In The Time Of Eiddoel Ohwydd

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.