story by Sameer Raote
It was bloody massacre. A combination of snow and blood was visible everywhere around the kingdom. At the center of it was king Robert Foshtt taking his last breath before leaving the body. Then at one point he saw a bright blinding light that turned the entire space into white.
Suddenly the king didn’t feel weak, injured or in pain. He got up and looked around. “Hello… anybody here? What is this place? Am I in heaven?” he asks.
“Not yet.” a voice replies.
As Rob looks around he sees a divine glowing figure approach him. This being has man like features yet it is hard to describe. Rob is confused,
“What is happening to me? Where am I? Who are you?” he asks.
“I am…” says the other person, “….Someone your faith doesn’t recognize yet. I am the god of death.”
“I have come to take you to the next chapter of your existence.”
Although Rob knows it, still he is unable to accept the fact that he is dead. It’s a different feeling. He can feel his own presence but not his body. No pulse, no heartbeat, nothing.
“All this happened so fast…” Rob says trying to remember the last chapter of his life.
“What happened?” says the god of death, Yanak, “Tell me.”
Robert Fhostt was the fourth of the Fhostt generation to take the throne. He grew up in a perfect kingdom. While rest of the world was hot as hell due to a deadly global war, Fhostt kingdom, located closer to the north pole, was a paradise.
But then the planet started to cool. While other places became habitable, Rob’s kingdom became colder and colder with every passing day. The summers became cold and winters became unbearable. Soon his kingdom started being covered in perennial sheets of snow.
Life was tough. Especially because his generation witnessed this major transformation with their own eyes. They didn’t understand why this happened or how to reverse it. Actually, there was no way to reverse it. There was threat to the existence of his kingdom still they worked hard to survive and thrive.
Among these dark days one good day was when the princes were born, triplets. The king was overwhelmed with joy. “There will be at least someone to take care of this place after me, for sure!” Rob said.
What he didn’t realize was that there would be a competition to see who takes the throne. As much as he wanted his three sons to share the responsibility of running the kingdom, it was a matter of pride to see who gets to be the king.
When they came of age it was time to decide to becomes Rob’s successor. Meanwhile the king was in a dilemma. It’s not like he could simply crown the eldest as the king. They were triplets. So instead with the resources kingdom had left he built three ships, one for each son.
The task was to travel to a foreign land and bring back vital resource for the kingdom: food, fuel, minerals, etc. Whoever brings the most resources wins the throne. In the king’s mind it didn’t matter who won. “It doesn’t matter who becomes the king, once we have the necessary resources everybody wins.”
On the day of they departed the king stood at the shore watching them disappear at the horizon. He spoke to the queen standing next to him,
“I feel sad to let them go but I get excited thinking about the day when all of us reunite.” says Rob. In response the queen simply smiles that slowly fades away. She understands the truth of the situation but says nothing to the king.
This is the last fond memory king Rob has after which everything seems a blur. “What happened to my sons? Please tell me. I want to know.” he asks the god of death.
The god does not say anything. Instead he lets Rob see it. A long time goes by but his sons don’t return. He waits patiently as his world gets colder. More people of his kingdom die including his wife. On her deathbed she tells the king to accept the fact that his sons won’t return.
“Part of our journey is the end. Change is a part of nature. It’s been long time now. Your sons aren’t your sons anymore.” she says. He loves her a lot still he rejects her every word.
“They will return. My sons will return. You’ll see from the heaven.” he insists.
Well to some extent he is right. One of his sons does returns. The one who has traveled the longest. While the other two got settled in places around the world, this one kept on travelling, gathering his resources, having his adventure. When he returned king welcomed him with open arms.
Unbeknownst to him the person who returned was not his son anymore. The hardships of sea life had changed him. Turned him bad. Twisted his mindset. The son blamed his father for these hardships. The crew that followed this prince savagely looted and killed the kingdom’s people for their resources.
This son’s presence in the kingdom was bad for the kingdom but the king was in denial. He still saw his son as the same loyal boy who looked up to his father like his hero. This led to a bloody massacre which led the king’s death.
It still seems hard for Rob to accept that his son killed him. So what if one turned out to be a disappointment, he still had two more sons.
“Then what of my other sons? They would surely restore the kingdom back to its glory days.” says king naively.
“Who do you want to see first?” asks the god.
“The one closest to my heart. I’m pretty sure he didn’t go far away from the kingdom.” Rob says with pride.
“You are correct! Out of the three, this one stayed the closest to your kingdom.” said the god, “This one is waiting… waiting for the news to arrive.”
Rob sees a picture of a cold kingdom but a place with more resources. His son is staying in temporary shacks while his people gather resources from the land. One day a letter arrives. He opens it, reads it and cheers at what he just read,
“My fellow people. The time has finally come. My father is dead, earlier than I expected. As an added bonus his loyal followers died too. They were killed by my beloved youngest brother, who is now a ghastly wanderer of the seas for some reason. Let’s go claim what is rightfully ours.”
Says he hinting to the fact that he was the first to come out of his mother’s womb so he considered himself to be the eldest. He then does exactly that. Goes to the frigid kingdom with all the necessary resources and takes control of it.
King Robert is heartbroken after seeing this. “Not him.” he cries. Sadly he isn’t done yet. He still has hope from his third son, “Maybe he will…”
The god is getting impatient so he doesn’t even wait for the king to finish his sentence before showing him his third son. This one turned out to be the smartest of all. The new place he got settled in was a beautiful paradise full of blue water, white sand and green forests. No sight of cold white snow.
He found a paradise nobody would want to leave and so he doesn’t. Rob sees that his son has got settled on this new place starting a village and a new life. On the day of marriage with a local woman (who is also the love of his life) she asks,
“Promise me that you won’t leave. You won’t return to your kingdom leaving me behind.” she says.
“Oh my love. Only a foolish person would think his son would return to that cold hell after finding a beautiful paradise.”
Robert Fhostt is shattered. He cries yet again saying, “Why did you show me? Why did you show me what happened to my sons? I’m dead but this still hurts.”
“Because you asked for it…” says the god, “…and to teach you… acceptance.”
“When you sent them away, you expect for them to return as your sons. You expected your sons to do the ‘right thing’ which according to you is to follow your word. That isn’t how the world works.”
“When they left they were your sons granted but time changed them. Many years later they were no longer your sons. They were no longer under your obligation to return. They were free to chose their own fate. You should have accepted that.”
“You should not have spent a major portion of your life facing the sea and turning your back to your kingdom and your people. This is what led to your downfall.”
Rob suddenly reacts, “What’s the point? I am dead now. It’s not like I can fix my mistake.”
“Oh no, this lesson is not for you.” says the god while smiling, “Your story is simply the means to teach others to accept their reality and not expect anything from those who once they called as ‘my own…’.”
“When a bird leaves the nest, you can’t expect that bird to care for the nest.”
END
written by Sameer Raote
This historical event turned into a mythical tale became one of the foundational philosophies of the Drandt state.
‘When times become tough just leave this place in search of a better one.’
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