THE STATUE

Once upon a time there lived a statue, a lonely marble statue in the centre of an aging garden which always shed autumn leaves. Small pools of fetid, stagnant water surrounded it, collecting on indentations of the rough stone tiled floor on which it stood upon. Its right hand pointed accusingly at the sky, the other hand clenched tightly and put against its left hip. Its right leg stood bent at the knee in the direction of its right finger, and the left was ramrod and straightened out. Its face was an expression of calm, its head parallel to the ground, its eyes piercing forward, lips pursed slightly.

One day, a lost man stumbled into the garden. He didn’t notice the statue at first, being more concerned with avoiding the puddles of fetid water. Then, stepping into its shadow, he noticed something amiss and looked up. There, before his eyes, lay the statue, a figure of queer beauty. He had never seen anything like it.

What does it mean? he pondered.

The finger pointed towards the sky, now a darkening expanse with emerging stars.

Perhaps it means that one should look forward to the future, he thought.

He saw that its eyes looked forward too and thought, never let your eye off your goals.

He glanced to the statue’s left and saw the opposing hand, tightly clenched and put akimbo. That must mean that one should be assertive in getting one’s goals too, he said.

Looking at the feet, he remarked, that must be it- striding forward into the morrow.

He stepped back and gazed in awe at the statue. What a masterpiece! He said to himself.

As he took another step back, his heel bumped into an object on the floor. He turned and looked, and there lay a broken marble fencing weapon, like the rapiers of old. He glanced back up, looked again at the marble foil, and realized that it was originally placed in the outstretched right hand of the statue.

He looked at the statue and reflected on his ruminations, smirking as he thought of them. Laughing at himself and shaking his head, he walked away into the darkness.

THE END