In
The Time Of Eiddoel Ohwydd
by
R.e. Taylor
On
every planet in every galaxy throughout the universe, there is a time
where the people celebrate the midpoint in the coldest time of the
year, the point where day and night are the same length, where the
dark time fades away, and the light takes over. On Earth, that time
is called Christmas or the winter solstice. On the planet of
Aragonia, it is called the Crystal Night.
Aragonia
has a population of exactly 3,983,725,406 and out of that number
3,983,725,405 celebrate the holiday...as a matter of fact, it is the
one day of the year, that the Aragonians most look forward to.
Starting at sunrise, parties, parades and any kind of celebration you
can think of takes place. It is a day where all of the races and
species on the planet play together until the sun sets. It is then
when a bonfire is lit in every town, village and city on the
planet and they are kept burning until the sun rises once again. They
are lit to honor the coming of longer days and life for the planet.
This
is the story about that one person in Aragonia who does not
like the Crystal Night. His name was Eiddoel Ohwydd, he was the 75
year old descendant of Aragonian royalty. His father, Emperor Renfrew
VII, was known as the most generous leader the planet had ever seen.
Every Crystal Night, Emperor Renfrew made sure that every house had a
big meal and a supply of wood for the cold nights, and his mother,
Empress Crystyn, made warm clothes through the year to keep them warm
from (in) the bitter cold.
Eiddoel,
on the other hand, was a miser, despite his station in life he felt
that the planet owed him anything and everything he wanted without a
thought to anyone else. He never gave anyone a single piece of brass,
nor would he ever buy anyone a meal (lunch)...Not even his own
mother and father, and he would laugh his head off at the suffering
at anyone worse off than he was. To say that he was the
opposite of his family was to be gracious...he was as rotten as a
piece of meat that was left to spoil, and that is why his parents
disowned him and left him destitute and living on the streets.
It
wasn't too long before he managed to open a small shop. No one
knew what he sold exactly, but he always managed to have whatever his
customers wanted or needed. The thing was, his prices for everything,
were at least twice what any other shop in the area charged, and he
never ever allowed anyone to buy anything on credit, but he almost
always had customers...especially in the time before Crystal Night.
On the actual night, Eiddoel would keep his shop open, but his prices
increased. Still he had customers. Eventually he became one of the
richest men in the town.
Once
the shop was closed he would wander the streets alone, mumbling and
knocking little children to the ground as he passed. Then when he got
home, he would order his servants to continue working throughout the
night, as he went into his den and drank a full bottle of Darcasian
rum, and as always he would pass out as the alcohol ran out.
The
night of Crystal Night, Eiddoel did his usual ritual, but this time
the rum hit him harder than usual. He was sitting in his chair
watching his fish swim back and forth, when the alcohol hit him, he
slumped down and fell into a deep sleep. It was so deep that his
snoring could be heard more than a mile away, when suddenly he heard
a voice in his room. Thinking it was one of his servants he just
waved it off, but the voice became louder and more insistent.
“Eiddoel,”
it yelled. “It is time that you come with me.” He woke up and
stared at a shapeless black figure who was standing by his fireplace.
“It is time.”
“Time
for what,” Eiddoel asked.
“I
have been watching you since you were a child and I do not like what
you have turned into,” the figure said as it reached out its hand.
“You have a lesson to learn.” Eiddoel felt powerless for the
first time in his life as took the figure's hand and they walked
together through a mirror at the other end of the room. When they
emerged what Eiddoel saw was completely unfamiliar. It was Aragonia,
but it was different.
“Where
are we,” he asked.
“Do
not ask questions,” the figure said in a very stern voice. “Just
watch and think.”
In
front of them was a boy, Eiddoel guessed that he was no more than 15
years old, he watched as the boy, wearing a large red cloak, went
from child to child giving them pieces of chocolates, hard candies
and some small toys. The boy never said a word. He just continued to
do what he was doing, and as he did the faces of the younger children
lit up with smiles wider than even the river that flowed just a block
away. All of the shops were open, and some of them were handing out
little tokens that the kids would grab and stash in their pockets
before running into the darkness.
“See
that boy,” the figure asked. “Do you know his name?”
“No...Should
I,” he replied.
“No
one ever knew his name,” the figure replied. “He did the same
thing year after year. He never asked for a thank you and he never
wanted fame. He just wanted the children to be happy for one day out
of the year.”
“So,”
Eiddoel asked.
“Because
of him the holy day of Crystal Night was born. It was more than 1,000
years before you were ever a thought in your mother's dreams.”
“What
happened to him,” Eiddoel asked.
“He
died after a long life. He was never a rich man, but every year
throughout his life he made sure that every child knew what it was
like to have a smile. He lived, penniless for 373 seasons, and in his
will he asked to be buried in an unmarked grave, and that wish was
granted. It was the least the town could do for him.” He took
Eiddoel by the hand, “Eiddoel, what was your Crystal Nights like? I
know that you had more presents than you could handle, and you were
like those children. You had a smile that would last for days. Now,
come with me.” The figure pulled Eiddoel and the walked through
another mirror.
They
emerged into a world that Eiddoel knew all too well. Walking around
were hundreds of children, most of them were crying and the others
just looked catatonic.
“What
is wrong with them,” Eiddoel asked.
“People
like you, destroyed the true meaning of Crystal Night,” the figure
said. “Everyone has lost the spirit of giving. You have made it so
that profit has become more important than the happiness of even the
youngest child.”
Eiddoel
stood there looking at the children, they looked so sad, “But
profit is what keeps our society going,” he said.
“Eiddoel,
how could you look into their faces, into their eyes, and say that
any amount of money that you have made or will make means anything
compared to those helpless children?”
“Is
this...,” Eiddoel asked.
“Yes...This
is your Crystal Night,” the creature said. “There is your house
up on the hill. It is impossible to see the suffering of the people
down here when you put yourself so high above them.” Then it told
Eiddoel to follow it, and it led him to the gates of his
factory. They looked through the gate, and they saw hundreds of
people working hard at their jobs. “Don't you think that those
people would rather be at home with their children, celebrating
Crystal Night in the best way they could?”
“I
have to keep the company running,” Eiddoel said. “The town needs
the income that I pay out.”
“Come
with me,” the figure said in an extremely firm voice.
“Where
are we going,” Eiddoel asked, as they walked into a store and
stepped into a mirror.
The
trip was fast and when they stepped out they were standing in the
middle of a cemetery. In the distance was an area that was fenced
out. Inside the fence were graves marked by simple wooden crosses.
There were people there. Some of them were digging up the graves and
piling the bodies onto a horse drawn cart. Others were placing newly
dead bodies into the graves, where the bodies were removed.
Surrounding the area were thousands of people...Most
of them crying and shouting out their goodbyes to their families and
friends.
Why
are we here,” Eiddoel asked as he started shaking. He thought that
it was because of the cold, but it was obviously summertime and the
air was somewhere around 86 degrees so it couldn't have been that.
Maybe it was nerves...Yes, he thought, that was what it was...It was
nerves, and he could control that.
“Look
at those people,” the figure commanded. “They are the ones who
give you the life that you have, and they cannot even gain rest from
their poverty even in death.” The figure grabbed Eiddoel's arm hard
as he continued. “That is because of you Ohwydd. You have taken
everything including their lives. Is worth being the way that you are
when so many have to suffer for it?” Then he swung Eiddoel around,
and he was then watching a funeral ceremony. There was only a priest
and the coffin… and the priest was having trouble granting the soul
eternal rest.
Eiddoel
looked up at the tomb, It was as tall as a two story home and as wide
as it was tall. It was made of sparkling black granite, and the doors
were lined with gold and red gemstomes from a mine more than a
thousand miles away. “Whose is this,” Eiddoel asked.
“Can't
you tell,” the figure asked. Eiddoel stood there for a moment and
didn't say a word. Irritated the figure grabbed Eiddoel and threw him
to the edge of the grave. The casket was open out of tradition...It
was closed only after all of the right prayers were said. Eiddoel's
eyes opened, and he was looking into his own face and eyes.
“I'm
dead,” Eiddoel asked. “That can't be me. I was alive when we
left.”
“Eiddoel,
that was a year ago,” the figure said. “You died three days ago,
and this is your funeral and your tomb. Doesn't it please you?”
“No
it doesn't,” Eiddoel said. “Where are all my friends and my
family? I know that my kids would be at my funeral...They loved me
more than anyone else ever could.”
“They
are fighting over who gets your money,” the figure said with a
laugh. “All of them want everything they can so, just like
their father. Look over there,” he said pointing at the poor
section of the cemetery. They have so many people who will miss them,
and will love them, even after they have died. You get a priest and a
tomb that is twice as large as their houses.”
“Why,”
Eiddoel asked
“Because
you have a life of hurting those who depended on you,” it said.
“You deserve, what life has given you.”
“How
old was I,” he asked.
“You
were 378 seasons when you died.” Eiddoel started crying. This was
completely out of his nature, but he couldn't help it. “You died of
sloth, greed, envy and gluttony. But you do not have to.” Then
there was a flash of light and Eiddoel was back in his chair. He was
drooling, and his neck was sore, but at least he was back at home.
He
looked through his living room window and could see the children of
the town lined up against the company's gate. It was the night before
Crystal Night, and he could see everything. They were all kissing and
hugging their fathers and mothers through the metal bars. In the
distance, he could see the cemetery with the mourners standing over
the graves offering gifts and singing songs to their family members
and again he cried.
The
next morning he closed the factory and walked down to the town
square. There was 3 feet of fresh snow on the ground. He told some of
the people there to gather everyone up...He wanted to talk to them.
It took about an hour to get everyone together.
“I
have been a tyrant,” he started. “I have been killing this town
and all of the people. Starting at this moment I am giving the
company to the people who work there. I will just keep a one percent
ownership to have money to live on. Other than that the money will go
to the people. I will move into a small house in town. The house on
the hill is going to the kids of the town so that they may have a
decent school where they can learn and grow.” He pointed toward the
cemetery. “Those people who are buried in the poorer section of the
cemetery, will be moved and given a decent, free funeral, and there
will be no bodies ever removed from their graves, ever again.”
The
crowd was more than excited, you could hear the celebration
throughout the entire town, and within a few minutes Eiddoel Ohwydd
went from the most hated man alive, to the savior of not only the
town, but the entire planet.
He
thought back to that creature and everything he had been told. He did
change his life, and the lives of everyone he could see… and when
he died 80 seasons later he was buried in a plain grave with a small
stone to mark its place. But when he died he had 10,000 mourners at
his grave site. No one knew whether Eiddoel was happy or not, but he
did good, and he was buried with a smile on his face and thousands of
flowers in his casket, and he will be remembered.
