A whole world on a single page!
The short story morsels of One Page Worlds are flash fiction adventures of all flavors. Every Wednesday will feature a complete story in one page, or the first page of what could be a novel or novelette.
Sharing the fun and geekery is the best part of writing! Please tweet or comment with your guesses on what genre, character, and job is central to each tale. Enjoy touring new universes each week with One Page Worlds!
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Transcription of the last known Frost Giants’ words ere departure from this plane.
Aural Detection cast by: Redacted
Translation by: Redacted
Year: 74 A.D.
“Contests shall forever be the fulcrum. Superiority will continue to be a concern for all living down here. It will be their deciding factor in all things. Ever shifting, ever consistent. All who competed and lost will have moved on by the time our eons-old presence is noticed by the life that remains.”
“Deceit must have flown from their mouths to unseat us.”
“Lies were part of the competition and are inherent to most life. Anticipation can be a self-deceit or a weakness when utilized wrong. It can become a bludgeon in an enemy’s hands.”
“Gods failed to win as much as we did. Blatant and overt power and its misuse ruined them.”
“They were as children given nature as a plaything.”
“Respect gushes undeserved from your lips. They were control itself. Everything with a label had a god that manipulated it. Land. Sky. Sea. Gods were ownership made solid. They lost.”
“For the same reasons we did, young lad. Inadaptability. Assumption. The battle is never already won. It is ongoing and fluid as rules and laws.”
“So man did cheat for its victory. They never owned or controlled magic, nor war, nor sport.”
“Not originally. It was the continued and correct application of thought that won them this land. We depart because they acted on thought when we refused, and when gods denied the need. Competition expanded their thought. We stagnated and did not adapt. Pantheons believed themselves beyond the responsibility. That is the reason we competed. For old, decrepit glory. For pride.”
“And for superiority.”
“Yes. When superiority does not require adaptability or intelligence, we return. When adaptability fails them, we return.”