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The third of my short stories: the story of Atlas
My unpublished stories
What you are about to read is an unpublished story of mine taken from the novel that I started writing in the summer of 2021. In it, a main story alternates with various small stories (for now from 3 to 5 per chapter) that the protagonist narrates at the end of the day, each with its own specific meaning and “why” within the plot. In September 2021 I launched a survey on the Middle East and Surroundings Telegram channel to understand how many were interested in the project and, to my great joy and surprise, there were many votes and all of them positive. Not wanting to reveal the whole work to you, I have chosen to show you only the stories, so that you can have something absolutely new and unpublished to read and I have an extra motivation to carry it on. My ambition is to write at least one chapter a month and thus make this column a fixed appointment, but in any case the stories of each chapter will be loaded all together and only and exclusively if the latter is completely finished. My ambition is to write at least one chapter a month and thus make this column a fixed appointment, but in any case the stories of each chapter will be loaded all together and only and exclusively if the latter is completely finished.
Precisely for this reason you will already find on the site all the stories of the first chapter “The sand and the wanderer”:”The Tuareg and the voice of the desert “,”The Sand Child “, “Atlas“, “The island that is not there” and “Hannibal“; and the second, which includes: “The tattooed young woman”, “Ashes of Sufis” and “Antaeus”.
Enjoy the reading!
Atlas
Centuries ago, there was a great sovereign to reign over these lands; mighty, cunning, beautiful and eager for knowledge, nothing and no one could oppose him and for this reason he spent most of his time dedicating his mind to science and discoveries. It was precisely from the combination of these passions that his love for astrology made its way, knowing that it united both fires of his heart, allowing him to illuminate the entire celestial vault. From the top of his mountains, in the South of the world, he applied himself more than ever and in a short time he knew every corner of the sublime sky, starting to compare himself to the latter and thus feeding the flame of his own ego.
At that time there was a dispute between the Lords of Faith and the Lords of Science, our sovereign chose the latter and fell with them in battle, as humiliating as it was studied. He, who so much considered himself sovereign of the celestial Vault, was forced by the Heavenly Worshiper to take charge of this sublime ceiling, so as to remember forever the difference between him and it.
The centuries passed and nothing changed, until one day a man with white skin and a thick beard arrived here, looking for the apples of Eden, which only a great astronomer like our sovereign could have shown him. He came with many endearments and praises for the poor unhappy, giving life back to the ubris that was the cause of his end and thus pushing him to agreement: the newcomer would keep Heaven while the ancient lord would go in person to Eden to enjoy. some peace and get him the apples himself. The heavenly journey made the sovereign forgetful of his past, clouding his mind with the wine of pleasure and bringing ubris back to the ancient and infamous levels, prompting him to refuse the divine task and to desire the absolute freedom of the flesh more than ever. However, in the midst of the blackness of his heart, a tiny white point of purity also made its way, which forced him to return to the European and fulfill his destiny.
Once back, the arrogant old man said that he would never again hold up the Sublime Vault, abandoning the newcomer to himself to be able to devote himself to the green and humble land. Full of the blackness of his own arrogance, he was so convinced that he had solved his own torture, but this allowed his white to make his way and God to act through man. The latter in fact asked him to support the Vault for a few moments in order to make him better arrange his jacket, in the extreme purity of him the sovereign accepted and this turned out to be both his End and his Beginning.
The new punishment in fact led him to reflect on his task and to reconsider himself: God had chosen him and only him to support His Heaven, he had asked him and only him to be the backbone of His creation in an endless embrace. , what better proof of Love? With the passage of time, his soul passed from being that of a spoiled peasant to that of an enlightened Sufi, so much so that, as he contemplated the beauty he carried in his arms, he could not help but pray that finally his Lord manifested himself.
Thus it was that, many centuries later, a man of incredible purity appeared from the sands of the desert carrying the message of the One. So strong was his Message that it spread throughout the world, even reaching the ears of our sovereign. The latter, when he heard it, cried tears relentlessly; in fact, he had definitively understood that his great punishment was in reality the greatest of honors and that the Lord had never given such a great gift to anyone. At that point, the light of God himself appeared before him and with the fire he fused the sovereign to Heaven, bringing both of them to Himself in all One.
According to some local traditions, however, God transformed the ancient ruler into a jinn and placed him in guard over his domino, placing his throne on Mount Lakhbout and forever characterizing this country for fire, spirit and freedom. Each one has his own ending, only God knows but, being able to choose, this author prefers the first.
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