I wrote this today during work. I would like to clean it up a bit and make it a short story. Not sure how to end it though.
Sarah stared across the chasm of the world. The world which tumbled in two halves around twin stars, the world to which Sarah had been born. Although it should be said that she was born to the eastern half of what was once a complete and whole world. No one knew how the chasm came to be. The two tribes had very different ideas of how it happened. The scientist in the Northern City of Washburn, held that a great world war, mainly the weapon’s used in that war, were the cause of the chasm. The Southern spiritualist believed that the great gods, in their wisdom, had separated the world, so that the people would not destroy each other completely.
Sarah wasn’t really interested in why the world had been split in two. She was more interested in getting to the other side of the world. It had never been done. At least that was what everyone always said: Her parents, her teachers, the librarian, and her friends that where training in the ways of the spiritualists. So Sarah, along with skeptic Jerry, and followed by a very spiritual guardian Sam, decided to train with the Scientists. The Spiritualist’s, believed that the world must stay split, and travelling to the other side should be forbidden and impossible. Whether it was forbidden because it was impossible or impossible because it was forbidden had never been made clear. Sarah hated the silliness of it.
“Perhaps it is not a question or can or cannot, but should or should not.” Sam had said mysteriously when they were a day out of the southern city. Jerry had argued with him the rest of the day on the semantics of word usage. Sarah had only half listened. She wasn’t interested in semantics; she was much more interested in possibility. The can but should not, wasn’t something she was going to waste time thinking about. She had no interest in sub-planting the gods, destroying humanity, or even changing history. She merely wanted to reconnect the two halves of the world. If they had once be one, why shouldn’t they be again?
“We should travel by sea, it will be quicker.” Jerry said.
“Not necessarily” Sarah replied, daring to argue with Jerry. “There are bandits and pirates. If we run into them, it would be a much longer trip. Also the weather is harder to predict.”
“Distance-wise the sea is shorter” Jerry said unwilling to concede completely. Sarah had learned long ago to use Logic against Jerry and to only fight when she was going to win. This had created a friendship of mutual respect between the two of them. If Sarah had known Jerry viewed her as the leader, she might have been tempted to use more of her power.
“Sam?” Sarah said asking her guardian to voice an option. Despite their difference in belief, Sarah had a great respect for Sam.
“There are robbers in the woods, if we go by land, so either way is in fact dangerous. A fact that I expressed to your father before we started the trip. I believe that the sea passage might not be the safest or quickest, but it is perhaps the best option. I have friends in the Dam City; we can get passage from there. It means travelling half the way over the dam and is perhaps the longest way. But it is also the safest.”
“You should have mentioned that earlier.” Sarah said softly. Sam seldom offered information.
“Do not offer unasked for wisdom” Jerry said mocking the voice of a spiritual elder who had often spouted out weirdly annoying says throughout their early education. Sarah smiled despite herself. Sam tried to look offended, but Sarah could see his eyes smiling.
“Jerry to you have any problems making for the Dam City?” Asked Sarah, she didn’t expect Jerry to disagree.
“The City of the Damned? Sounds good” Jerry said drily. Sam winced at the word play.
“Alright then, Sam you seem to know the way, led on.” Sarah said, she normally laughed at Jerry’s jokes, but this one gave her pause. The Dam City was often called the Damned City, because of its location. It was said living close to the chasm did weird things to some people. There was a sect of Spiritualist that believed that jumping over the edge, into the chasm, wasn’t suicide. Rather it was a return to the gods and this return was often taken by those who were old or sick.
The Great Eastern Dam ran along the edge of the chasm. When the world was one, there had been a great ocean between the east and the west. To keep the water from pouring down into the Chasm, the long forgotten people had built a great Dam. The Spiritualists believed that this was done with the help of the gods, who held back the waters from the edge for 40 days and nights. The scientist scoffed at this. On top of the dam to the south, a great road had been built, leading to the great Dam City. The City itself lay halfway along the great Dam and was a hub for trade. It was also the site of a great holy place, which was build below the city on the side of the chasm. Great patios and balconies were built out over the nothingness. How deep this holy place was, no one seemed to know. The monks who lived there moved ever downward, but visitors were only allowed in the top two stories.
From the dam it was possible to see the other half of the world. It hung oddly about a mile away. Between the two halves several rocks and boulders hung at various heights. How they stayed there was under heated debate. Gravity it seemed did not affect them. While the great rocks seemed to float, nothing else did. A kite which flew wonderfully on the one side of the dam would fall like a stone on the chasm side. A rock that was thrown over the chasm would quickly fall. Some said quicker then on the world. And yet there were stories of people falling over the side, only to find themselves pushed by the wind back to the surface.
Sarah stood on the edge of the Dam staring out over the chasm. Behind her rose the great city. It was walled, but huge expansions existed outside the original walls. The wall on the side of the dam was little more than four feet high. The main assaults had always come from the sea. Jerry and Sam had gone together below to visit the holy site. Sam had gone to see his friends. Jerry had gone to be skeptical of spirituality and see what he called ‘a triumph of earth bond bodies’. Sarah had no real wish to travel to the holy site. She had already seen it. She had seen many of them. Her father had been raised and trained in the north, but he had become interested in the holy places of the south. Thus, all throughout her childhood, Sarah had been dragged from one holy site to the next.
Sarah wasn’t interested in the sites on this side of the world. She wanted to see the sites on the other side. Her father despite his background in science had told her that this was too far. Her mother had nearly fainted. But Sarah had been born with more than her share of her father’s determination. After all it takes a great amount of determination to travel on a great never ending pilgrimage. The boy who had grown up a scientist was now called the great travelling holy man. Sarah the daughter of the great travelling holy man, wished to be a scientist. Perhaps someday she would be called great.
The blue sun and its twin yellow sun were setting to the west, far behind her. The blue sun was already below the wall of the city. The yellow sun following close behind. ‘Forever the two twins dance around the heavens and forever would the two halves of the world dance around the suns,’ read the small green pendant Sarah’s father had given her before she had left for her own journey. Sarah touched the pendant unconsciously as she stared at the other half across the world. Darkness would soon make it impossible to see that far. Later that night the suns would show briefly through the endless chasm a shadowy light. While the light shown the holy men would sing loud prayers and bang on drums.
“Were you waiting for us?” Jerry said breathily from her left. The many stairs did not seem to have exhausted him, only make him energetic. Perhaps her father was right; Jerry would make a great holy man.
“Just staring out at the other half” Sarah said with a wave of her hand. Much slower then Jerry, Ben came up exhaustedly, heaving large gulps of air.
“Did you enjoy your visit?” Sarah asked politely.
“Amazing” Jerry said simply. Sam only nodded between breaths.
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