There once lived a young sculptor who dreamt of creating a perfect human likeness.

Observing everyone around him, he began to build a model at last, drawing inspiration from them.

He used the arms of one, the legs of another.

Yet another, he noticed had perfect fingers, so he added those.

Bit by bit, using his clay he molded an incredibly beautiful statue into being.

However, it was not yet perfect in his Eyes.

“It still lacks something.” He declared

So, he cut out his Eyes and gave them to the statue.

Receiving the man’s Eyes, the statue came alive and saw the world around it for the first time.

Then it spoke.

“This world…

…is beautiful.”

The man rejoiced in his Heart, for his perfect statue had come to be, even though he could not see it any longer.

“It is enough for me that it can see in my place.” The man laughed, as he began to work on his next piece.

One by one, the man made more and more statues, using the people around him as a guide.

However, at the end, the statues all seemed to lack something.

Unable to bear the idea of them being imperfect, the man gave of himself yet again.

To one, he gave his Hands, to another, his Feet.

To one he gave his Arms, to another, his Legs.

Bit by bit, the man gave and gave, working with the clay using only his Mouth, relying on touch alone to sculpt the perfect creations he saw in his mind’s eye.

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Lacking limbs left to give, the man gave the next statue his Heart.

Feeling a beating in its chest for the first time, the statue spoke.

“This world…

…is warm.”

The man nodded silently, for he no longer could feel satisfaction anymore, as his Heart no longer beat in his own chest.

Still, he said to himself “It is enough for me that it can feel in my place.”

From then on, the man worked tirelessly, day and night, striving to create a masterpiece that could rekindle his joy again.

Finally, one night, he achieved his goal.

Even though he could no longer see, the man recalled all the most wonderful bodies he had glimpsed in his life.

Even though he had no Hands, the man painstakingly etched the very most beautiful of features into his final work.

Even though he had no Heart, the man poured his very soul into the statue, shaping it line by line.

However, his final masterpiece before him, the man once again realized it was incomplete.

However, he no longer had any parts of himself left to give.

At last, he decided he would give the statue part of his Mind.

Thoughts racing through its new Mind for the first time, the statue spoke.

“This world…

…no longer needs you, does it?”

The statue drew near the man, and reached out to him, caressing him like a mother.

Slowly, the other statues drew near as well.

“Since you no longer have Eyes, you can no longer perceive beauty or goodness in this world” spoke one.

“Since you no longer have Arms or Hands, you can no longer change the world” said another.

“Since you no longer have Legs or Feet, you can no longer support yourself or others in this world” yet another added.

“Since you no longer have a Heart, you can no longer love or feel anything in this world” continued another.

“Since you no longer have a Mind, you can no longer create anything in this world” the last one said, picking the misshapen remnant of the man up.

“In the end, all you could do was create mockeries, images of what was good.” The statue told the man. “You never once used any of the parts you yourself were given to actually do good.”

The statue then began to walk towards the door to the man’s house. “Foolish man who sought after perfection, you gave all you could have been to try to bring us to life, but see;”

At this, the statue carried the man outside.

There, under the scorching rays of the midday sun, the statues slowly began to dry and crumble to dust.

As they did, the parts of himself the man had given them rotted, and crows came and ate them.

“The beauty you sought after was illusory.” The statue whispered. “It can never exist in the world outside. The life you could have spent working in the world you squandered, trying to wish a non-existent perfection into being. Behold;”

The statue took one of the man’s eyes from the dust and placed it in his head.

“Illusions and shadows can only be seen at night. Dreams fade in the morning sun. You who spent your one life seeking after a dream are now left with neither.”

Saying this, the statue collapsed upon the man, filling his mouth with dust.

Unable to even move himself, the man ceased to breath and passed away.

When the people from the town came upon the man, they found only a dismembered corpse, surrounded by piles of silt.

“He must have killed himself” they surmised, and left it at that.

End.