Rest in Peace
In memorial of my best friend, Ben
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Ben
and I have been close friends for as long as I can remember. We grew up at a
time when deviations roamed our land. Some of the mutations that dotted our
landscape in the old days were so appalling and strange that young people today
would never have believed their existence. Purple corns, green wheat, and cows
with pink patches occupied almost all open space. Our grandparents, upon
knowing that a human race with various kinds of deviations would only hinder the
society’s development, put in some efforts to try to create a pure human race.
What they had done I cannot say, but it was evident that whatever that they had
put into action had not been effective. Creatures that looked like humans but
with frightfully long arms, or hideous-looking legs still walked on Earth.
As mischievous and curious children,
we often explored the wilderness, even though we were often told by adults to
keep away from the Wild. Ben and I spent much of our childhood time fishing and
hunting. We had encountered quite a few animals with deviations in the bushes,
but all of them were tiny and harmless, so we were never on our guard while we
were playing in the Wild. Many summer days of adventure and excitement passed
by peacefully, until one afternoon when Ben and I, for the first time, came
face-to-face with a humongous and dreadful animal. It was the most
horrid-looking animal I had ever seen, one of those ferocious beasts that
frequently appeared in my nightmares. The creature had eyes of a wild cat, and
it seemed to have starved for as long as it could remember. Its hunger for
flesh, thirst for blood, and desire for violence and cruelty were seen through
its pair of vicious eyes. The awful creature was as big as a lion, its
nightmarish blue pelt glistening in the sunlight. Its claws were like the talons
of hawks, but were all so distorted that some would not have believed that they
were claws. When I first saw the creature, my first instinct had been to run
away. But Ben, always been the more courageous one, suggested that we would
fight. It turned out that we were indeed not strong enough for such a tough
creature. While we were scrambling away for our lives, Ben got bitten on the
right leg. Because the monster had poisons in its teeth, Ben’s right leg was
forever paralyzed.
That incident has always been one of
my worst nightmares. However, to Ben, that accident was enlightenment. His
useless right leg did not extinguish his hope for life; the incident provoked a
greater desire in Ben to help those who were like him--the countless innocent
citizens who suffered because of terrible deviations haunting their land. He
started to seek opportunities from church. With intelligence and hard work, Ben
soon began his career as a preacher. He
interpreted the Bible and the Repentances for others with clarity and passion.
Instead of reciting everything out loud in a monotonous tone, Ben moved
everyone with his confidence and dedication. He educated people about the true
image, and created many Purity laws. He was also a great model for everyone in
his town. Many of those who had doubted his faith in the past were astonished
and speechless when Ben killed his own son after discovering that the newborn
baby had six fingers on each hand. Ben told me later on, “People think that I
don’t care about my baby, but they are wrong. When I kill my son with my own
hands, it really hurts. It’s like stabbing my heart with a knife; blood drips
everywhere. But what else is to be done? If we were to fight the devils, we
need strong hearts. Hearts made of steel.”
In spite of sufferings that he had been through, Ben still firmly
believed that in order to fight Tribulation and the Devil, we would need to be
willing to sacrifice for a greater good, and to work consistently with a purpose
in mind in spite of obstacles and challenges. He encouraged people to stay
strong because only with powerful hearts and perseverance were us as a human
race able to suppress the evil forces of deviations.
I already missed his friendship, but
I also understood that after 88 years of noble service to his people, it was
time for him to rest in peace. Ben was never proud or vain. Everything he did
was not for him, but for the well being of the entire community. His death was
like a bolt of lightning that struck my heart and paralyzed me with grief and
sorrow, but my loss was nothing at all compared to the loss of our community.
Innumerable people have, since the moment that they were born, depended on Ben
for guidance. Ben, my good old friend, is the dim light that led us during times
of eternal darkness, away from Tribulation, and towards a brighter future.
