The Choice

There are but two paths, one of knowledge, and one of destruction. Your kingdom is at a crossroads.

We live in a world that is becoming more unsafe and terrifying on a daily basis. The moment we think we have found our footing, the ground moves again.

Other writers on Substack and elsewhere may take to Notes or post on social media about certain persons who seem hellbent on destroying the very fabric of trust, charity, honor, and kindness that the West was built on.

And while I do have many, many thoughts and fairly brutal opinions about these persons, I am not a journalist or an essayist. I am a storyteller. So, it’s my job to say what I have to say through allegorical storytelling.

I wrote this short story in 2013. I had been thinking of other things when I wrote it; things like climate change. But while washing up the dishes and pondering about what I would write to my paid subscribers to encourage them in a world torn apart by pointless wars, zealotry, where bad guys are becoming the good guys and the good guys have morphed into the bad guys, this story called to me from the deep, dark abyss of time.

So, I went back to it and looked it over. Perhaps it’s just me, but reading it now, living in the dystopian nightmare every sane person faces when the fog of sleep clears each day, this story resonated in a way it never could have in the innocent, hopeful world of 2013.

I have made a few light edits, but it is otherwise as I wrote it. This is my voice from 13 years ago. It seems she had something to say before it was time to say it. I had thought what I wrote about was climate change, but no. It was actually about a king, a proud, narcissistic, vain man who lived in a bubble and consumed everything in his desire to please himself.

And now, I share that story with you.