The Snake
Once Upon A Time there was a man, this man was just an ordinary man, being of ordinary height, having an ordinary face, and living an ordinary life. However, he wanted to be extraordinary. This man lived in a land of flat long fields and low rolling hills which he liked to walk among in the evenings just to think. This story begins in the glorious days of spring where there was nothing but green green grass and beautiful bright flowers. While he, just thinks.
One evening as this man was walking through a field which he liked to walk through he thought about his life. He was a father of 4 with 3 boys and one girl. All of them had left home and gotten married after successful missions, just like their mother and father. He had 8 grandchildren which he loved dearly, but he was not content. He wished for more. He wanted to do more. As a retired business man he had no more job but was still religious. He had a testimony of the gospel and knew the plan of salvation was real, yet he was still not content.
As he was returning home from his walk he was approached by another man. This man had long black hair spiked up and small ears flat to his head. His eyes were black and he had a very long sharp nose. This mans mouth had perfectly white teeth that sat behind thin lips that stretched into a sneaky smile. His skin was red all over as if he had a perpetual sunburn. He wore a black business suit with a red handkerchief and a red tie. The first man was weary when they met but was soon set at ease by this mans easy smile. Once he put his guard down the first man willingly listened to the other. The second man spoke with much flair! He convinced the first man to come back the second day, and he did.
On the next night the men met again and things were much the same. The first man was yet again weary while the second man put the firsts worries at rest. The second man spoke of great things of castles and towers and monuments built into the sky! The things he spoke of made the first man eager and excited. He believed that this was his chance to become extraordinary. The thing he believed he wanted most. His chance to create a masterpiece to be seen for miles around and he was ready to do this, to create his legacy. The second man smiled and said,"if you wish to do this you must come back early tomorrow morning before your wife wakes and be dressed in clothes for manual labor. We will meet at the top of the highest hill before dawn. The men agreed and both went their own way.
And the next day they met at the hill before dawn with only the first light of the sun to guide them. The second man lit a lantern and pulled plans for a tower out of his briefcase. And it was a great plan and so the men set to work. The first man took a shovel and began to level up the ground so as for a foundation of limestone to be put there and built upon.and so it was done. As the first man toiled the second man ordered to have stones carted to the sight for a foundation and for the construction of walls. He ordered mortar that they might bind the stones together so they would hold for all time and remain. And then he returned. The first man toiled for many hours as he maneuvered the foundation stones into their place. As the sun set the two men walked home together marveling at what they had accomplished.
And so it happened day after day, the two men working to complete the tower. So driven was the first man that he had begun to sleep on the ground outside his tower that he might begin his labor long before the sun that he might reach his goal sooner. The tower was now close to being finished and it was a sight to behold. The base was a hexagon with an arm reaching out at all the points of the figure and thin arched windows in between on the faces. The second layer was also a hexagon but it was smaller than the first and was rotated so that all of its points were in the middle of the first ones faces. The southernmost face was a stairway to grant access to the second layer. On the second layer the easternmost face was a stairway and it led into the circular spiral stairway for the top of the tower where there was to be a platform from which to see all the land and its prosperity. The top of the tower was open, but there was no way to get inside for the platform was to cover it up.
On the last day when the first man was to create the platform the second man stopped him and said,"look here through the northernmost window at the southern wall, see there that brick? Behold how it has broken and is now falling apart? For we must fix it! If a man were to come view your tower and see such an imperfection would they not be disappointed by it? Wherefore you must take upon your back a ladder that you may climb inside and replace it. I will give unto you the new brick and mortar I that you fix if through the narrow window," and so the first man took a ladder upon his back and began to climb.
He climbed for a long while and strained to get to the top with a ladder on his back. And when he got to the top he lowered the ladder into the tower and began to climb. When he reached the bottom he looked through the window for the second man but he couldn't find him. That was when the second man called from the top of the tower as he quickly pulled up the ladder saying,"Haha you fool! You have done my work for me this day! This tower was never to be a monument to you but a monument to me so I may bring other to a similar doom! You did not see what this tower was doing to your life even as it wasted away! Your wife has left you for she thought you were lost! Your children believe you to be dead and your grandchildren remember you no more! You are no longer a part of this world! And it is of your own hands! You have made your own damnation and behold it is complete! There is no way to scale these walls for they are of very fine craftsmanship of your own hands! And the windows are too small for anything but aain arm! You will never leave this place! You will sit here and rot for all eternity with nothing but your sorrow for companionship!" And so it was done and the devil walked away laughing as the first man saw him through true eyes. And then he wept.
