Friday, March 14, 2014

They All Fall - #fridayflash

Gravity was a good god, and that was his downfall. He always did his job, pulling things down or together, and did so with such reliability that humans could measure him. How Loki laughed at the idea of a god with such low self-esteem that he let himself be measured. But Gravity broke none of the rules: humans still couldn’t see him or talk to him directly, and he never tampered with someone else’s domain. Loki never had to fear Gravity playing tricks.

The problem came, then, that humans didn’t fear him like they did Loki or Zeus, and they certainly didn’t revere him as they had the sun or that Jesus kid. They made planes, helicopters and went to the moon without so much a prayer – except the typical calculations for landing and such. Even when he did something nasty it was always the suicidal prick that jumped off the bridge that got the credit, not Gravity for providing the very force that enabled the tragedy.

The rise of scientific thought only insulted him further as people believed less in his friends, but never even bothered to question his existence. He wasn’t even part of the cultural debate. One year Carl Sagan, of whom Gravity had always been very supportive, actually mocked theology by saying no one prayed to gravity. Then one morning Gravity picked up Scientific American (well, not “picked up” – he never picked anything up that he didn’t have to) and saw some theorist asking why gravity was so weak in this universe.

“So weak.”

Gravity snapped and finally took old Loki’s advice. They’d regret not appreciating him. They’d regret it when gravity ignored them, and they learned the terror of floating.

17 comments:

  1. No doubt, in the end, Gravity would prove to be the most powerful of all the gods. Good story!

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  2. lol, never anger a god with self-esteem issues!

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  3. How low can you get? How about a limbo dancing dacshund? Very good story, BTW.

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  4. What gravity lacks in strength, it makes up for in reach. As a fundamental force of the universe, gravity is like parental guilt: overwhelming up close, weakens with distance, but you can never really escape it.

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  5. Super first line and outstanding, and chilling, last line John, (and great ones in between too). I enjoyed this one very much.

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  6. Ouch. Says someone who respects gravity and feels his weight all too often.

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  7. Ignore gravity - not me I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground ^_^ with the help of gravity of course! Good story!

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  8. That had a sinister ending. MUHAHAHAHA!

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  9. That'll show 'em. See how they like it when you're not around to help out. There are so many applications to this story, John, it makes me smile.

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  10. Oh well, I guess we'll all be going up in the world. :)

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  11. A great personification of gravity John, although by saying that I am sure that will just piss Gravity off.

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  12. Oh wow, I've always said Gods are funny like this when they screw us over somehow, without our knowledge, but I think when Gravity decides to leave we'll surely get the idea and quick. I really liked the story, John!

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  13. Hey, he had a whole movie named after him!

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  14. Reminds me of that Modest Mouse song. We should all appreciate gravity.

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  15. Gravity should read HG Wells' "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" to cheer itself up. Or else some physics papers about how matter wouldn't exist in 3D without it.

    The most fun part of this for me was the idea of Gravity being a god in a Norse mythic universe.

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  16. A great story, very funny and original. We all float down here!

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