O mighty tides, rise from this infinite sea of the mind. Let the land vanish from the earth's bed like a bleeding wound.
O mighty sea, befall… Fall upon knowledge, upon soul and body. Behead the infinite sky into shreds. Let space shatter as stars crumble into oblivion.
O mighty one, let me feel the rising wind. Let this torment fracture the very dimensions. But please, never let life crumble. It must go on. It should go on like an ant that grows its wings and rises into freedom.
But O eternal sun, why? Why did they walk toward death?
Answer me.
Answer me…
O great one, wash away this eternal darkness, our unwritten sins, with your everlasting brilliance. Please, begin a new day.
"Huh… enough of it, monkey. You say the same thing every day. Even an illiterate could memorize it just by hearing it. Shut up… just shut up, monkey." A soldier shouted at him. The sound of bone striking rock echoed in the darkness.
In the flare's dim light, another soldier approached, dragging something by the hair from below. "Hey, orange monkey, shut up. If you don't have any work, don't bark here every day. This isn't your place to live. Hey, let's go." Both were about to walk away when the first soldier turned back as they felt something was coming towards them. "Hey, monkey… monkey! What are you doing? Stop throwing rocks at us!" He dropped that man to save himself from the rocks.
The monkey shouted back in annoyance, "Can't you see? It's almost dawn. I have to count the stars. You came here to annoy me just like everyone. Today is the best day for counting stars. Look, there were five stars the previous night. Now only two remain. How many have been destroyed? Can you tell me? Also, a big ball was going to be eaten by crows and I must to stop it. Only then will I think of stopping."
One of them asked by "What do you gain by counting them?"
Monkey man replied in amusement "When the land falls into darkness… I must know how many lights were lost."
Again that soldier asked "You're cursing the kingdom."
Monkey man replied with confusion face "Cursing the kingdom? How foolish of me… Go. Go. I will stay here and count, until the night fall…" The second soldier scoffed. "He's truly a mad bastard. Let's go." First soldier stopped him and sneered towards monkey man, "Do you want to eat meat?"
That monkey man scoffed "The son of a pig, eating his own kind's flesh, is giving me food? Fuck off. I don't want to hear anything from the shit like you." He began throwing rocks at them again. The second soldier burst into laughter as the first shielded himself from the stones. "He's literally insane. Why do you keep provoking him?" the second asked.
The first soldier raised his spear. "Ahhh… fine. Let's go. From now on, you get nothing from us." The monkey-man began to dance wildly. "Yeah, go on… go on. If you survive after today… hahaha…" The first soldier growled, "Chunni, look at this bastard, now he's cursing me." He was about to hurl his spear when the second stopped him.
"Hey, worshipper of foolish nature! If you're going to count, come here, help me. There are many like you, homeless, eating on our food. But today they have feast, only for today and after that they are about to become stars. Then if you count and you can match them them all. Come there, I'll let you count them all. Maybe we'll even give you some piss of ours to drink." Both soldiers laughed loudly. Seeing the commotion, others nearby turned, grinned, and began walking toward them.
The monkey man started jumping and spinning in madness. "No, no… how can you show me stars when you are nothing but little mortal ants in this world? You don't even have the power to see them by yourselves, how do you think that you can create stars? "Little bastards, blind to your own insignificance.. Chu… chu…"
Both soldiers replied in irritation, "Yeah, yeah… we're going. We don't like barking at mad dogs either." As they pushed through the camp, they shouted, "Out of our way."
Other soldiers noticed them and began mocking. "Lost in talk with that monkey again?" Laughter broke out from all around. "Hahahaha…" As the two walked away, one muttered under his breath, "We'll deal with all of you bastards later. But first, him. Either the commander cuts off his head, or we poisoned him by food. Enough kindness for that madman."
From near the monkey, someone shouted, "Did you forget what happened to the previous commander when he tried to mess with him?" The two soldiers turned back angrily. "We'll see about that."
After walking some distance, the second soldier grabbed a man by the arm and lifted him roughly. "Did you forget? This bastard is the one who gives him food everyday, the reason he's allowed to stay here for this bastard's good work." First Soldier said "He has a good relationship with that monkey. Then…"
He threw the man to the ground near a wooden pole. They approached him and began punching him until blood spilled from his mouth. He groaned for a moment, but they dragged him forward again.
The first soldier kicked him hard. "Filthy bastard… even after so much whipping, he still hasn't died. His wounds keep healing." The second replied coldly, "That's why the king and the commander chose him for this holy work."
Suddenly, they heard the monkey-man laughing from behind. "Don't bark like street dogs as you walk away. If you have no work other than killing your own kind for money, or violating your own kind for coin… then go crawl to the harlots. That suits men like you better. Hahaha… I don't even know whether you're human… or lower than that."
From the nearby group, one soldier said, "Hey, old man, enough of cursing them. If you have nothing better work to do than pull our legs every day, why don't you work with us like they said?"
The monkey-man suddenly roared with laughter. "Work? Hahahaha… You speak to me about work? A brat who was still sucking his mother's milk asks me about my work?"
Someone beside him muttered, "See? I told you not to provoke the madman. Now you've earned it… hahahahaha…" that man cursed "He is just a piece of shit, can be thrown away anytime."...
The monkey-man's eyes suddenly burned red as he shouted. "Who are you to tell me to do my work? A bunch of cowards hiding behind women's shadows to kill a man. You dare speak of duty? You are stains upon the name of soldier. Filthy cowards who couldn't capture a deserter without fifty men, even you have to threaten him with his wife's life. And you call yourselves warriors?"
He raised his arms. "These two arms are enough to kill all of you. Monkeys? No… you are less than that. Hahahahahaha!" Rage erupted among the soldiers. They began throwing whatever was near them, stones, scraps, even their shoes. One, in fury, tore off part of his armour and flung it aside.
The monkey-man laughed louder. "Hahaha! Come, everyone! Here you have seen a woman without clothes, now look, a soldier without his armour! Hahahaha! " Even the nearby slaves, who were working with their heads lowered, glanced up. Some nearly smiled, but the sight of the soldiers' red, furious eyes froze them.
One soldier growled, "Remember their faces. Twice the work. Twice the punishment."
"No, thrice."
"No, ten times."
The monkey-man sneered towards slaves. "See? These weak men only know how to hurt the weak. Truly, you are the lowest kind." The slaves understood that worse was coming for them anytime. The monkey-man noticed their fear.
His head moved slowly from the soldiers to the slaves and back again, like a pendulum. "Huh… don't worry," he said softly. "Nothing lasts forever. You will have your freedom. Either tomorrow… or today… or—"
"Enough!" a soldier shouted. "Go call the commander! Today we'll end this. Burn him. Throw him against the rocks or, feed him to the tiger!"
The monkey-man burst into laughter again. "Nothing will happen. Go on, call him, call him. don't bother me up to that time, I have to finish this before the sun rises…" One soldier said, "Hey, Chote, go call the commander. Quickly run…" Another said "Why are not running?"
Chote replied "I am afraid, sir.." Same soldier who ordered him to go, shouted "If you disobey, your woman is mine this time." Nearby soldiers were laughed at him.
The monkey-man hurled a shoe he had caught back at the speaker. "You bastard, go quickly. Call him!" The soldier was about to throw his spear, but another stopped him. "We'll bind him with ropes. You two go."
Two soldiers left to call the commander. One went to fetch ropes. The rest remained, staring at the madman. It was nearly dawn. The horizon, where the sky bled into the sea had begun to bloom in bloody red.
The monkey-man looked toward the horizon. "See that eternal sun rising, devouring the sea as it comes? It always does its work, spreading brilliance over your sins. It never asks for rest. It never complains. Yet you bastards, who have been given so much, give nothing in return. You only loot, kill, and violate. Tell me, have you done anything else?"
Before he could continue, a soldier threw a rock. It struck his head, splitting the skin. He fell to the rock. Laughter erupted. "Nice throw! Too much babbling… Huh. Shit bastard. Let's go. We'll release our frustration on the others. He won't awa—"
The man stopped mid-sentence. They all turned. The monkey-man was standing. His eyes suddenly glow into reddish colour. Blood ran down his face, but he was smiling. He raised both hands into the air and shouted: "O eternal being, take back your brilliance. Let darkness consume this false equality of life. There is no need to protect those who devour themselves in lust, anger, greed, murder, and violation. There is no need to preserve a life that has become restless only to quench its own filth."
His voice deepened. "O beauty of the moon, hide yourself. Do not let these beasts stain you with their gaze. Withdraw your light. Let the sky be uncovered. Let them feel the eternal darkness."
Each word sent a shiver through their spines. "They do not deserve your brilliance to cleanse their souls. They have already lost them. Wait, just wait to clean them from this cursed land. Wait… wait…"
Even after his shouting stopped, the soldiers stood frozen like statues. Only when the man with the rope arrived and kicked at them did they return to their senses. The monkey-man spoke again. "How can you judge my work? How can you say I am not doing it? Who are you to question me? Even the Almighty would not command me to abandon my work."
His eyes burned a deeper red. Though dawn was breaking, the torches in the soldiers' hands began to flicker wildly as each word left his mouth. The man holding the rope felt the air grow heavy, as if pressure were building around them. Sweat rolled down their faces despite the morning breeze. It felt as though invisible fire surrounded them.
The monkey-man continued: "Remember this, you bastards, I do my work as a prayer. It is sacred to me. I am a wanderer, a maverick. My task is to move from place to place, awakening the lazy, reminding them to live through work. Without purpose, life becomes paralyzed. But you, your work as soldiers is to punish the lawbreakers, to capture killers and violators, to protect the innocent. Tell me, what are you doing instead? You drain the lives of the innocent. You kill in the name of long life and reward, though such things will never truly be yours. You are soldiers, not hired flesh. Do not lecture me about work. You do not even have the right to judge it."
The air shifted. A cold wind blew through them, though moments before it had felt like burning heat. The soldiers felt an unseen weight pressing down on their shoulders. One muttered as he stepped back, "Why did the commander ever allow him to stay here?"
Another turned away. "Always with the riddles and the rot… How do the slaves endure his tongue every day? My ears are about to burst. Let's go." One by one, they withdrew. Only the man holding the rope remained. A soldier called out from a distance, "Bind him and wait for the commander, or you'll lose a month's pay!"
The rope-bearer, shaken and pale, hurriedly tossed the rope toward the speaker and ran after the others. The speaker caught it instinctively, but then hesitated. A sudden realization crossed his face. He dropped the rope near the monkey-man and ran as well.
To be Continued...