Walls

• Samuel Telford, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2018

Hello. My name is Timorous. I am just like any closed minded being in the field. Although I’ve never actually met any other being, I know they are out there. But, I cannot risk my comfort or luxury to go out and make allies. I prefer to just stay behind the protection of my mind’s walls. The walls protect me from the monsters that prowl the field, breaking through other being’s walls and destroying them. Destroying them with finance or addictions. When a being’s walls are opened, they have no protection, no comfort. So, they go out and beg at the feet of other being’s walls, begging them to let them share the well-being of their own wall. I have had many beggars come to my walls, but I can not help them. I have my own comforts to worry about. But, I’m not a cruel being, I give them a few scraps, which I’m sure they would find generous. There are other fields. Fields across oceans. The monsters of hunger, pain, suffering, loss…. The monster of death. But those fields are far away. They don’t concern me, they don’t affect my life. Sometimes the monsters of my field break away a chip of my wall. A monster of finance or health. Quickly the wall is mended and repaired. My life may not have been exciting or adventurous, but I needed to keep building up my life. I needed every bit of comfort that life could offer. I didn’t have the highest quality life, nor the lowest, but I made it work. Then one day I woke up, and there was a stranger inside my walls. At first, I was scared, then he asked “can you help me? I see you have a lot of comfort to spare?” He wore a dark cloak and I could not see his face, which was covered by the darkness of his cloak.
“You’re one of the monsters, aren’t you? How did you get in side of my walls?” I demanded.
“How did I get in your walls?” he asked, while looking around the walls. “I can already see monsters in here. Monsters that have been here a long time.” My heart immediately started to race with fear. Monsters? Already in here? “Yes, I can see them, the monster of greed, uncaring, and the monster of selfishness.”
“What do you mean?” I questioned.
“Well, you’ve never had to go hungry have you? Never had the feeling of pain, suffering, loss.”
“Well, I-I- once lost quite a bit of money-“I started but was quickly cut off.
“Ha, please you know nothing of loss. You. Living behind these walls, with all your comforts. I ask you. Just one thing. Would you prefer to have more than enough comfort to survive, while letting others die? Do you think yourself above them?” And then, in a blink of an eye, the strange monster was gone.