FLASH FICTION
The Old Ways
They walked side-by-side under the blanket of midnight: a man and a woman, both cloaked, both taller than any man or woman of this earth. They kept from the paths of civilisation, instead going over fields and through dells.
‘But they have lost faith in what they once held sacred,’ Ouranos said. ‘They have forgotten the undying balances that govern life; they have replaced laws that were once eternal with laws based on their vanity and greed.’
He stopped and pointed to the city walls in the distance. ‘They build their palaces and make themselves bountiful feasts but only give it to the few, while the many have to live in the gutter and fight for scraps. They give themselves false titles and cling to hollow riches. They war over that which they do not truly own. They are the makers of that which will bring about this world’s destruction.’
He turned to Gaia and held out his hand. ‘Come, my love, let us leave this world. There is nothing left for us. These people are too far gone. They have turned their back on the old ways.’
Gaia knelt on the earth and tenderly caressed a dead flower. Its once white petals were now grey and withered. To her touch, though, the flower blossomed back to life. She looked up at Ouranos. ‘Just because they have turned their back on the old ways does not mean the old ways have turned their back on them.’
