An odd Mountain
The three of us sat there, on stones and logs, a roaring fire in between us. The twisted monolithic mass of metal, motors, and wire stood into the darkened skies above us. Great engines could almost be seen glowing kilometres up.
Greg was playing a simple tune on his bellows. Alex sat, listening intently to the song. I asked my group;
“So, what do you think of this thing here?”
“What do you mean?” they both asked in unison.
“That!”
“Oh, that. I think it’s…” replied Greg, he took a minute to continue, “I think it's the throne of god.”
“What? Isn’t that Mt. Oniko?”
“No, this is like ‘is summer palace. Y’a know, like, when ‘e gets bored of Mt. Oniko, ‘e comes ‘ere.”
“Well, I think it's the ancient chariot of Heleko,” said Alex.
“Huh, who’s Heleko?”
“You know, Heleko. Former God of the Sun?”
“Never heard of ‘em” replied Greg
“Oh, well let me explain. Basically, forever ago there was this kid named Helneothios, and he really wanted to become the god of the morning sun.”
“What’s that?”
“He’d basically have to fetch the horses for Heleko’s chariot. Anyway, he goes forever west, and intercepts Heleko before his morning ride. At the proposition of giving away part of his domain, Heleko went flush with anger. But, Helenoethios was persistent. He pleaded with him for hours, sprinting after him in the early hours of the morning.”
Eventually, Heleko decided to give him a shot, if Helenoethios could keep up with his chariot all day, and beat him to the sunset, he would let him become god of the morning sun.”
The day of the race arrived, in the early morning Helenoethios ran ahead, at noon they were tied. Nearing the end of the day, Helenoethios was able to sprint and surpass Heleko. As night fell the gods conveined and came to a conclusion. Helenoethios would become god of the morning sun.”
“Uhh, I don’t see how this has to do with the ship?”
“I’m getting there O.K. Anyway, for the next week life continued, but as the gods sat on Mt. Onikos in the early morning, they witnessed a sight never seen by their eyes. The people at the base of the mountain enjoyed the early morning more than ever. They loved those soft morning hours, when Helenoethios was in charge.”
Once again the gods conveined and voted to please the people, giving Helenoethios complete power over the sun. Heleko was immeasurably angered by this, and vowed revenge.”
As night rolled over on Helenoethios’ first day as god of the day, Heleko layed on wait. He sprung his trap at midnight, attempting to steal his power back. Helenoethios once again beat him in another race. This time though, the ground was rocky and jagged, and Heleko’s chariot broke on the back of a star, His horses, now directionless, became the moons, and his chariot fell here, I guess.”
“Damn, that’s a neat story.” I said.
“What do you think it is then?”
“Well. I think it’s just on an odd mountain.”