The legend of Old Man Ice and the Sun

In the days before light, there was a Man who had traveled bountiful lands. Shrouded in its veiled darkness, He found Himself alone. Left blinded in an unending fight for survival, He only knew to claw the ground to pave His way. Then one day the Sun began to rise. With virgin eyes, He gazed at the horizon and understood the passage of time. A profound feeling of desire rushed through His body like nostalgia, taking her first steps. His body began to move without command. Towards the unending horizon; towards that warming Sun. He wanted to love the Sun as the Sun showered Him in rays. He desired nothing but to immerse Himself in the Sun’s gaze. To see through the Sun’s eyes at the horizon.

So forward, He tranced. And the passage of time flew past His body like the tempest wind. Yet no matter how far He traveled, the horizon never grew closer. But He still drew closer to the Sun; closer as a friend. With whom He would confide His deepest worries and steepest ambitions. He did not merely wish to gaze through the Sun’s eyes; He desired to hold the Sun in an embrace.

And within His mind blossomed a seed of envy. His mind felt ignored. The mind was the one who kept the Man company throughout that lightless age. And the mind never desired anything more than to share every moment with the Man. So the mind played tricks on the Man. The horizon began to draw closer. And closer. And soon there was no more horizon. There was a sea of deep wine. Still, His body moved forward. Until His body became chin-deep and drunk.

A fleeting moment once again. Shrouded in a cloak of rapid cold. Now the Sun is noon high, staring down upon the Man. His mind was filled with greed; it wanted to share a final moment. And for a moment, time stopped. His body convulsed in ecstasy. Stripped of all its own warmth, His body only felt the warm embrace of the Sun it so desired. What felt like forever to the mind was nothing but a moment for the body. Now His body knew what the mind felt.

But the Sun would soon pass. The cold water would soon warm. And His soul would be left truly alone. His body and mind left as they became tempered. Complacent through the fulfillment of their ambitions. And His soul knew naught but the veil of the bountiful lands. Unlike the sibling spirits, His soul did not care for companionship. His soul was greedy for wealth and conquest. So His soul flew high above, becoming one with the twilight breeze. Guided by the nature of the land, the soul traveled once more. As the soul moved in a manic dance like a fish out of water to the tune of whispering trees. He swallowed the wealth of the land. Throughout that night, the soul froze the lands. And its hidden beauty was preserved. All to prove that He could make the land His own, as the Sun so once did before.