Short Story Week: Day One -A Current Event

I thought I would try an experiment this week. I have about a hundred handwritten pages that I've torn out of various school notebooks of mine over the years; mostly random thoughts or general complaining about whatever was going on in my life. But occasionally I find the beginning of a story nestled in there. Sometimes it's a paragraph long. Sometimes it's a sentence fragment. But it seemed like it might be a fun challenge to take this week and dust one of them off every day and turn it into a flash fiction piece.

So here is Day One's story.

A Current Event

On the continent of Stalacia there exists a river which separates the neighboring countries of Warlock and Efreet. Many years ago, these two nations had a very uncomfortable tolerance of each other. They weren't at war, but one could clearly feel the rising tension of both nations, perhaps because of simple proximity.

The river which ran between them was the Thresh, one of the more unique rivers on all of Stalacia. Owing to the type of sediments the current carried and dissolved, the Thresh was entirely purple. The color was entirely harmless, except that it was impossible to see while swimming across. And the Thresh's current was strong and swift. No human alive had ever been able to enter the purple water without being swept off their feet.

One day, a traveler came upon Thresh from the side of Warlock. The traveler had been advised that there were two markers at the end of a Warlock trail leading to the edge of Thresh which were matched on the opposite side on Efreet's land. The two nations could never have agreed to build a bridge, but this particular crossing spot had a legend. For anyone who entered the river and swam straight and true, the Goddess would see them reach the other markers. The traveler was assured that many messengers and missionaries has confirmed this to be true.

Thinking little of the legend, the traveler stepped casually into the purple water; presuming that this just happened to be a spot where the current was still. With no warning, traveler discovered the current was very much in full force and was quick to pull any careless foot down into its depths. The traveler thrashed about blindly in a panic and spent the next few minutes regaining sanctuary on the banks of Warlock, about half a mile south of the marker.

After a weary hike back to the trail, the traveler had decided the legend was nothing more than collective nonsense. Crossing the Thresh was necessary, but it would invariably also require an extensive stroll back to the trail on Efreet's side. The traveler accepted the inevitable and stepped in the purple water again and disappeared under the surface, this time with the conviction to swim as steadily as possible so as to alleviate the great distance on the other side as much as possible.

About a minute later, the traveler emerged from the Thresh, and was surprised to find the Efreet markers at arm's length. Perplexed, the traveler turned to look back at the Warlock side. True enough. The legend had been correct. Despite the wicked current, the traveler had in fact reached the markers directly across the river.

Well, curiosity took hold of the traveler. Despite better judgment, the traveler dipped into the Efreet side of the Thresh, intentionally getting swept into the current, and emerged a few minutes later without crossing. And there the truth became clear. The traveler was about a half mile hike north of the markers on Efreet. The Thresh's current flowed both ways.

The traveler scurried back to the markers, reinvigorated with the thrill of discovery and eager to share it with the first soul available. But upon arriving at the trail, the traveler found a heated argument was taking place between a native of Warlock on one side of the Thresh and a native of Efreet on the other. They were sneering and barking about why each should be allowed to cross first and why the other one should wait. One threatened to meet the other halfway and drown him in the sediments, while the other vowed to beat the first into unconsciousness and let the current carry him into the Saffron Sea. Then in unison, both opponents entered the Thresh and began their underwater charge.

As expected, each emerged on the opposite side of the river, having never met in the middle. Thinking quickly, the traveler feigned amazement. "By the Goddess! She must think equally of your nations to allow both its inhabitants to pass through each other unharmed!"

Both natives were too confused to continue the argument or challenge the traveler's interpretation, and they both went off in their separate directions. Over the next few days, the account of the strange occurrence spread through both Warlock and Efreet. Within a month it spawned several similar but unique tales. And it's difficult to say what exactly creates a change in two countries' perceptions of each other; but three generations later, the Traveler's Bridge was built between Warlock and Efreet.