“ They will move on to an existence guided by prayer in place of sacrifice. Offerings of minds and hearts in place of doves and goats.”
The stones lie quietly for a while beneath the harsh sunlight and amid the sounds of the weeping city. Then the stone block whispers to the pillar she cannot see:
“ Will they forget us?”
“ Never”, he replies.“ They will tell our stories, even as new stories are added in the history that is to come. The stories of our glorious Temple and the many stories of our people. They will not forget.”
The pillar continues,“ And when they encounter other dark times through the ages, as will happen again and again, still there will be prayer and tradition and ritual, created out of the rubble that was once our Temple, and our stories will be told and retold.”
“ So perhaps there is hope.”“ Yes perhaps there is hope. Even here in the rubble.”
A new voice is heard, that of a young boy:“ Hey, rocks and rubble! Were you actually talking just now?”
The pillar replies,“ We were. And you are...?”
“ I’ m Yoshi. When the others departed in haste I was left behind. I’ ve been kind of lonely. But I found a stash of food behind that pile of rocks over there, I guess the priests didn’ t have a chance to burn the final offering, lucky for me! Is it OK if I stay here with you for a while?”
“ Of course,” the block of stone replies.
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