\herosection{The Life of a Rock}{chapters/2025.11.10-TheLifeOfARock/image/the-life-of-a-rock.jpg}

\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropO.png}nce upon a time there was a great rock \\
in the middle of nowhere.\\
For timeless time it sat.\\
And sat some more.\\
And still more.\\
For a timeless time.

Until, one day, humans arrived.

\subsection*{The Wanderers}

They were wanderers who stayed nowhere long,\\
but when they found the rock, \\
they paused.

They built fires beside it.\\
They sang songs that echoed across the plain.\\
They placed feathers and beads upon the stone\\
and pressed their foreheads against its cool, rough surface.\\
No one said what the rock was — \\
but they felt something in its weighty presence,\\
something older than their words,\\
Mystery with a shape.

For them, \\
the rock was where the world felt deeper.

In time, the wanderers moved on.\\
Wind scattered the ashes of their fires.\\
Rains washed the stone clean.\\
All their traces vanished.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Village}

Another people arrived and built a village around it.\\
They raised families and grew old in the rock's shadow.

On festival days \\
they attached ribbons of bright cloth to it.\\
They painted suns, moons, and harvest symbols.\\
When a child was born, \\
their name was spoken to The Rock first.\\
When someone died, \\
their family mourned beside The Rock \\
until morning light.\\
On warm nights, \\
young men played flutes \\
while women danced around it.\\
Children climbed the stone and laughed.

For them, The Rock was part of their family.

In time, the village emptied.\\
The huts fell.\\
Paths faded.\\
Ribbons shredded.\\
Paint washed away.\\
Storms and sunlight\\
erased every mark.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Kingdom}

A kingdom rose across the plain.\\
Maps were drawn.\\
Borders declared.\\
And the rock stood on the very edge of the king's land.

Soldiers were sent to guard the border it marked.\\
They camped beside the stone through long cold nights,\\
and the equally long hot days.\\
They sharpened their blades in its shadow,\\
told stories to stay awake,\\
and wrote letters home — \\
promising to return.

When battles came, \\
men fought and bled to hold the boundary it marked.\\
Some died leaning against the rock,\\
as if the stone itself\\
were embracing them.

For families far away, \\
the rock became a place of dread.

In time, \\
the kingdom crumbled.\\
The border meant nothing.\\
The soldiers left — \\
those who still lived.\\
Their letters scattered.\\
Their fires extinguished.\\
Storms erased every footprint.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Pilgrims}

Long after the kingdom vanished,\\
pilgrims heard stories \\
of a stone touched by ancient spirits.

They knelt and lay prostrate before it.\\
Some left flowers and incense.\\
Some brought gifts of honey or grain.\\
Some wept quietly,\\
hoping the rock would carry their prayers.\\
Others came in joy — \\
to give thanks for healing\\
or to ask for a good harvest,\\
or for a child.\\
They attached small charms to it\\
and sang gentle chants at twilight.

For them, \\
the rock was holy.

In time, pilgrims dwindled.\\
Footpaths faded.\\
Wind blew away the last petals.\\
Rain cleaned the stone.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Merchants}

Caravans crossed the land,\\
laden with salt, \\
silk, \\
and spices.

The rock marked a crossroads \\
where two trade routes met,\\
a landmark on their maps.\\
Merchants rested beside it\\
after long days trudging beneath the sun.\\
They shared food, \\
traded rumors,\\
and entrusted secrets to each other — \\
secrets meant only for fellow merchants.

Some traced messages on the stone with charcoal — \\
promises to loved ones far away,\\
prayers for safe return,\\
words they were afraid to speak aloud.

For them, \\
the rock was a companion \\
and signpost on the road — \\
steady, \\
silent, \\
always there.

In time,\\
trade routes shifted.\\
The caravans ceased.\\
Grass covered the old roads.\\
Wind and rain erased every trace.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Tourists}

Timeless time later, \\
tourists arrived.

They came in bright clothes \\
with snacks and cameras.\\
Children scrambled up the rock and shouted,\\
``Look at me!''\\
Couples kissed beneath it.\\
Families argued, \\
then made peace,\\
then posed for pictures.

Someone played music.\\
Someone proposed marriage.\\
Someone spread out a blanket\\
and sang their favorite song.

People rested in its shade.

For them, \\
the rock was an attraction — \\
a backdrop for laughter and day-to-day life.

In time, \\
the tourists stopped coming.\\
The road cracked,\\
and grass swallowed it whole.\\
Balloons burst.\\
Glitter blew away.\\
Weather washed every surface clean.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{The Scientists}

Then the scientists came.

They camped beside the stone for weeks,\\
measuring every angle and face.\\
They dusted it with chalk lines,\\
tied strings to mark axes and planes,\\
and argued late into the night \\
about its age and composition.

Some were excited.\\
Some were disappointed.\\
Some wondered if anything in the universe\\
was more than what could be weighed and named.

They wrote in their notebooks:\\
``Granite.\\
Formed deep underground.\\
Shaped by wind and rain.\\
There is nothing special here.\\
Just a rock.''

When the project ended,\\
they packed their equipment\\
and drove away.

Rain washed the chalk from the stone.\\
Wind wiped their site clean.\\
The plain was silent again.

The rock remained unchanged.

More timeless time passed.

\subsection*{And Then...}

The humans were gone.

No footsteps.\\
No voices.\\
No charcoal words.\\
No photographs.\\
No prayers.\\
No tears.\\
No maps.\\
No memories.

Nothing leaned on the rock.\\
Nothing whispered to it.\\
No one believed \\
or even thought anything about it.

Without anyone to say otherwise,\\
it was not sacred,\\
not a landmark,\\
not a companion,\\
not a boundary,\\
not an attraction,\\
not a specimen,\\
not even ``just a rock.''

It simply was.