This article can only be viewed on the Elohist website.
This article was published in the October 2016 of the Elohist.
Once upon a time, there was a forest full of trees that measure several arms’ stretches around and fragrant flowers in full bloom. The water in the valley had all the colors of the rainbow, and the fish with brilliant scales looked like gems swimming in the water.
In this mysterious and beautiful forest, there was one type of beings that didn’t go well with this forest. It was the Rock People living in the forest village.
The twelve Rock People lived together in a big house. They woke up by the crow of a rooster called Chanticleer and started a day. They got their own food and sat here and there around a big red table that was in the middle of the house and ate without saying anything.
None of them greeted or laughed while eating. As soon as they were done eating, they got ready for work and left the house. Where the Rock People plodded to was a mine that was a short distance away from their house.
“Ah, I’m sick of looking for the garnet. We don’t even know when it’s going to appear to us, do we?”
As No. 1 complained, No. 3 who was walking two or three steps behind chimed in,
“You’re right. When are we going to find the garnet? I don’t even remember how long we’ve been doing this.”
“Why do we have to find it anyway?”
As No. 5 cut in, No. 6 said,
“Yeah, I hardly remember when we started this work. I only know that it is a very precious gem. I guess we’re going to be really rich once we find it.”
“Whatever! It’s never going to appear to us, and we don’t even know what it looks like. I really don’t feel like working today at all!”
No. 1 threw his pickax to the ground, flopped down, and dipped his feet in the rainbow valley.
Actually, the twelve Rock People didn’t remember each other’s name. All they knew was that they had to dig the ground to find a gem called garnet, in the mine. That’s why they decided to call each other from No. 1 to 12.
No. 7 sat by No. 1 and dipped his feet in the valley.
“I’m sick of this work, too, but I’m sure we’ll find it someday. Let’s start the work. Everybody is waiting for you.”
No. 7 tried to soothe No. 1 with a gentle voice. He even tried to force his lips to show him a little smile.
The Rock People were covered with rock pieces except their eyes, lips, hands, and feet. So it was hard to express their feelings on their faces, and so they usually had no facial expressions. However, recently, No. 7 had been trying to make some change on his face.
As soon as the Rock People arrived at the mine, they went inside the cave and began to work as usual.
The sound of pickaxes and hammers echoed in the cave.
At sunset, the Rock People got ready to go back home.
“Ouch!”
No. 12 screamed. He hurt his foot as he dropped his hammer.
“You’re so clumsy!”
No. 8 scolded No. 12 and hurt his feelings.
“Are you okay?”
No. 7 approached No. 12. After checking his foot, No. 7 said to him,
“It’s not too bad. You’ll be alright. Try to walk and see if it hurts. If it hurts too much to walk, I’ll help you.”
Being encouraged by No. 7, No. 12 moved his steps one by one. The Rock People came back home, ate, and lay down on the beds. Since the work was tough, they fell asleep as soon as they laid their heads on the pillows.
In the middle of the silent night, No. 12 quietly got up from the bed.
“Oh, my foot!”
No. 7 also sat up slowly.
“Is it still hurting? Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I’m okay. No. 7, you must be tired. Get some rest.”
“I can’t sleep for no reason. Maybe the moon is too bright.”
No. 7 muttered, looking out the window,
“Why am I here?”
No. 12’s eyes were opened wide at what No. 7 said out of the blue.
“I’ve also been asking myself the same question these days. Why do I look like this? Why am I repeating this boring life though I live in this beautiful forest? I really want to know. You know I dropped my hammer earlier? It was because I was thinking about all these things and sighing.”
No. 7 was surprised.
“I thought I was the only one thinking about it. I didn’t know you had the same questions. We could ask the moon!”
“Ask her what?”
“What we are curious about! I think the moon knows the answers. What do you think?”
“. . . okay, sounds good.”
No. 7 and No. 12 went outside together. Beside the rainbow valley where they could see the reflection of the moon, they held each other’s hands and looked up.
“Mrs. Moon! Why are we here? Did we look like this from the beginning? What’s going to happen to us when we find the garnet?”
No. 7’s voice echoed through the quiet forest. Then they heard the sound of some bugs from far away as if it was an answer to their question.
“Tee hee.”
No. 7 and No. 12 looked at each other and giggled.
“We’re so funny, right? How can the moon hear our voice?”
“Alright, let’s get back. We need some sleep to search the garnet again tomorrow.”
No. 7 and No. 12 turned around to go back home.
“Wait!”
No. 7 and No. 12 were startled by a strange voice and turned around. No one was there. They thought they heard it wrong and turned around again, but then the voice was heard again.
“Rock Man No. 7! And Rock Man No. 12!”
No. 7 and No. 12 were startled again and looked back.
“No, no, not behind. I’m up here! Look up!”
No. 7 and No. 12 lifted up their heads, and saw a bird with shiny silver wings. Surprised, No. 12 quickly hid behind No. 7. No. 7 swallowed hard and asked,
“Did you call us?”
“Yes, I did. I’ve just come from a distant forest to meet you.”
“To meet us?”
“Yes, I’m here to deliver a message to you.”
“. . . a message? From whom?”
No. 12 who’d been quiet the whole time asked the silver bird in a low voice.
“From the one you asked questions.”
“What?”
No. 7 and No. 12 opened their eyes wide and dropped their mouths.
“He sent me to answer all your questions, so ask me. The one who sent me always watches you.”
“You mean the moon over there. Is she the one who always watches us?”
“Well, he listens to what you say through the moon, and reads your minds through the wind. It may be too hard for you to understand right now.”
No. 7 became curious about the one who seemed awesome, but he stopped asking more questions about him in order to focus on the story that the silver bird had to tell them. The silver bird told them something amazing:
To be continued.