\r\nThis was written December 14th, 2025<\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\nImmutable Perfection<\/h2>\r\n
\r\nAh, Midas, the eternal cautionary tale against greed, about being careful what you wish\r\nfor. A king so possessed with greed that he wished for what seemed like the obvious\r\nchoice, to make everything he touched all the more valuable, only to realize the mistake\r\nof his ways. And eventually, for this wish to bring about his own demise. That’s the\r\none people all know and remember, correct? Well, that’s not the one told where I come\r\nfrom.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nOnce, long ago, there was a king named Midas, and he had a lovely kingdom which he ruled\r\nfairly. He’d had a long and successful reign, and everyone looked up to him. He’d had\r\neverything, a lovely wife, a lovely daughter, and was proud of the life he had led, proud\r\nof the life he’d obtained. His city had flourished, his followers were the envy of\r\neveryone. Even neighboring Kingdoms respected him and what he’d accomplished, despite\r\nall the battles they’d fought. And greatest of all feats, he was given a boon by the\r\nGods for the favours he’d granted them as they passed for anonymous, which he had as of\r\nyet not used.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAlas, he was growing older and wearier, and was not the man he once was. The continuous\r\nwarring, the constant changes brought forth by progress, things were not as they used\r\nto be, did not seem as simple and glorious as they once were. He was ageing, and his\r\nbody could barely keep up, his mind was also no longer as pliable as it once had been.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nHe kept looking around and longing for the old days, he kept looking upon his growing\r\ndaughter and missing the little girl she’d once been, instead of the mature woman she\r\nwould soon be. Yet, he knew as all us do that time does not slow, time does not revert,\r\ntime only moves on and pushes us ahead, like powerless marionettes. And he felt the\r\nduty he had towards his kingdom, towards his people, towards his family, so he did not\r\nfalter, and stayed honourable.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAh, but if only it had remained an internal strife, allowing him not to stray from the\r\nhonourable path he had crossed. Alas, tragedy must often strikes, and is oft unexpected.\r\nAnd tragedy did strike, as his daughter got mortally sick, with no cure in sight. A rare\r\ndisease that was slowly destroying her body from the insides. And thus, he opted to finally\r\nuse his boon to bring his daughter back to full health. Alas, even the gods could not\r\ndefy the Fates, for the thread of her life had already been measured and cut, and so it\r\nmust be.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nYet, the boon was still available, and thus he wished he could make her glorious again,\r\nin her death. Be seen as he’d seen her, so she could forever be remembered as he saw\r\nher. And thus, he was granted his wish. He was warned that now, with a simple touch,\r\nthe object of his touch would forever be frozen, as they were, but be given the elegance\r\nand glory no thing but gold could possess. But unlike the tales you’ve heard, this was\r\nnot a simple involuntary reaction, this was something he had to consciously enact.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAnd thus, proudly, bravely, his daughter accepted her fate. A ceremony was held in the\r\ncenter of the city. All the people came to witness it, from near and far, a testament to\r\ntheir influence. She was to be exposed right there for the rest of time. She eventually\r\ntook a pose, took a deep breath, told her loved ones how much she had appreciated them,\r\nand was glad of her life well lived, and told her father she was ready. The transformation\r\nwas instantaneous and wonderful. All that witnessed it were amazed. He beauty had been\r\nperfectly captured, and she was now more magnificent than ever. Considering her\r\npre-determined fate, this was not considered a tragedy, but instead an uplifting tale,\r\nand all felt inspired by what had transpired…except for Midas and his immediate entourage.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBoth the Queen and King were struck with deep grief, from which none escaped. As he\r\nrested upon his throne, Midas, longing for days of past, wishing himself to be back in\r\nsimpler time, was eventually struck with the notion that, which he could not revert time,\r\nhe could still forever pause it. He had been driven mad with grief, and his intentions\r\ncorrupted. Yet, it was his wife’s own request that was the turning point.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAlas, she could no longer see herself live without her daughter, and thus requested she\r\nbe allowed to join her, for all of eternity. Her husband, sorrowfully, acquiesced her\r\ndemand. Thus, in the middle of the square, it appeared like two statues had been erected,\r\nof a loving mother, caring for her lovely daughter. And that they had subsequently been\r\nlacquered in gold. Yet, we all know they were veritable women having been transformed,\r\nthrough a monstrous, albeit painless process, into solid gold. On the daughter’s face,\r\none could see a chagrined smile, along with a hopeful expression. Meanwhile, the mother\r\nwore a strong expression, yet a terribly chagrined one, and along her left cheek, a single\r\ngolden tear, “dripping”.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nFrom this point on, the mad King had only one objective in mind, bringing company to his\r\nbeloved family, for if they had not been allowed to live a long and full life, then their\r\neternal existence would at least not be a lonely one. He would preserve his kingdom,\r\nits glory immortalized. Forever frozen in time, none able to dislodge it from its\r\nperfection.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAnd thus, one silent night, Midas decide to enact his plan. He started with his own palace\r\nand servants, gradually turning each of them, while they were attending duties, into\r\nfrozen simulacra of life, moving from person to person before anyone, in their torpor,\r\ncould realize what the horrifying state unfolding before them. Then, he moved on to the\r\nstaff that was presently resting, unaware they had entered their final and eternal slumber.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nBefore news of any of this could spread, he moved on to the homes of the different\r\ncitizens, transforming them one by one while they still lay dormant. Finally, once ready,\r\nhe moved out to the remaining patrons that were, for some reason, active at night. He\r\nalso used the cover of the night to camouflage what was happening, able to not only\r\ncatch most people off-guard, but also unaware of their fellow men’s fate.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nIt had been a rather busy night for dear old Midas, a spectre moving from unsuspecting\r\nvictim to unsuspecting victim, but he eventually succeeded, his kingdom at \r\nlast eerily silent, with not an ounce of beauty missing from the inhabitants. If anything,\r\nhe thought, they beauty had been enhanced. But despite his success, once the first rays\r\nof sunshine appeared, a few statues could be seen donning an expression of pure terror,\r\nrealizing what they were about to be subjected to, yet neither prepared nor willing, to\r\nmeet such fate.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAs he walked through what should at this point be called a graveyard, or the aftermath of\r\na massacre, yet beheld no such gore, he realized this would be insufficient, he should\r\ngo all the way. Thereby, he busied himself to turning all that remained into gold:\r\nall objects, all buildings, even the streets themselves. And lest we forgot, even the\r\nanimals, even the meals, were to be consecrated in this baptism of gold. Nothing would\r\nbe spared. A perfect copy of his beloved Kingdom would be forever preserved. His\r\nMasterpiece.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nRight before dusk, he at last sat on his throne, which he had, by then, also transmuted,\r\nhe took a last look on his surroundings, and with a proud look, declared to himself:\r\n“At last, it shall be preserved in its perfection. No more change, no more strife,\r\na pure and perfect existence upon which all of humanity can reflect and envy.”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAs the sun was descending beyond the horizon, the last rays of light gradually vanishing,\r\nMidas, in great weariness, through an alchemical process, at last joined the rest of his\r\nkingdom. And on his weary face could be glimpsed, through the exhaustion, a look of pure\r\nsatisfaction.\r\n<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This was written December 14th, 2025 Immutable Perfection Ah, Midas, the eternal cautionary tale against greed, about being careful what you wish for. A king so possessed with greed that he wished for what seemed like the obvious choice, to make everything he touched all the more valuable, only to realize the mistake of his … Continue reading Writing Challenge 2025 \u2013 17 – Immutable Perfection<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2549,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}