Tumblr Story: Selfless Farmer With A Heart Of Gold

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mattstaff
Jun 15, 2020 10:00 AM EDT

This beautiful story from one of the brilliant minds of Tumblr is a true diamond in the rough. Brace yourself for the feels. 

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  • 01
    Text - writing-prompt-s Temples are built for gods. Knowing this a farmer builds a small temple to see what kind of god turns up. sadoeuphemist Arepo built a temple in his field, a humble thing, some stones stacked up to make a cairn, and two days later a god moved in. "Hope you're a harvest god," Arepo said, and set up an altar and burnt two stalks of wheat. "It'd be nice, you know." He looked down at the ash smeared on the stone, the rocks all laid askew, and coughed and
    via Abyzaran
  • 02
    Text - scratched his head. "I know it's not much," he said, his straw hat in his hands. "But - I'll do what I can. It'd be nice to think there's a god looking after me." The next day he left a pair of figs, the day after that he spent ten minutes of his morning seated by the temple in prayer. On the third day, the god spoke up. "You should go to a temple in the city," the god said. Its voice was like the rustling of the wheat, like the squeaks of fieldmice running through the grass. "A real temp
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  • 03
    Text - "This is more than I was expecting when I built it," Arepo said, laying down his scythe and lowering himself to the ground. "Tell me, what sort of god are you anyway?" "I'm of the fallen leaves," it said. "The worms that churn beneath the earth. The boundary of forest and of field. The first hint of frost before the first snow falls. The skin of an apple as it yields beneath your teeth. I'm a god of a dozen different nothings, scraps that lead to rot, momentary glimpses. A change in the a
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  • 04
    Text - Arepo plucked a stalk of wheat and flattened it between his teeth. “I like this sort of worship fine," he said. "So if you don't mind, I think I'll continue." "Do what you will," said the god, and withdrew deeper into the stones. "But don't say I never warned you otherwise." Arepo would say a prayer before the morning's work, and he and the god contemplated the trees in silence. Days passed like that, and weeks, and then the Storm rolled in, black and bold and blustering. It flooded Arepo
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  • 05
    Text - pieced them back together. "Useless work," the god whispered, but came creeping back inside the temple regardless. "There wasn't a thing I could do to spare you this." "We'll be fine," Arepo said. "The storm's blown over. We'll rebuild. Don't have much of an offering for today," he said, and laid down some ruined wheat, "but I think I'll shore up this thing's foundations tomorrow, how about that?" The god rattled around in the temple and sighed. A year passed, and then another. The temple
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  • 06
    Text - Arepo's field the wheat sprouted thin and brittle. People wailed and tore their robes, slaughtered lambs and spilled their blood, looked upon the ground with haunted eyes and went to bed hungry. Arepo came and sat by the temple, the flowers wilted now, the fruit shriveled nubs, Arepo's ribs showing through his chest, his hands still shaking, and murmured out a prayer. "There is nothing here for you," said the god, hudding in the dark. "There is nothing I can do. There is nothing to be don
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  • 07
    Text - of people prayed to other gods, but it didn't protect them from this. No," he said, and shook his head, and laid down some shriveled weeds on the altar. "No, I think I like our arrangement fine." "There will come worse," said the god, from the hollows of the stone. "And there will be nothing I can do to save you." The years passed. Arepo rested a wrinkled hand upon the temple of stone and some days spent an hour there, lost in contemplation with the god. And one fateful day, from across t
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  • 08
    Text - on his knees to a temple of hewed stone, and the god rushed out to meet him. "I could not save them," said the god, its voice a low wail. "I am sorry. I am sorry. I am so so sorry." The leaves fell burning from the trees, a soft slow rain of ash. "I have done nothing! All these years, and I have done nothing for you!" "Shush," Arepo said, tasting his own blood, his vision blurring. He propped himself up against the temple, forehead pressed against the stone in prayer. "Tell me," he mumble
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  • 09
    Text - image of them. "The worms that churn beneath the earth. The boundary of forest and of field. The first hint of frost before the first snow falls. The skin of an apple as it yields beneath your teeth." Arepo's lips parted in a smile. "I am the god of a dozen different nothings," it said. "The petals in bloom that lead to rot, the momentary glimpses. A change in the air -" Its voice broke, and it wept. "Before it's gone." "Beautiful," Arepo said, his blood staining the stones, seeping into
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  • 10
    Text - and returned home to his god. ciiriianan Sora found the temple with the bones within it, the roof falling in upon them. "Oh, poor god," she said, "With no-one to bury your last priest." Then she paused, because she was from far away. "Or is this how the dead are honored here?" The god roused from its contemplation. "His name was Arepo," it said, "He was a sower." Sora startled, a little, because she had never before heard the voice of a god. "How can I honor him?" She asked. "Bury him," t
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  • 11
    Text - "All right," Sora said, and went to fetch her shovel. "Wait," the god said when she got back and began collecting the bones from among the broken twigs and fallen leaves. She laid them out on a roll of undyed wool, the only cloth she had. "Wait," the god said, "I cannot do anything for you. I am not a god of anything useful." Sora sat back on her heels and looked at the altar to listen to the god. "When the Storm came and destroyed his wheat, I could not save it," the god said, "When the
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  • 12
    Text - "I think you are the god of something very useful," she said. "What?" the god asked. Sora carefully lifted the skull onto the cloth. "You are the god of Arepo." stu-pot Generations passed. The village recovered from its tragedies-homes rebuilt, gardens re-planted, wounds healed. The old man who once lived on the hill and spoke to stone and rubble had long since been forgotten, but the temple stood in his name. Most believed it to empty, as the god who resided there long ago had fallen sil
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  • 13
    Text - though mourning for a lost friend. The cold that seeped from the temple entrance laid their spirits low, and warded off any potential visitors, save for the rare and especially oblivious children who would leave tiny clusters of pink and white flowers that they picked from the surrounding meadow. The god sat in his peaceful home, staring out at the distant road, to pedestrians, workhorses, and carriages, raining leaves that swirled around bustling feet. How long had it been? The world had
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  • 14
    Text - cannot grant wishes or bless upon them good fortune. Who would maintain a temple and bring offerings with nothing in return. Who would share their company and meditate with such a fruitless deity. Who would bury a stranger without the hope for profit. What bizarre, futile kindness they had wasted on him. What wonderful, foolish, virtuous, hopeless creatures, humans were. So he painted the sunset with yellow leaves, enticed the worms to dance in their soil, flourished the boundary between
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  • 15
    Text - "Hello, God of Every Humble Beauty in the World," called a familiar voice. The squinting corners of the god's eyes wept down onto curled lips. "Arepo," he whispered, for his voice was hoarse from its hundred-year mutism. "I am the god of devotion, of small kindnesses, of unbreakable bonds. I am the god of selfless, unconditional love, of everlasting friendships, and trust," Arepo avowed, soothing the other with every word. "That's wonderful, Arepo," he responded between tears, "I'm so hap
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  • 16
    Text - "Farther than that, to the capitol, then? Thank you for visiting here before your departure." "No, I will not go there, either," Arepo shook his head and chuckled. "Farther still? What ambitious goals, you must have. There is no doubt in my mind that you will succeed, though," the elder god continued. "Actually," interrupted Arepo, "I'd like to stay here, if you'll have me." The other god was struck speechless. "... Why would you want to live here?" "I am the god of unbreakable bonds and
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