Microstory 659: Find the First Ring

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After Kamira Zapatiri’s death, her parents began preparations for laying her body in her final resting place. Tradition has it that the youngest child in the family of someone who passes is responsible for the act of digging the grave. This meant that it fell upon the shoulders of Kamira’s cousin, Enagiane Habicht. Enaji, as he was called, was provided with a simple garden trowel. Obviously there are easier ways of getting the job done, but that’s precisely why it’s done this way. The purpose of life—according to this denomination, and a few others—is to suffer. They believe in the inherent value of work. They don’t think that work should be done simply for the sake of progress, or development. The actual act of spending time and effort on something, regardless of how it contributes to life or society, is what matters here. Enaji had to dig Kamira’s grave with a trowel, because it was harder than it needed to be. That was the point. This took hours for Enaji, and unlike the way it is for less strict denominations, he was not allowed to eat or drink anything during that time. He was exhausted as he was nearing the end of his task, but knew that he had a few more scoops of dirt to get out. Upon what would have likely been his last scoop either way, something other than just soil came up. It was shiny, and clanked against the metal tool. Upon wiping it off, he realized that he was holding a ring. He didn’t know of its importance; only that it was a cool and interesting find. As it turned out, Enaji Habicht had discovered the First Ring; an immensely powerful piece of mysterious ingenuity that only its original owner could understand. Sotiren Zahir would need it back soon.