A Product of Late Night Studies…

And backs bent as mud bricks were carried up the winding road to the top of the dusty spire. There was a general moan like the grunting of a herd as whips cracked dryly upon sweat slicked backs. The mud pits hundreds of feet below seethed with human bodies and porters crawled their way to the top of the construction site, the lowermost sections of which had been built years before. As the next emaciated porter arrived at the top, there was a team of strong, well fed workers who would take the brick as though it weighed nothing and heave it into the next spot already prepared with mortar. Babel towered above the landscape and the brick-placers could see the desert stretch out of sight in its golden-baked gullies and flat expanses.
As the sun began to sink from its midpoint, powerful, unusually cool winds began to savage the man-made summit. Large, dark clouds gathered at the edge of the sky and swiftly advanced. Even from a distance, the brick-placers could see the massive thunderhead towering to the top of creation. After another hour of wind-whipped toil, the black-purple, almost ultraviolet clouds overtook the sun, casting welcome shade. There was no sound from above and the laborers and overseers alike began to sense that this storm was not ordinary. As the sun fell beneath the level of the clouds, shedding its final coppery heat, the deluge began.
Workers screamed as a harsh hail stung every inch of their exhausted bodies. They had never experienced snow or hail before and began to panic. Tiny missiles created a collective rumble as they pounded on the solid desert floor and slapped against the skin of people scrambling for shelter. Hundreds ran to mud pits for protection and submerged themselves as far as possible into the thick paste. The hail plip-plip slipped into the mud and those who had the privilege of protection sat to wait out the storm. As the less fortunate reached a climax of desperation, the hail ended. The clouds began to recede and the workers slowly recovered from the shock. They saw that the storm had not brought water in any form.
The ground was covered in bright multi-colored beads that slid under dirty feet. Slaves stooped to pick up handfuls and take a closer look. Everyone began to notice that each bead was inscribed with a strange character: ‘S’. An absentminded child stuck a green one into his mouth and shouted an exclamation of joy. The people were cautious at first, but soon they were eating them by the handful.
These candies were devoured for several hours and there were great festivities beneath a starry sky. The overseers had been so stunned that they had not reasserted their authority immediately after the storm. Now, the sugar-crazed slaves reached a frenzy of excitement and began to rebel against those who had held them for so long.
By morning, no overseers were left alive and the land had been stripped of skittles for a mile in every direction. The sugar rush had subsided over the night and now subdued masses left the unfinished tower to crumble and decay. Thousands became few as they dispersed throughout the desert and finally disappeared in ripples of heat.

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