this one child, this boy of perhaps seven or eight, though he might have been older, his growth stunted by hunger, was not like the other children. he did not join them in running and shouting, shoving and chasing, and tossing back and forth whatever came to hand. virlomi thought at first he must be crippled, but no, his staggering gait was because he was walking right among the stones of the streambed, and had to adjust his steps to keep his footing.
every now and then he bent over and picked up something. a little later, he would set it back down.
she came closer, and saw that what he picked up was a stone, and when he set it back down it was only a stone among stones.
what was the meaning of this task, on which he worked so intently, and which had so little result?
she walked to the stream, but well behind his path, and watched his back as he receded into the gathering gloom, bending and rising, bending and rising.
he is acting out my life, she thought. he works at his task, concentrating, giving his all, missing out on the games of his playmates. and yet he makes no difference in the world at all.
then, as she looked at the streambed where he had already walked, she saw that she could easily find his path, not because he left footprints, but because of the stones he picked up were lighter than the others, and by leaving them on the top, he was marking a wavering line of light through the middle of the streambed.
it did not really change her view of his work as meaningless — if anything, it was further proof. what could such a line possibly accomplish? the fact that there was a visible result made his labor all the more pathetic, because when the rains came it would all be swept away, the stones retumbled upon each other, and what difference would it make that for a while, at least, there was a dotted line of lighter stones along the middle of the streambed.
then, suddenly, her view of it changed. he was not marking a line. he was building a stone wall.
no, that was absurd. a wall whose stones were as much as a meter apart? a wall that was never more than one stone high?
a wall, made of the stones of india. picked up and set down almost where they had been found. but the stream was different because the wall had been built.
is this how the great wall of china had begun? a child marking off the boundaries of his world?
orson scott card, shadow puppets
