Thursday, June 05, 2008

The Abandoned Temple

Day after day, the faithful make their way to the abandoned temple, hoping the goddess has returned.

But the oracle is silent, and their cries echo unanswered.

Soon their numbers shall dwindle. One by one, they shall grow disillusioned, shall let enter the doubt that now knocks at their hearts.

They shall decide that the prophecy was true after all, that the goddess is gone forever.

They shall start to pretend that they never believed in her, that they were never fooled. They shall make fun of those who still go up to her threshold, though it is a journey they themselves were once proud to make.

And the goddess, who never left, shall watch secretly from the wings, knowing she cannot leave until the last pilgrim loses hope, until the last believer turns away.

She wonders how long that will take.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Forever! It`ll take her forever.. because there will always be people who`ll have unwavering faith in their own beliefs and know them to be true.And they will return to the temple again and again. Just like there`ll be people who will allow themselves to be herded into the line.They will be on their knees,begging destiny to give them their daily bread - and they will never ever stop to think that it is they who are shaping the very destinies they are so busy begging for.But they will be content.Because they will not be standing out,trying to defend themselves. However, For every Peter Keating, there will be a Howard Roark. And hence, the Goddess will have to wait forever.. :-))
p.s - Am I way off track on this??

km said...

Damn. That's good. That's very good.

Anonymous said...

I really like this.

Anonymous said...

Guess it's only me, but this brings to mind Hillary Clinton's exit from the race to the White House.

~N.

Vidya Jayaraman said...

Nice one.

Chronicus Skepticus said...

Is anyone else thinking pH here?

Falstaff said...

meenakshi: You could be right. Though I wish you'd leave the Ayn Rand comparisons out of it.

km: Thanks

ima: Thanks

N: Hmmm...I'm not sure I see the parallel there.

vidya: Thanks

cs: huh?

all: if you really must know, I personally was thinking more of this. Not that other interpretations aren't welcome.

??! said...

Falsie:
When I read the first line, I thought it was about Space leaving. Then I got confused, and said maybe it was just my imagination.

Good stuff.