Glass

Copyright Alyssa Menes 2005

         Although no posts marked the border between the East and the West, residents of the surrounding plains could discern where familiar territory ended and the other side began. Black dirt and a lush expanse met at that point, and villagers hailed from both lands. The villagers in the East enjoyed the beauty of the verdant hills and rejoiced with every harvest from the fertile fields. And the Westerners watched over their own withering crops as the Easterners reaped the bounty.

         The Westerners never experienced the joys of diligence paying well with a harvest, and felt shackled to their territory. All throughout a Westerner’s upbringing came the implications of staying on the dead side of the border. Morale rubbed itself into the dead soil, and smidges of envy began slithering into topics of the day as the years passed and every Eastern harvest exceeded the last.

         Soon enough, the Westerners found it pointless to try planting crops, turning attention and spending longer bouts staring at the East from the border. The Easterners never had to look at the West, and the Westerners’ disgust for the Easterners festered. To them, the Easterners lived happily with their wealth, their bounty, and their ignorance.

         But the Easterners did stop at the border one day. The Westerners gathered at the border shared confused and shocked expressions as the small group of Easterners strolled forth, stopping just before the grass dried and browned.

         The one up front began to speak.

         “We have a proposition,” he said. His voice sounded distant to the Westerners, and out of chances of never meeting an Easterner “humble” enough to visit the Westerners, they tuned their ears to pay sharp attention.

         “You see, our population’s rapidly increasing, and I’m afraid we’re running out of farmland for everyone.” The Westerners broke into a brief, muffled clamor on their side, and the lead Easterner quietly waited for undivided attention from them again. More Westerns became struck with curiosity, and gravitated towards their side of the border. Once the lead Easterner saw the Westerners were ready for him to speak, he continued.

         “So we’re offering to…” He extended his palms, searching for the lightest words. “Give you guys a bit of a start on your farming.” More confusion leaked out from the Westerners, and the lead Easterner waited for silence before continuing. “We’re wondering if we could move some families over to the West.”

         The words seared the ears of the Westerners, throwing them into instant disapproval.

         “You have everything man could ask for!” one of them cried. “And now you want to take our land?!”

         The lead Easterner shook his head, holding out his palms.

         “No, no,” he replied calmly. “Not take your land.”

         “You said you needed it!” another Westerner piped up.

         “You’re not getting it!”

         The gathering around the Western side of the border grew tighter as the enraged roars grew louder. A lead Westerner squirmed and pushed his way through the crowd, stopping at the very end of the dead grass. He sent a stabbing glare through the lead Easterner, merely showing a partial snarl.

         “I don’t know why you’d even bother,” he began. “Our land has always been unsuitable for farming.”

         The lead Easterner nodded.

         “I understand,” he told the lead Westerner. “But we’ve decided we could show you guys our irrigation techniques.” He nodded again. “You know, long ago, our land was also unsuitable for farming. So—”

         “Bah!” the lead Westerner cut in. “My people can see right through your people’s offer.” The Westerners roared in agreement.

         The small congregation of Easterners seemed to exponentially expand with every tradeoff between the lead Easterner and lead Westerner until every member of both sides stood with his people at the border. As every tradeoff shaped the conversation into verbal warfare, the people grew rowdier in the West and allegedly confused in the East.

         The lead Easterner felt the beginnings of defeat.

         “Please understand,” he pleaded, struggling to keep the calm expression on his face. The lead Westerner shook his head, and as if out of nowhere, yanked a gun into view and pointed it at the lead Easterner.

         “No means NO!” he declared, and didn’t realize his finger slipped on the trigger. Screams erupted from both sides as the gunshot exploded, only to die back into silent shock and confusion when they saw the bullet frozen in midair.

         The lead Easterner leaned forward, squinting at the cap and the tiny cracks it left in the air. With a shaky hand extended, he ran his fingers over where the bullet hovered stiffly, only to feel glass.

         He looked up at the Westerners with a perplexed face, only to meet a sea of scowls.

         “Your people built it!” the lead Westerner hissed. The lead Easterner shook his head in denial, no longer caring if he emanated his collective air or not.

         “You’re wrong!” the lead Easterner replied. “We’d—”

         “I’m right!” the lead Westerner interrupted. “You built it so we’d never be able to encroach on what you claim as your land.” He turned to his people, making a broad bludgeoning gesticulation.

         The Westerners took the cue to break out into more waves of clamor as they charged the glass wall. Along the way, adults pulled clubs out of their packs and children scooped rocks into their tiny hands, and began beating at the thick glass in a wriggling mass of chaos. Every Easterner felt each individual pound beat into his heart, and they were all torn between backing away slowly on their haunches, or staying and defending their territory at the border unarmed.

         The Easterners only remembered the shattering of the glass. The Westerners stormed the verdant plains as the shards rained from the sky and drew blood before the clubs made contact. For the first time in their lives, the Easterners met an unfortunate vicissitude. And the grass never looked greener before to them.