“If you want peace, work for justice.” Pope Paul the VI
There are times when working for justice so peace may abound; evil must lie underground.
[Editor’s Note- This story uses Minecraft terms, but is not following exactly Minecraft play as currently understood. Keep that in mind while reading.]
An elderly African American man in a public library sat down amongst the children's section. Gathered around him was a small gaggle of children of various races and creeds.
“Now children, come in close so I may tell you my tale of the evil Obsidian block.” He said as he beckoned them to come closer to him.
“Now, once there was a village filled with villagers. And in the middle of the village was this dark black Obsidian block.” The elderly man said passing his hand before the children.
“The Obsidian block had been there for a very long time. All the villagers knew was that some female adventurer had placed the stone several decades’ prior. A wood sign read, ‘Here 20 zombies died. 15 slain & 5 by fire. Don’t remove.’”
“‘Hmm…’ Said one of the villagers. ‘We should remove this block. It is grieving me.’”
“’Hmm…’ Said another villager. ‘I agree; we should remove it.’”
“’Hmm…’ Said yet another villager. ‘I say there were never any zombies in first place; we should remove it.’”
“Then more villagers came about the block and all were saying ‘Hmm… we should remove the block.’”
“One villager finally said, ‘Hmm… let’s call upon Steve with his diamond pickaxe and have him remove it.’”
“So Steve came and mined the Obsidian block until it was no more, and left once his job was done.”
“‘Hmm… finally that awful thing is gone.’ Said the first villager.”
“’Hmm… let us go to sleep now. It is getting dark.’ Said another villager.”
“Then, during the night from where the Obsidian block stood walked out of the hole that was beneath the block --- zombies!” The old man said in such a way as to scare the children.
“During the night the zombies broke into the houses of the villagers and grieved them something horribly. Some of the villagers were turned into zombies.”
“Just then a lone female adventurer came and started to attack the zombies. She rounded up the zombie villagers and began to cure them.”
“’Who removed the Obsidian block?’ She asked.”
“’Hmm… we had it removed because it grieved us.’ Said one of the villagers.”
“’You idiot. The block was part of the peace treaty between the village and the zombies. Without the block you broke the deal that was struck.’ Said the female adventurer.”
“’Hmm… But the block was grieving us.’”
“’And having a bunch of zombies attacking you is not grieving you?’ she retorted back.”
“’Hmm… We did not know.’”
“’Dang it. Now I have to find another Obsidian block to replace the one you destroyed. Do you know how hard it is to find those things?’ The female adventurer complained.”
“’Hmm… Wouldn’t any block do?’ offered one of the villagers.”
“’Yes. But it has to be Obsidian. That’s what was agreed upon with the zombies. They wanted it to remember their mob losses. I’ll be back. Just try to avoid the zombies for now.’”
“Well, that is the end of my tale.” Said the old African American man.
One of the children said to him, “But what happened to the villagers? Did the zombies kill them all?”
And yet another one asked, “Did the female adventurer find another Obsidian block?”
“Well, you see that part is still being played out as we sit here. So I do not know my children. Come back next week and we will see what has happened.”
© 2017 AEM Services
Obsidian block image sourced from Minecraft Wiki.