Greed vs. Friendship
Once upon a time, there were two best friends, Bhism Kaurava and Arandu Pandava. They lived in the large Kingdom
of Indishina. Arandu’s father ruled the Kingdom and had a great relationship
with their neighboring Kingdom Indivia, which Bhism’s father ruled. Because of
the good relationship between their fathers the two young princes spent a lot of
time together. They would play endlessly together and often have sleepovers at each
other’s homes, they were more than friends they were like brothers. However, as
time passed their duties as princes grew and their time together lessened.
They both got married and made their own lives, they often
thought of each other but now their friendship only existed as a childhood
memory. When both became Kings of their kingdoms, greed for power took over their
hearts. They became the most powerful Kingdoms as they kept conquering weaker Kingdoms
and taking over their lands. For respect to their past friendship, they always
avoided battle with each other.
One day, one of Kings Arandu’s messenger came to him “King
Duram of Teukia has grown sick, many say his days are counted” he said. King
Arandu replied “His only son is barely thirteen, with the King sick the Kingdom
is weak, we should prepare for attack now” he stated. For years, Arandu had
been eyeing Teukia, it was a Kingdom full of resources and minerals, their said
to be gold hidden deep in Teukian caves. He never thought of invading because King
Duram was one of the fiercest warriors but now that he has grown weak this was
his chance. What Arandu did not account for was that, in another Kingdom, another
king was also making plans to invade Teukia. King Bhism had also heard of the
gold-filled caves not only that but Teukia was a powerful Kingdom if he
overtook it, it would make him the most powerful King.
Sooner than later they found out they were both attacking
the same place however they did not care instead their hunger for power carried
them further into the war. At the beginning of the war, they both attacked Teukia.
With armies attacking them from all sides the Teukian army was weakened and
eventually defeated. Hundreds of Teukian soldiers laid dead in bloody fields
and in between the dead bodies also laid the Teukian King and crown prince.
With their deaths being confirmed now the real war began. In order to own the land they had to defeat one another, there could only be one survivor.
In the mid-summer days, the skies were gray filled with fog
and smoke, every once in awhile houses and rocks shook and shivered from the
galloping of horses. The once green fields had now become infected with red
stains and decorated with soldiers’ corpses. The air was filled with the smell
of death and the cries of pain and help from soldiers traveled through the
wind. It had been a horrendous battle, the Kaurava and Pandava armies each suffered
great losses. It had been an already 16-day battle, neither side showed any signs
of giving up. On the 18th-day, the two leaders finally met face to
face. They stroke their swords to one another and began to duel. The fight went
for minutes until Bhism was finally able to take Arandu by surprise and
causing him to fall off his horse and lose his sword. There in the ground laid Arandu
with Bhism’s sword millimeters away from his throat. “My dear friend is this
how our friendship will end?” Arundu spoke but Bhism said nothing for his head
was filled with many thoughts. Looking right into Arandu’s eyes he say the little
boy he used to play with, his brother. He could not bring himself to kill him. But
then he thought of many great riches he would possess if he won this battle,
and another thought crossed his mind… If he killed Arandu right now he would
possess the Kingdom of Indishina and with all the kingdoms in his hands, he will
become and be remembered as the most powerful King of all time. The greed in his
heart guided his hand, he lifted his sword high in the air and with great force
he struck it onto Arundu’s heart. In a swift moment, Arandu laid dead with eyes
wide open staring back at Bhism. In moments the world went silent, soldiers
stopped fighting, the war had ended. Bhism became one of the most powerful
kings of all time but he not remembered for that instead he was remembered as
the king who killed his best friend because of greed.
Authors Note: The story was inspired by Kurukshetra/Mahabharata War that was between the Kauravas and Pandavas. In the original story,
they were cousins fighting for the throne and many kingdoms were involved also
in the original, the Pandavas ultimately win. In my story, I made it more of a battle between two best friends and their greed to become the most powerful
King, I also Bhism who is the leader of the Kauravas army win.
Bibliography: Indian
Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)
Image: 9th day of Kurukshetra War
Hey Monica,
ReplyDeleteReally good story! I loved the tension you added by making the two kings childhood friends; It made the message of the story much more poignant and resonant. I also think you did a great job with pacing the story. The story never felt too slow or too fast, so good job! I hope to read more of your stories in the future!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Monica,
ReplyDeleteThis was such a great story, your use of imagery throughout really helped develop the story from a reader's standpoint. I felt like I was there at the battle watching because you described the scene and smell so well. It made me so sad in the end how greed over took all the memories of friendship but I still really enjoyed!
Monica,
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you used these two to explain greed and power. When I was reading the original version, I was thinking about writing a similar story to yours. You did a good job using words to describe the atmosphere, and even added extra complexity like making them childhood friends. It sucks that it didn't have a happy ending, but it seems like most of these stories never do! Overall, great job.