AD21//Day 21 out of 25

THE VIGIL IS IN PREPARATION.

This is a story about a father in his thirties, than after being able to successfully escape from the cult, journeys out to explore the world he has been deprived of learning.

This story settled on the different fates he meets along the way, and the ironic consequences of their actions. The ones who do good for the people are protested against, and the ones who steal grapes for a living end up killing the one who planted it, living with the guilt his whole life.

As the father soldiers on, he discovers more about himself, on his memories and leads a group of sheep into the religion of self-reflection. As he approaches the edge of the habitable world, the air gets thicker and his lantern glows dimmer. At the end of the journey, he is alone.

The god of the cult is the god of the world. Always in a panic, this god solves problems and culls people as needed as fast as possible to keep up with the demands of a vast population. Unlike the father, who calmly strides through dunes, forests and rivers, the god works endlessly.

It dawns on the father, upon meeting and conversing with the god of the cult that these people have led their lives based on what fantasy they choose to believe. All fantasies are powerful, but also with rules and risk. What you believe in, the god says, does not need to be real. It simply needs to be resellient enough to give you a will to live. The father was unlucky he was born and indoctrinated into the cult that was against his nature. He begs the god to be reincarnated into a place where he belongs.

The story ends in a forced awakening. Alone at the edge of the habitable world, the father plunges deep into where the poisonous gas may feed on him. But just as he was about to lose consciousness, he realizes the meaninglessness of sacrifice. He sees that he, too, has amassed a following. A circle of his own. He returns from the edge, proclaiming the end is not worth living for, and creates a home right there.

This is a lesson of cruelty. That upon freedom, and upon reaching the end of our quest, it is only by repeating the mistakes we swore never to rationalize, experience or do to others do we develop into controllers of our own fate. The father denounces the god of the world, and preaches the standards of virtue, equipped with punishment for misbehavior, rather than to worship the creator. At the end, he has become complacent in knowing that the edge will never be crossed, and that maybe it's because it has to be that way forever.