• Stupid Short Story: The City of Bright Lights and Dim Virtue
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By: Richard Zhang Nestled within majestic mountains encircled by wispy white tufts of cloud, a picture-esque village graced with an abundance of flowers with many different colors, smells, and shapes. The “Village of a Hundred Flowers” sheltered a society of honest people seeking an honest life with an honest job that helped it symbolize Humanity’s virtuous nature and capable beauty. Inside the village was a small Boy orphaned, having to live with his Grandfather because his father choose a life of excess and vice in the City. The City was hidden by the mountain range, almost as if the Mother Nature was ashamed by such a creation that she sought to hide it. It was an unnatural manifestation of concrete and steel that Man sprouted. Despite having such deviant features, people poured in from different facets of the world, making it light up with the brilliance of a multitude of everlasting fireflies, gracing the inhospitable steel of Man’s testament to excess and all of its stories. In its own twisted nature, the City became the “City of Bright Lights” reveling in its artificial beauty. The villagers had another name for the City, calling it the “City of Bright Lights and Dim Virtue”. The people in the City lived in singular happiness, imperious indulgence, and disgusting extravagance. Losing sight of the intrinsic worth that held people together and to a standard, subsequently honesty gave way to deceit and trickery, convenience took precedence over hard work and greed corrupted the hearts of the people. But this isn’t a story about the sad lives in the City of Bright Lights and Dim Virtue; this is a story of temptation, of an Angel falling. The Angel was the small Boy orphaned by temptation. Living with his Grandfather, they supported their lives in the Village of a Hundred Flowers by picking and selling the most beautiful of the many flowers to the people in the City. This life led to a simpleminded and pure Boy who was happy with where he was, who he was and what he did. His grandfather was also content with this simple life. So the Boy and the Grandfather went on with life picking the flowers. When it came time to go to the City and peddle the flowers, the grandfather never brought the boy with him out of fear that the temptation would be too great for him and he would become like his father. Before leaving for the City, the Grandfather would say to the Boy “I am going away to a horribly beautiful place. So beautiful that it will tear your heart out with amazement and hold you as its slave with vice. Yet it has the power to create something amazing, but in doing so it hides the life it destroys. Do not follow me. Stay here in the Village with the righteous. There will be a day when you can see the City with your own two eyes but for now, stay innocent” So the Boy stayed, and the Grandfather sold his flowers to the disillusioned people. The Boy naturally was overcome by puerile curiosity. He longed to see the City. What could be so tempting and beautiful? He couldn’t begin to fathom it. The Grandfather tried to protect the Boy but time was fighting him. The Boy became a Young Man. The Young Man was brim with curiosity and individuality. He began to detest this simple life of picking flowers. The Young Man proclaimed “Why should I live like this? I want to see the world, I want to feel new things, I want to become known!” The Grandfather replied “You don’t understand the World yet Boy. I’m trying to protect you.” The Young Man angrily retorted “Don’t protect me anymore. I have these hands, this heart, this mind and this will. I will do whatever I want to. Don’t stand in my way anymore.” To this the Grandfather had no more words. The Young Man became a Man. The Grandfather couldn’t protect him anymore and he couldn’t care for him anymore. The Man walked off from his Grandfather with a smile on his face and headed toward the City of Bright Lights and Dim Virtue with two twinkling eyes filled with curiosity. The Grandfather sat in the Village of a Hundred Flowers not in sorrow but not in joy. The Grandfather realized that all children must leave and make their own decisions. As to whether or not these decisions were right or wrong, we all must have the capacity to respect them. Children grow up and as to whether or not they accept the City of Bright Lights and Dim Virtue; it is up to them now. So Children of the Future, I implore you to go forth with a clear and open mind, a beautiful heart filled with love and compassion, and enough will to make it through the City without falling into vice. Make it to your own Village of a Hundred Flowers. Good luck. (Any criticism would be appreciated, this is my first real effort of creative writing. Its probably bad, and I think I was overly tacky with someone of the description)
It should be about pizza
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