When I started this one, I’m not sure I knew what the ending was. But, eventually, I found it.
Today’s Word:
quaquaversal
As in:
In a town where time had no measure, and all was silence, a lone child set out to find something greater than all he had ever known. The basic sense of contentment and serene confidence that possessed this small town had never occurred to the youth, and he could never understand his community’s calm acceptance of all that was.
The youth wanted to know the source of everything. He wanted to know how everything worked and why the rain nourished the land and how people came to the peaceful valley at the bottom of the mountain, which his people held sacred. He wanted to know why the mountain was greater than his people, and why they accepted it as the center of all things.
So the boy set out from the village with but one thought: to climb the mountain. Such things were not done, his elders had all said, but when he asked them the simplest of questions, merely seeking to know “why” such things were not done, they could give him no good answer. And so, with determination, and little else, the boy began his quest.
As he climbed, higher and higher, struggling with the treacherous terrain and poor climate, he knew, that should he reach the top, he finally would find the answers to all of his questions. And then the summit loomed closer. Seized with anticipation of the fulfillment of his dreams, he forced himself to push for the top. And then, as he stood on the peak, with its quaquaversal vantage point, he saw, for the first time in his life, the world outside. And, in a flash, it came to him that while many of the things he had once asked were answered, the attainment of the summit only fostered more questions, and his hopes to find the same serenity as those in his village were gone.
As he stood there in near desperation, staring into the vastness of the world, he heard a voice. He turned, and standing not far from him was a man, strangely dressed, wearing clothing made of the smoothest ski imaginable, and seeming to the lad very discomforting. the figure wore trousers, which matched his overcoat exactly, and from his neck, there was a brightly colored piece of cloth, which resembled the tail of an animal. The boy laughed at such a thought, and then the man spoke again.
The man said, “You have come a great distance to find the answers to important questions. I will tell you that in your life, there will always be uncertainties. But, perhaps I can help. Have you ever considered purchasing life insurance?
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quaquaversal: / kwa – KWA – verse – all / pointing or facing in every direction. In relation to rock formations, the term specifically means sloping down in every direction from a more or less central tip.