Member-only story
The Parable Of The Town
“If only I had a brain…”
A long time ago, longer ago even than last week (which, dear children, is already further back than most people can accurately remember) there was a town built on the gentle slopes of a beautiful mountain. Houses of various sizes were interspersed among the trees.
Some of the houses were very large because rich people lived in them. These houses had all manner of wonderful amenities like running water and air conditioning and refrigerators for preserving perishable items of food. In some of these houses only a single wealthy person resided, scurrying between vast empty rooms to enjoy the view from each window in turn. The large houses mostly occupied the best areas.
Many of the houses were quite small and lacked all amenities. Sometimes eight or twelve family members of different ages would be all crammed together, sharing bedrooms and struggling periodically to share what little food they had. These houses were located on the outskirts of the town, far from the gaze of the rich people in the big houses.
The people who lived in the small houses generally made their living by working for the rich people in their gardens and their kitchens, or by making things the rich people wanted to buy. The poor people relied on the rich people, and the rich people relied just as much on the poor people. The only…
