Of Chaos and Consequence
A reckoning, sculpted from chaos - an end that might also be the beginning. For Gabriel's "Beginning-Endings" Unofficial Writing Challenge
Consequences, mapped, spread, and stretched across the chaos they so deftly served in their given time, are ordered by unseen forces. We grasp at straws to find reason and rhyme, some semblance of "the why" when the seemingly random shatters our steady ground.
As I look around, the massacre, to the untrained eye, seems, for the most part, an unmitigated disaster, one that beauty has forgotten. To the trained eye, the maestro's vision was one of untapped wonderment. Where crisis and chaos sculpted into something majestic, beyond the ordinary, beyond the...
I stood around, marvelling at my masterpiece. At all that had gone before and was yet to come. The Unravelling, my life's work, was delivered to me as I looked out at the void for an answer to "why" and the void, in its way, responded. The illiterate—those bastards of existence—might claim I was simply playing a score written by another. Oh, if it were—trouble would be calling me from the bloodquake that surrounds me, engulfs me.
Woe to those who look for another, as I stand in their midst. The Reckoning is by my hand alone. Woe to those who look for another. The Reckoning is mine, and mine alone. The shapes that once were bodies, whether those that are still fighting pitifully, begrudgingly for survival or those who have succumbed to their inevitability, now lie still in the wake of my final act.
As the life drains around me, and filters down into the streams that I stand in, I wonder if they thank me, in their cries, or spite me. It matters not. It matters not. Repeat for emphasis, repeat in mantric form, until it becomes the last thing they remember. Before they are forgotten.
The void, The Unravelling, the last great work of magnificent brutality. Serenity accomplished. Silence restored.
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Thanks for reading!
Author's Notes: This is my entry into the unquestionably talented and inspiring Gabriel Huizenga's "Beginning-Endings" Unofficial Writing Challenge, which you can find out more about below.
That's all I'm saying.
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About the Creator
Paul Stewart
Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.
The Accidental Poet - Poetry Collection out now!
Streams and Scratches in My Mind coming soon!
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Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Compelling and original writing
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Comments (23)
Congrats on the top story and second place.
Darn. That is a dark piece. Great read.
Phenomenal entry for Gabriel's challenge! This is so well written and just freaking amazing!! I had a feeling you'd be good at something like this! It's got some great similarity to your poetic style while still being so anchored in the narrative scene! BRAVO!
This is an incredible and dark story. There are so many ways this can be taken, and I had to read it over again to really solidify that imagery, in a double-take fashion. A really great piece! Congratulations on top story!! [Prize 2/5]
Wooohooo Paul!! Congrats on honourable mention on the new leaderboard!!! 🎉
Such beautiful, dark, enticing acceptance—I love this piece!
Pal— this is utterly fantastic and so, so, so dark! As disturbing as this is, the thoughts of this maniac are masterful. Somehow you managed to make me feel so disgusted by them, yet, as their deranged mind reveled in the fulfillment of their “purpose” and embraced their fate, I felt an undeserved compassion toward their delusion. This messed with my head. Brilliant writing, as always!
It was great to find this story in the Vocal newsletter, no wonder why! I felt like I was standing there, watching the whole scene like a movie, and it could be so many things. Great entry! Good luck with the unofficial challenge, and congrats on the TS! :)
I love the way you write and the wording of everything. This was amazing and no doubt will place in the competition.
A haunting and powerful piece, it tells of destruction with pride and poetry, showing a mind lost in chaos yet certain of its purpose.
A haunting ode to devastation, cloaked in grandeur. Congratulations on your top story!
Heyyyy Sir Paul! My commenting ability was revoked on 15 May and only now I'm able to comment. That's why I've only been reading and hearting your stuff without commenting. Congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Upvote for "bloodquake" 👍🏻 Diabolically good work 🙏🏻😁
woooohoo Paul!! Circling back to say congrats on another TS!!!
Ayyyy back to say congrats on a top story lad
The reckoning, the unravelling…. Felt like the main character was blistering and welcoming their fate. Thought this was brilliant.
Hey, Nasty (I imagine) but mysterious Paul. I wonder.. ..another challenge I’ve not seen nor even heard of the writer..must check them out. Hope you are going alright.
The weight of indecision when faced with hard/ unpleasant choices is heavy... so captivating and engaging Paul!!
There is so much power and mystery in this piece, Paul. Amazing job with creating the intrigue!
And so I sense it welling within me. But is it rage, revenge, or resignation?
magnificent brutality-loved that
I have to agree with SIlver, THis is an exceptional piece of writing. It literally (and I do not like using this term) draws the reader in to this unknown delimma our MC is contemplating about. I need to know what happened or what is about to occur.
You've always been a skilled writer but this more than anything really shows how much growth you've made as a writer. There's an unfathomable depth to the world you created and to do that in so few words is really remarkable. This could show up in any published magazine or book and it would be perfectly in place. Plus I'd read an entire book written in this style in a heartbeat. Another stunner!