A Grain Of Rice
Oriza had been sitting in the prison for a time unknown. Since his arrival Oriza had
gotten used to the prison. The prison was at least dry and safe. Oriza never really fully understood the world around himself (even before arriving in the detention center). Oriza would reminisce about the past, the
days spent in the paddy.
He found himself slipping into a memory…
A memory of home...
The place he called home was in the high green mountains. The landscape was gorgeous. Oriza used to feel it was indescribable. He did not know how to explain the beautiful green steeps he lived on. There were trees that blew gently in the wind. Light brown lines of soil and earth, traced a map over the landscape. The mountains stretched, like large lush turrets into the sky. Rolling verdant hills were nestled snugly between the mountains. On the rolling hills there were steep after steep of paddies. This is where Oriza`s people came from.
Oriza came from a large family. Oriza had many brothers and sisters.
Growing up with his family, was the only comfort he ever knew. The wind blew
hard and cold at times. The air would get very moist, and damp. There were
pests trying (and occasionally succeeding) to destroy whole families. The sky
was how they kept track of time. When it was night, the danger increased. The
pests seemed to be very active at nights. At night, the only light Orizas`
family had was the moon, and the stars. Oriza always thought it was strange how
when things were dangerous, everything around him seemed a little more
beautiful (like when strange enemies attempted to eat them).
Orizas` family lived in the highest tier, and felt
rather proud of that. The environment in the paddy was harsh, but it was still home. In addition to having a large family, Oriza also had an
enormous amount of neighbors. They lived in a very tight knit community. His
family and neighbors would talk for hours, and hours. They would talk about the
gorgeous blue sky. Comment on the passing of the clouds. Orzia and his siblings
would also listen to their parent’s wisdom. They learned about nature, and life
from their parents. Their parents would tell them about the importance of
having deep roots, and always striving to grow. Their parents would tell them
stories about being young, and how similar they were. They explained that each
child would grow, and face their own trials and tribulations. Orizas` parents
always told him he was different, but not in a bad way. He was curious, which
was odd for beings of his village. Most beings were just content to grow. Oriza
wanted to grow as much as the next being, but he also longed and loved to
learn. He loved to watch and wonder about the two-legged creatures, which lived
near his home.
... Being held in the prison made him appreciate these memories even more; he realized, he may never see these sights again. ...
He trusted the two-legged creatures. He only knew a
few, two-legged creatures. They helped him to grow. They flooded the fields
with ample water for Oriza and his family. They tended to him in the paddy, and
always treated Oriza with the uppermost respect. The two-legged creature were gentle and calm. They
would come and check for pests. They helped families who were having a
difficult time growing. One of the two legged-creatures had a box that made
noise. Oriza was always intrigued by this box; however, his family seemed
completely content to ignore it. This was the way of things for many nights and
days. It was harsh at times, but peaceful and calm. This was until one fateful
day, when the two-legged creatures who took care of Oriza; harvested him and
his family. They came with sickles and knives, and removed Oriza from the paddy.
The two-legged creatures killed his parents; and left
Oriza, and the rest of his family to die. Oriza was taken from his home in the
paddy, and left to dry out on the side of a dusty dirt road. He felt like
things could not get any worse. The beings from the paddy were in shock! They
could not believe what the two-legged creatures had done. Soon after, the
two-legged creatures decided to torture him more. They took him and his family
to a detention center. There were millions of other families being held as
well. There were also many two-legged creatures walking around. They all talked
about how two-legged creatures were going to kill them, as well. Everyone was
discussing how the other detainees got sent into machines called “mills”, and
never returned. Oriza watched the two-legged creatures pick up him and his
family, and then drop them into one of the mills. Oriza was afraid like everyone
else. He missed his parents, and the green paddies. Oriza was trapped in a
mill. Oriza was beaten, and his clothes were stripped off. He then fell into a
dark land alongside thousands of other beings he didn’t know.
There was no soil or water inside this new land, which
Oriza felt was more of a prison. Oriza and the others didn`t have much to talk
about in the prison. There were no sights. It was night most of the time in
this land. There was an occasional glint of light in the sky and Oriza would feel
himself shift in his prison. This glint of shining light gave Oriza hope for
the future. Oriza didn’t notice much change when he had first arrived in the
detention camp. The other beings didn`t say much, in fact they didn’t really
say anything. They only understood that there were other beings like them, and
that they all used to live a glorious natural green land. They had been plucked
from their home and dragged away to this new land against their will.
… Oriza slipped out of the memory into the present.
That is how Oriza ended up in the prison. As time passed in
the prison Oriza noticed each time he saw the glint of light in the sky, the
weight on top of him got lighter. Oriza had also noticed that the light grew
brighter each time he saw the light. All of the other beings, in seclusion with
Oriza, felt scared. They were fearful of the future. They were afraid of what
lied beyond in the light. It seemed that each time the light flashed, beings were taken away from and never seen again. Oriza did not fear the end. Oriza
had experienced this once before, and due to his strange disposition; he didn`t fear the
unknown, he only wanted answers. There were so many unknowns in the world.
Oriza had a personal belief in a higher power. He would have to trust that
whatever was out there deciding his destiny would take care of him. He had come
a long way from the paddy, but still remembered his parents always taught him "to
grow". Oriza felt like he had to stay positive, at the very least this was a new
experience. Oriza thought: “what if there wasn’t anything beyond the light but
death”. Oriza decided, he was not afraid of the nothingness. His beliefs
were caused no harm to anyone else. He knew that beings had to believe,
whatever they choose to; even if that meant fearing that which they had no
control over. In his mind, death was another journey which none could escape.
After being trapped for what seemed to be an eternity, the
sky of the prison opened again. The light was very bright on this occasion.
Oriza felt the fear of all the beings around him. A dark shadow appeared in the
fluorescent light. The shadow was the outline of a two-legged creatures` arm, holding a cup of
some kind. A Pyrex measuring cup dived into the bag; and scooped up the beings,
including Oriza. Oriza could see all the various machines of the world around
them through the glass. He felt like he was floating. His senses were
overwhelmed with curiosity and intrigue, in light of whatever danger he faced.
He had never seen so many foreign objects. Oriza did not see any signs of
nature. There were multiple bright suns in the white sky. There was no tress,
hills, mountains, or paddies. Oriza saw instead (things he could not
explain); sharp deli slicers, burning stoves, bubbling fryers, steaming hot
ovens, and shining sinks. The silver, white, and black sea surrounded Orizas`
sight. There were two-legged creatures dressed in white jackets, and
checkerboard pants. Oriza saw himself moving towards a fire (a stove). On the stove was
a pot of briskly boiling water.
Of all beings which had initially felt fear, many now
also felt a feeling of sorrowful acceptance. All of the other detainees feared imminent destruction,
except one. Oriza did not know what was to come, but he felt comforted by the
fact that; he could not control the course, of his current destiny. He thought:
he could gain a lot of knowledge, wherever this journey took him. Oriza
thought, pain would be a small price to pay for the unknowable knowledge, he
was about to gain. The glass cup began to tilt over into the boiling death
waiting below. Everyone landed in the pot of boiling water.
No one was sure if they died, or they were still alive. If
they had died, the afterlife was pretty comfortable, it felt like warm rain.
They spent a spell in the jacuzzi. They soaked up much of the water, and they
were removed from the pot. Oriza and the others had become something new. He
felt a sense of purpose. He had transformed. The two-legged creatures in white
put Oriza and the rest of the enlightened in a bowl, and covered them with a
delicious brown sauce. It smelled like delicious spices and herbs which Oriza
did not know the name of. Oriza felt special, happy, and excited. He had always
dreamed of becoming more than what he was, and somehow that dream had come
true. Oriza felt his purpose had become clear. He traveled in his ceramic
vessel, from the silver ocean to a world with a red sky. The bowl was placed
down on a wooden table. A two-legged creature picked up two sticks, and started
eating everyone in the urn. Oriza finally understood: his purpose was to serve.
Oriza saw the chopsticks moving towards him, and felt happy, content, and calm.
The end was here, and he had truly grown and learned. Oriza was picked up with
the chopsticks, and in a blink of an eye; the grain of rice was gone.
Composed By: Andrew Drucker
