Every now and then I dabble in some prose writing but do not often share it. This was written for a themed challenge on another site. The theme? Character..what's in one? I do hope you enjoy...

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Mortar and Stone


Amid piles of stone and pails of mortar
a man and child sit, sharing a moment
of quiet companionship...

'Father, why must we use mortar to build
the fence? We could just stack the stones,"
the child muses.

The man smiles. "Son, a fence made only of stone
will crumble. Stones are strong and solid but must
be bonded to its neighbor to hold fast. Just as man
must possess more than strength so must a fence."

"What must man have, Father?" the child asks.

"Man must have mortar just as fences do, my son.
His values are the sand and blood and tears are the
water. His soul is like the pail and his heart, the trowel.
Humility and compassion, determination and gentleness,
honesty and humor, love and faith... all are needed to make his mortar trustworthy. Without these things, he is nothing
but stone crumbling to dust. There is no strength." the man explains and waits.

The child ponders this for a moment and then asks "Does man
have a name for this mortar?"

"Yes, my son, he calls it character."


February 2007