600 Years After the Fall

On the outskirts of a small village, a tiny hut stands in one of the darkest corners of this gloomy era. The small cubical sun rises in the sky, weaving an ancient tapestry with its golden rays, casting a yellow hue that fills the air, bringing a glimmer of hope and warmth to the villagers’ faces.

Despite this, each time the sun’s rays fall on one of the faces, one can’t help but be surprised by the generous smile that appears on them. The wrinkles on their cheeks, if you look closely, seem to invite you to visit this place and spend some good time here. Isn’t that the strategy of sellers? After all, this is a market. But it doesn’t really matter anyway.

In truth, despite everything, the place appears beautiful to look at and contemplate.

Let’s step a little away from the simple rays of light and the scattered smiles in every corner here and there. We move to our old hut, which lies on green land far from the market’s noise, the sellers’ shouts, and perhaps those delicate rays of light.

Here, the world wears a dark robe, illuminating a path for those who have none. This place takes you on a journey seeking death within life. And thus, the journey begins from a world rich with life towards a life filled with death. Where will the arrow of light sink, and which direction will it take?

Inside an old wooden room filled with darkness, a fragrant smell creeps in from the kitchen’s fire. It’s the delightful aroma of carp fish, garnished with a traditional blend of spices, making its taste beyond imagination.

Adam awoke to this aroma, and his mouth watered. He dressed quickly, eager to get his breakfast as soon as possible. As every morning, he knocked over everything in his way inside the room, from the copper water bottle to the wooden clock that hadn’t worked for years. Nevertheless, he refused to let it go. Every day, he knocks it over; it has become a part of his vibrant and energetic morning routine, at least for Adam

The 22-year-old opened the door and headed to the kitchen, planting a kiss on his mother’s head and thanking her for the delicious breakfast as usual. He tried to turn on the kitchen lights, but his attempts were unsuccessful. In the end, it seemed that the lights in his mind hadn’t turned on yet. Before realizing it, he ended up causing endless annoyance to his mother and little sister, who were waiting for him to regain his senses and join them quickly at the breakfast table.

After several minutes, the family sat together, enjoying what Mother Lina had prepared: boiled eggs, grilled carp, a few loaves of bread, and three glasses of water. They always enjoyed this gathering more than anything else in the world. At this table, they forget all their worries and thoughts and what life demands of them.

A few minutes passed before this delicious breakfast ended, and Adam got up to wash his hands, then began preparing his bag and fishing rod for his usual morning fishing trip. Meanwhile, Mother Lina would tidy the house, wash the dishes, and feed the few chickens and their thin rooster. After that, she would teach some basics to Anger and teach her how to read. She would likely end the evening sitting in front of the house, looking at the small green field, while Anger chased the chickens or played with her doll inside the room. Thus, the day passes peacefully until her son Adam returns.

As for Adam, as usual, a long and beautiful journey awaited him, not marred by the killer routine. Despite having fished for many years, spending mornings at the lake or river and evenings selling his fresh catch in the market, he sometimes sells rare herbs he finds along his way. Adam has a strange talent for making dolls and figures from discarded tree branches or even old wooden boards. The market sellers often advise him to stick to fishing and leave toy-making to the children. He doesn’t know if they mean to help him or to get rid of a young competitor.

In any case, it’s the way of sellers. At the end of the day, they close their livelihoods and return together, discussing life’s nature, its harshness, gentleness, kindness, and cruelty.

Adam slung his bag over his shoulder, equipped with all his essentials and an empty bottle to fill when he reaches the river, bid his mother farewell, and set off on his journey. But today, he would follow a different path than usual. Yesterday, upon returning, he saw a small cave entrance. When he entered it looking for some rare herbs that often grow in such places, used by old women to sweeten their tea, he found nothing at first. However, the cave was straight and easy to navigate, unlike some previous caves he had entered.

Without realizing it, he ventured deep inside, disregarding his mother’s daily advice to be cautious and avoid suspicious places. However, perhaps deep down, he saw no harm in advancing since the place was open and easy to navigate. If any problem occurred, he could escape. But contrary to all expectations, after walking for a not-so-short distance, he found something unimaginable before him. Perhaps he expected herbs or a cluster of trees or maybe hidden animals at worst, but he never expected life to smile upon him with a whole lake in front of him.

He nearly lost control of himself out of sheer joy and delight, but he composed himself, deciding that it was too late that day, and his family would surely worry about him. Moreover, this place was far from the usual fishing spots and inside a cave, so none of his acquaintances could have known about it. Thus, it would be his little secret.

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The young man arrived at the cave entrance after a long journey, determined to uncover its mysteries and secrets today, and perhaps catch some fish if he could. He entered the cave quickly and took out some equipment from his bags to light a fire and illuminate his path. However, what he didn’t notice yesterday was that the cave wasn’t completely dark somehow, and also, the lake he found had a different color from usual lakes. Adam’s head was filled with many questions: could it be the lighting used? And if so, why this particular place? Could this place be under the control of powerful people?

His mind was flooded with questions he had no answers for, so he sighed in resignation: “It’s best to discover that myself. Anyway, if this place truly belongs to someone, I wouldn’t be surprised to meet them today.”

He followed his usual path towards his desired destination, his determination undeterred by any obstacles he might face. He continued walking for a while until he finally began to see his destination. He realized this as he started to sense a change in the surrounding atmosphere.

His attention was caught by some decorations and carvings on the cave walls when he reached this specific point. But it was futile, no matter how hard he tried to understand them, he couldn’t figure out what they meant, so he gave up trying, although his mind remained filled with thoughts.

Finally, he reached the desired spot where a blue circle extended as far as his eyes could see. However, unlike other lakes and rivers, the blue of this lake leaned towards white, and in several places, you could see what lay within due to its clarity. On its sides, there was soil of a yellow color, entirely different from the soil known to the people of this place.

Adam was fascinated and astounded, trying to feel its texture with his fingers, hoping to understand its nature, but his conclusions only led to it being a rare type of soil. It was harder to touch than regular soil, and the place was warmer than usual. He didn’t know the reason for this warmth. Usually, the atmosphere was always cold or humid. The people of this village knew warmth only in the kitchen, where pots boiled and food was heated.

Adam muttered to himself: “What’s the reason for the warmth here? Certainly, this desolate place, despite its beauty and uniqueness, isn’t suitable for a settlement. Also, the place is far more expansive than needed for a settlement. So, definitely, it’s an abandoned place, not owned by anyone.”

After a short tour of the place, despite its strangeness, which made one question whether this place was real or not, Adam chose a slightly elevated spot to sit on, which also allowed him to observe the entire place. He set up his fishing gear and cast his line into this strange lake, hoping to catch something that could change his life.

But of course, this isn’t a fairy tale. After many hours, he caught only regular fish. In fact, if we are to be entirely honest, it was more than usual, which made Adam very happy with his choice to come here. “This is truly amazing. I expected great things, but not to this extent. These fish will astonish everyone at the market, and it seems tonight’s dinner will be a feast, not just an ordinary meal. Certainly, Mother will be very pleased with this.”

It seems Adam was truly very happy with what he had achieved that day, and this entire place had become his little secret and his treasure. He had been one of the best and most quality sellers in the market. And after what he had achieved today, it would only increase his fame and pride, and of course, his money greatly.

Adam felt he had spent enough time here today, satisfied with what he had caught, which was enough for today and tomorrow and sufficient for a family’s dinner of ten members. He might even face difficulty carrying these fish, but it seemed his morning feeling of heading to a special place made him bring enough supplies to avoid this problem, which would have caused him deep sorrow if he couldn’t take what he worked for today.

After these hours, when Adam was about to leave, he noticed that the place’s lighting had changed from what it was in the morning, becoming more intense

The place also became warmer, even though it was naturally hot when he arrived in the morning. However, he was tired now, and he also had another task awaiting him: selling these fish in the evening. So, he decided to postpone thinking about this matter for another day.

As he made his way out, he noticed that the sharp rays of light were focused towards the mouth of the cave, specifically illuminating the ancient decorative walls he had seen earlier. This time, everything looked completely different. There was a strange feeling surrounding the place, and the thin, sharp, yellow rays covered the strange decorations, making them more visible—or perhaps it was just his imagination.

Adam felt a chill and a sense of strangeness when he realized that the only thing he could make out from these images were different people. Different people indeed. As he got closer to the decorations that had captivated his mind, he forgot his exhaustion and the money and glory awaiting him at the market. All he cared about now were these strange decorations on the wall, enhanced by the sharp, yellow rays.

The images became clearer, as if he were seeing those people in real life. One was crying, another was pumping something, and there was an old man on his knees, surrounded by a large crowd of indistinct figures also kneeling. Surrounding them were another group of people with distorted features, appearing as if they were in pain or sorrow.

At the end of the image, a large disc stood out, its structure illuminated by the mysterious light source, enhancing its brightness. Adam’s mind was overwhelmed by what he saw, unable to find an explanation despite the clarity of the images and symbols.

“Damn, what is this? Are these really people? And why do they look like that? Who drew these here, and what do they mean? I can’t figure it out. And what is this circular disc here? Could it really be… No, I can’t say that. I saw with my own eyes what happened to Gina’s father, but I really can’t think about anything else now. Is this real? I promised myself to stay away from such things as they bring no benefit, yet here I am again. I don’t care. It’s better not to return to this disturbing place again. Damn it, and I thought life had finally smiled at me.”

Adam stood up forcefully and quickly, heading towards the market, trying to rid himself of these thoughts. However, his mind and thoughts would never leave this place, especially since the image of that thing remained there. It is… the sun. Our sun.