grew long and nestled in his folded lap. “Choose wisely,” he advised.
The traveller cocked an eyebrow. Though the patterns upon each box differed, he could discern no distinction between them. As unhelpful as the wise man’s blank expression, refraining from even wincing at the chill of the high mountain winds. Wisdom seemed unlikely to assist here.
Each contained some small treasure, valuable only to those who sought specifically what they did. This quest, upon which the traveller had been sent, would reward no consolation from the other six boxes. Of course, none of this had been outlined when he was sent. He had to find out here from the strange man sitting serenely over the impossible test.
The traveller rubbed his arms as the cold began to bother him. He’d been alright until he stopped to agonize over the decision. “Aren’t you cold?”
“No,” the stoic man said. “You have two questions left.”
“Two questions left?”
“Yes,” the otherwise quiet man said. “Though, now you only have one.”
The traveller gasped, reflexively inhaling to launch into another query, but stopped himself before burning through all three questions just to confirm he had three to begin with. He bulged his eyes and nodded in understanding. He’d been granted three clues to guide him to his goal, and now he’d have to make do with only one because no one had appropriately instructed him.
He considered asking about the subtle patterns on the boxes to determine which designs represented what. However, it seemed it might be regarded as seven questions, requiring seven answers to respond. Much in the same way asking what the other boxes contained, to eliminate what the other patterns might represent, would still require six answers without directly leading him to his goal.
The traveller dug his fingers into his temples to concentrate or force an epiphany.
After some time, the man above the boxes sighed with sympathy. “Have you thought about simply asking me which box contains what you seek?”
“No,” the traveller said, stunned. “Is that allowed?”
The wise man with the long beard finally broke his stoic, distant expression and rubbed his own temples in distress. “Yes,” he said, furrowing his brow in disappointment. “It… was.”
“Oh, that’s…” the traveller exclaimed excitedly until it sank in. “Oh… that… would have been handy.” Squinting apprehensively, he opened a random box, from which he procured a strange black acorn instead of the green elixir he was sent to fetch.
Barend Nieuwstraten III grew up and lives in Sydney, Australia, where he was born to Dutch and Indian immigrants. He has worked in film, short film, television, music, and online comics. He is now primarily working on a collection of stories set within a high fantasy world, a science fiction alternate future, often dipping his toes in horror in the process. With over eighty stories published in anthologies, he continues to work on short stories, stand-alone novels, and an epic series.
A discovery writer not knowing what will happen when he begins typing, he endeavours to drag his readers on the same unknown journey through the fog of his subconscious.
If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash anthology.
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