A Place To Bloom

The Gods

Ahead of us, the road was blocked by some large boulders that had fallen from the hillside. Davod and Geraln stepped around the pile, but I stooped low to pick up a few rocks and rolled them off to the right and into the ravine.

"What are you doing?" Davod stopped to ask. His giant, meaty figure eclipsed a nearby tree.

"This road leads to Gath, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Geraln said. He was average height, but next to Davod he was short and plump.

"Well, suppose there's a merchant heading towards Gath with a cart of goods. They won't be able to go past these rocks."

Davod dropped his pack and stooped down on the opposite side, lifting up another giant rock and rolling it off. It crunched a few twigs as it tumbled.

Geraln protested, "why don't they clear the way themselves?"

"What if it's an old man who's not strong enough? We can do it right now."

I dropped my pack and everything else I could lose to prepare for the work that lay ahead. Davod grabbed a few smaller rocks and launched them far into the ravine. It was quite a few seconds before we heard rocks crashing against other rocks amid the steady chorus of water somewhere below.

"Nah," I said. "Try and keep them right over here, off the side. The mud seeps into the cracks as it rains, and that'll reinforce the road, keep it from collapsing. Help me with this big one."

And a giant boulder it was. Between Davod and myself, straining every muscle in my body, we managed to roll it off the roadway. It fell a little further than I'd hoped and rolled down the hill until it thudded against a large tree.

Geraln protested further, "I don't understand why we have to do this."

Davod answered him. "Look, man. All your ramblings about our glorious economy, this road brings travelers into Gath and that helps our economy. Our families. Our home. Come on, then."

Davod and I together got behind a large boulder and wrestled it out of place, letting it fall over and roll down the side of the road. That one left my arms burning, and by this time my fingers were covered in scratches and dirt, promising to callous over in the coming hours. I took a break by tossing down some of the smaller ones.

Geraln continued to talk. "Why don't we let the people back home take care of this?"

"Because we're here," I said.

"So?"

My hands were tired from working on the pile, and I'd broken a sweat. Still there were more. I looked at Davod, who'd taken on the same yet continued to lift, hoist, and roll rocks from the roadway. "You could help," he snapped at Geraln.

I struggled with a large boulder that was blocking an even bigger one, as it had snagged on a smaller rock beneath it. I pushed, and every time it felt as if it would give way, it refused. Davod came over and pushed his meaty hands in my way, and gave it a solid yank. Still it refused to budge. I then counted from three, and with the both of us we managed to dislodge the thing and send it down the ravine. It rolled and bounced, crunching through low bushes until it thudded against a tree.

I looked up at him. "That was a deeply satisfying sound."

He laughed, then tried to repeat it as best he could. "Bunk!"

We both laughed at that, then we each tossed away some more of the smaller ones while Geraln continued to watch. Then there was a big one. One giant boulder had been hidden beneath the rest, and it didn't seem as though we'd be able to dislodge the thing. For though we tried, it didn't budge, not even a little.