The Genesis of Pathos | Teen Ink

The Genesis of Pathos

January 29, 2024
By RipPulse BRONZE, Wilmington, California
RipPulse BRONZE, Wilmington, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

In the beginning, when only Donante and Borra coexisted, everything we know now was once a formless void, swallowed by a darkness that extended farther than you could ever imagine. One day, the boredom started to become intolerable. Borra said, "let there be a fight." Though Donante began to question Borra’s statement, Borra had already planted his fist on the nourishing turf of Donante’s face, which had caused a small portion of his being to glow, releasing stars that would scatter across the plane of nothingness. Despite Donante’s sense of responsibility, he eagerly retaliated.

In merely seconds, the two God's impacts had created large bursts of matter, sending out planets that would collide and disperse within the void. With time, the Gods grew tired and began to slow down. Both had decided to trade one last punch, which had caused a massive ball of pure energy to form. Amazed, Donante named the creation "Son." While the two Gods were preoccupied, they did not notice that tiny beings began to form on one of the planets. These beings respectively carried the wills of whom they came from. Animals closely resembled Borra, while a more sophisticated organism resembled Donante. “I think I will call them man,” stated Donante.

While observing their unintentional discovery, both Gods knew these organisms lacked the trait of immortality. Thus Donante sent a massive cactus to the center of the planet. The cactus was plump and kind, seeking to help those who fed from it. Out of distaste for prosperity, Borra had dug deep enough into the plant, pulling out large spines. Unfortunately, he was successful in exposing them above the plant’s surface. Although the cactus’ intentions remained the same, it instead would stab whoever attempted to feed from it.

Confused, both the animals and men began to investigate it. Out of temptation, the animals started to consume the plant. They would unintentionally puncture their skulls in the process of doing so, which would diminish their intelligence only further. Out of greed, the humans immediately began trying to horde portions of the cactus despite not understanding its value. Due to their lack of hesitance, they had all wounded themselves on the spines of the cactus. With concern for the humans, Donante gave them logic to help them resolve problems. Momentarily, the world began to reflect Donante’s character, which angered Borra. With no hesitation, Borra told the humans that without consuming the cactus, they would die.

Some considered the validity of the warning, while others gave into irrationality. The people who favored peace began to form an alliance, which left those who were willing to do anything for the cactus to unite under chaos. The people from both sides had all rushed and began to use the spines from the plant as weapons. While the humans began brutally slaughtering each other—the animals had witnessed the horrors humans were capable of—so from then on, all animals would avoid the people.

As the humans began collapsing in numbers, very few remained. The blood of the fallen began to seep into the ground, allowing the planet to take life. She began to drink from the blood-red wine and feasted upon the fine bread of the fallen. With this nourishment, luscious plants started to sprout; mountains and hills were erected from the ground up. Despite the new inherent beauty of her form, she began to sob uncontrollably for the deaths of those whom she considered her children, resulting in large amounts of water filling the cavities of her imperfections. 

The Gods had witnessed the rapid advancements of the planet. They were so complex that neither God could envision such a sight. They had both assumed this was the working of the humans, resulting in both Gods deciding to flee. Borra was worried about the potential that the humans had at rivaling him, while Donante felt immense shame for what the humans had done. In hopes of wiping the people, Borra created illness—the purest form of his will that still proves to be a formidable opponent to humanity today. In hopes of slowing the massacre, Donante created the moon, which would swap places with the sun to take the sight from the people for half of all time.

The humans that remained were confused yet astonished with the new form the planet had taken. Despite the vibrancy and near perfection of their planet, the thought of the battle had recurred to the humans. With their new domain, they all parted different ways and began to assemble ever-improving weapons with what they could find in fear of another battle.


The author's comments:

The exigence behind the writing of this creation story was a prompt assigned to our class in AP Literature. In the making of this story, I have drawn inspiration from various things, and I hope to share a small message about humanity with anyone who reads this.


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