by Todd Stricklin

Created on: September 12, 2007

A typical young man, Righteous lived his life traditionally, without a single unconstrained temptation. Having finished school recently at the time, Righteous moved in with his contemplative brother, Depraved. Depraved could not afford the education Righteous could, one would naturally assume from an outside perspective. Depraved and Righteous were indistinguishable by their exteriors and of the same age. Every morning, always near the same time, the brothers would nod appropriately to one another and got along conscientiously. Righteous never conversed with Depraved, nor did Depraved ever deign to speak with Righteous. The brothers were voiceless creatures that spent their days writing in a cottage near breath-taking Lake Ignorance.

One exquisite morning, Depraved woke up to find Righteous staring at a package that had arrived recently. Depraved, curiosity manipulating him, rambled to Righteous and peered over his shoulder at the package. Black wrapping around a minute box was what he noted, with a return address matching their address. Righteous pondered whether or not to open it while Depraved was already stripping the box of it's dark wrap. Inside, they found a puzzle, completely devoid of pieces but having a blank spot below the title. "Existence" is what was printed across the top, in bold black letters. More than the arrival of a mysterious package, the missing puzzle pieces seemed to distress the two. The brothers inferred that they were meant to make their own pieces to the puzzle, and fill it in as they saw fit. Righteous thought to fill the space with photos of his family, life, and achievements and world history. Depraved wished to fill the space with a picture of the galaxy and all the beauty of the stars. They decided they couldn't agree with one another, so they would make the puzzle larger and each put a single picture or idea into the puzzle.

Depraved and Righteous argued for months without a word crossing them, sometimes growing violent toward each other. They would shred each other's selected pictures for the day, finding their ideas incompatible with the huge picture in their minds. Without words, the situation only grew overly tense. Depraved grew so annoyed at Righteous that he kicked him from his home and tore the large puzzle to shreds, while Righteous took the small puzzle that started it all and threw it into the lake. The very next day, the brothers lived peacefully again, never bringing up the subject again.

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