• By and by, from time to time, a man comes down from the mountain. Dressed in scarlet, he never speaks. Not to the Butcher, the Baker, nor the Candlestick maker. He lives a lie as he masks his true self in a continuous blur of meaningless words. But I know the truth.

    Once, many years ago, when trade was just starting to expand, in a town by the sea, Edmond, the man from the mountain, sailed the sea. Never thinking of himself, he always busied himself with the welfare of the other crew members and of the ship. Yet soon, jealousy began to arise from the other crew members because of the many praises the captain gave to Edmond. And so, on a dark, wintery night, the crew crept and slithered into Edmond’s room, and after a long brawl, finally tied Edmond to a wooden post in the middle of the room, and cut out his heart.

    “What will we do with this ugly thing,” Crewman A asked, his mouth salivating from hunger, “We cannot place it in the floorboards else it will eat away the ship in its demonic desires, nor can we burn it else the demon locked inside will come out and kill us all!” Now this made them all stop, what would they do with the heart, all the crew questioned while thinking.

    “The water,” Benny the Second Mate cried out, “We shall throw it into the water and be done with him! Sew up the body, wash it, and place it gently into the bed and no one will be the wiser!” Agreed, the crew divided up, one team sewing Edmond back up and the other taking the heart to the bow of the ship. But sooner than later, as things often occur, the men who were sent to the Bow returned to find Edmond looking dizzily around the room.

    “How are you alive,” Crewman A shouted angrily, his fist shaking in the air, “I just threw your bloody heart into the Red Sea!” Nodding in agreement, the crew edged forward, their hands stretched outward, meaning to kill Edmond once more.

    “What is all this damned yelling about!” the Captain shouted from the doorway, his face bulging with veins, “I was having a good rest till I heard you screaming!” Surprised, the crew swiftly hid their blood stained hands behind their back and inside their coat pockets, stammering out that Crewman A had just had too much to drink. Satisfied, the Captain left, leaving Edmond to his fate, yet when the crew looked, they could not find Edmond anywhere.

    The next day people from my village found him lying on the sand, his face was cut and torn from the monsters at sea. He is dead, some murmured to themselves, surely he is dead. But he was not, and now lives on the mountain over looking the sea he had once loved.