The Seven Days of Wander

by Broken Walls Publishing

moment with their own human anguish and then be gone...I am sure it went down into his heart.

  I am not really sure anymore what this man changed with his Free Will. He was not of men but he was of man.

  In the few years, that I knew him; that he allowed me to follow and be with him, in that short time...they killed him.

  He once told me that a prophet is not welcome in his own place...as a child I thought he met where he was born. Now I wonder if he meant amongst all men.

  I do know he seemed to cause men and crowds of man to become either full of love or full of hate. He brought out the best of men for each man and seemingly, brought out the worst of men against himself.

  Imposed-Will cannot endure Free-Will in its presence. It is a Light which burns away the flesh and paint of men and leaves them to be seen as...evil?...violent?...something worse I think.

  It leaves them to be seen as...mortal...not god.

  It is an odd thing but I have thought of it much these months. Free-Will of man seems to join in the light with Death and begin Living. As a man on earth.

  That’s what this man looked like. A light. It drew people to him, it made many others try to hide their men-ness...their scars...their hideousness...their denial of Death which results in a perversion of life.

  That’s all this man did. Stand alone amongst so many men... by his own Free-Will.

  This was a man who saw deep into everyone, every dark deed and thought and act of men. For that, he punished no one. Imposed nothing.

  He knew the way to end violence is to end all violence. The way to end suffering is to end all suffering. You see, the violence and suffering which came upon him, ended at his own free-Will. So the suffering ended.

  You can beat that man to death but you will not beat to death his Free Will.

  In the City, the Imposed-Will of men is but the punishers punishing the Punishers. All are punished. And All are punishing. All are suffering as well.

  Just as there are degrees of suffering. Just as there are those of greater violence than others. Just as some have more, some less, some kill a little, some murder daily...daily with knifes or bread. Thrusting with one; withdrawing with the other.

  The City controls. It must. All men must bow to it. And to each other. And a man bent has no virtue; it slides off his back; there is no room for it, for he carries all who impose upon him on his own back...and carries all the throats he imposes upon in his hands. Imagine bent men upon bent men upon bent men like apes riding braying asses, clutching at the throats below them for steerage...but each horse is not a horse but another man...and that upon another ape-ass...

  I do not call that a man. I call it...men.

  Big Nose was about to impatiently object but the Beggar held up his hand “ Forgive me, I have spoken too long and said too little. I confuse more than enlighten...especially myself. If my arguments will do nothing to end the beatings than let me do as men do...barter. A story, short and amusing for that stick. After all, teachers need words as much as beggars need canes.

  Big Nose: “ I see no harm in the trade. I would argue with many of your points but the sun is rising and small backs have seen enough redness for now. tell your tale and then take stick and tell-tail away, beggar.”

  Beggar: “This is a story I have heard of a great but very cruel and dark king who had seven sons. Now one of these sons was to become his successor. This King did not really care which son was to be King so long as that son was as tough and cruel and strong as himself. For the king believed that was the only way to maintain rule of the kingdom. The King believed in the ...squirm...????...of the Seven Deadly Weaknesses...trust, compassion, reverence, courage, virtue, righteousness, love.

  So one day, he took all his sons out for a horse ride. Soon they were on a narrow path through the trees. Up ahead on the path the King saw a feeble old man walking the path, his back to them. He ordered one of his sons to gallop on ahead and look for danger around the next bend. Just as his son was to overtake the old feeble man, the King ordered two archer guards to each fire an arrow, one to the right of the old man by a foot and the other to the left but both to be aimed at the height of the son's back.

  Sure enough as the son swerved his horse around the old man so as not to injure him, an arrow pierced his back and heart and killed him.

  The King turned to his six sons " Never let compassion turn you even a little from your task."

  Another day the King had a feast for his six sons. At the start, he poured out seven glasses of wine and bid all drink to his unknown successor. the six sons hesitated to drink first whereupon the King laughed at them and drank some of the wine himself. One son began to drink seeing this but with only a few sips , he gagged and grasped his throat; falling to the ground dead.

  Again the King laughed and reaching into his mouth retrieved a small bag which he had used to skilfully contain the poisoned wine in his mouth. He spoke to the remaining five sons “ This is made from the neck bladder of a desert lizard. Remember there is a treacherous reptile in all men’s throats. Trust no one.

  Sometime later, the five sons were summoned to the King’s chamber. He stood very close to a window, a window hundreds of feet above the crowd below. Tied in a ball at the window sill was a young woman, the wife of one of the sons; whom the son loved and adored greatly.

  The five sons stood still waiting to se what the King would do, the one son both angry and terrified, grieve stricken and full of hate.

  At the King’s direction, a Guard brought that son, the husband, aside and placed in his hand a hunting bow with one arrow.

  The King spoke, facing the son “ Love should never be above duty to the King, even within a King. Use your single arrow to thrust your wife out this window and thus ease the burdens of a King having to throw her out.”

  The son pulled back the arrow on the bow but instead of shooting his beloved wife, he aimed the arrow directly at the King’s chest.

  It struck there but instead of piercing the King’s heart , it bounced off armour plating the King had placed under his robe. The impact, however, released a device which the King cunningly had made into the armoured breastplate. That device fired three poisonous darts directly into the son’s chest, killing him almost instanteously. The King spoke to his remaining four sons “ Love that steps above Duty always succumbs to a harder heart.”

  A few weeks later the King was walking with these four sons in the castle. He led them into a huge room which was filled with thousands of books. So many that walls were made of these books, creating a very difficult maze. The King knew that one son loved books, revered his scholarly teachers, sought out much learning and advice from great learned men.

  Turning to him at the doorway, he asked him to go find a book called “Only the King has the Highest Knowledge”. The son left but soon became lost in the maze.

  The King led the other three sons out but before he locked the door, he took a burning torch from a guard and tossed it into the great piles of books. He spoke to the sons “There is no other door out. A King has no questions only answers. Books and learned knowledge leads no where but back into its own smoke of ignorance and powerlessness. It deserves no respect, no reverence. It is all ashes to a King.

  Later again, the King walked with his three remaining sons in the huge common market and alleyways surrounding his castle. As they passed a blind man begging the King reached into his begging basket and stole all the coins. The last son passing the blind man, having seen what his father had done, reached into the basket to replace the coins with some of his own.

  A scream and the King and the other two sons turned around to see what had happened. The King had made the basket in such a way that a tiny trapdoor was held closed by the weight of a few coins. This trapdoor led to a small enclosure where was kept a very deadly adder snake. It was this creature which had crawled out and bit the first hand which approached it; the hand of the third son replacing his father’s thievery.

  Standing over the
body, the King said to his two sons “ Thus lies righteousness. Everything belongs to a King. Everything. Everything must beg only from him. That is his righteousness.”

  There were now only two sons left and the next day the King took them hunting. He talked much of bravery and courage to them as they ambled slowly along with their horses.

  Suddenly a lion approached out of some nearby bushes. The one son, wishing to win favour by appearing the most brave, jumped down and moved towards the lion, carrying nothing but his spear. As the lion ran at him , he raised his spear to throw it. At that moment the King snarled out his long whip and snatched the spear out of his son’s hand. Weaponless, the son froze and the lion leaped upon him snapping his neck. The King gestured to some guards who then killed the lion with arrows.

  He turned to his last son “Thus you see the most brave. But courage has no ends when the means are taken away. Thus courage by itself becomes meaningless without the full grasp of power as well.” With that, the King rode away back to the castle with his guards, leaving his last son to stare at the corpse of his final brother.

  The next day while the King was sitting alone in his chamber, his last son came in. He was carrying a sword drawn, ready to kill.

  Walking up to his father he said “ You have showed me the end of compassion, trust, love, reverence, righteousness and courage. You did