#13 The Path on the Other Side

It was a concrete structure that was so large that it almost acted as a wall between the city and the neighbouring lands. Nobody understood why anyone would build that mass, whose roughness and inelegance could only be hidden on dark nights. Somebody told him that it wasn’t beauty that mattered, provided there was a superior purpose. It didn’t have to be attractive. But the truth is that it was very high and ended in a place invisible to the eye.

People speculated in whispers about what it was for. But one day they realised why.

There was an ancient belief that only prayers said aloud were heard. Those who believed this also said that they needed to be spoken in a very loud voice. And it was proven that on the earth this was almost impossible.

That was why the city’s new ruler, seeking peace with the gods, ordered that gigantic highway to be built, to allow him to whisper his desire for eternal life at the divine gates.