DEATH IS ETERNAL #443 by GIC

WHERE GOD RAINED STONES and A DIPLOMATIC DISASTER (WITH CAMELS)

Contents

1. WHERE GOD RAINED STONES (genre: climate fiction)

2. A DIPLOMATIC DISASTER (WITH CAMELS) (genre: comic fantasy)

WHERE GOD RAINED STONES

Genre: climate fiction

Inspiration: 1535 – Spaniard Fray Tomás de Berlanga, the fourth Bishop of Panama, discovers the Galápagos Islands by chance on his way to Peru.

Word count: 536

Photo by Jose Aragones on Unsplash

The sea had turned against them.

Fray Tomás de Berlanga stood at the bow, his robes stiff with salt, the win howling prayers in his ears. He had set sail for Peru, bearing the king’s will like a holy relic, but the currents had carried his ship astray. Now, with fresh water running low and the crew’s voices thick with thirst, the horizon revealed only jagged black shapes rising from the waves—land, but no salvation.

When they reached shore, the island gave them no welcome. The rocks scorched their hands, and the air shimmered with heat. There was no rain, no river, only twisted trees and creatures that moved like shadows. The sailors stumbled onto the sand, lips cracked, eyes hollow. Berlanga knelt and pressed his palm to the ground as though to bless it, but the earth was dry as old parchment.

“Father,” a sailor croaked, “where is God’s mercy?”

Berlanga had no answer. He gazed upon the land, its strange beasts, its cruel beauty. This was no place for men, no land of gold or promise. And yet, life thrived. Great reptiles lumbered over the rocks, ancient as Genesis, their heavy shells carved by time. Birds with blue feet danced along the shore, oblivious to the suffering of men. In the water, sea creatures with shells like armour bobbed lazily, unbothered by the thirst that gnawed at the sailor’s bones. Berlanga, despite his parched throat, saw divinity in them. The island was no mistake, no cruel joke—it was a different kind of creation, one that had not been tamed by man’s hand.

Days passed, their barrels empty, their prayers thin. The men grew desperate. Some tried drinking from the sea, only to retch up the salt. Others dug feverishly in the sand, their fingers raw. The island, indifferent, watched them struggle. Then, by Providence or patience, they found relief. In a sunken crater, hidden from the sea’s wrath, lay a brackish spring. The water was warm and bitter, but it was water, and they drank deeply.

Berlanga knew they could not linger. This island, with its creatures untouched by scripture, was a place outside of man’s dominion. Yet as they prepared to depart, he saw the signs: the tortoise gnawed at meagre leaves, their shells ridged with hunger. The birds pecked at bare branches. Even here, untouched by war or greed, the world was changing. He thought of Spain, of Panama, of every kingdom where men carved their will into the land—and he feared that even these distant isles would not be spared.

When at last they caught the wind and the sea returned them to their path, Berlanga wrote of what he had seen. He called the islands harsh and barren, a place where “God rained stones.” But in his heart, he knew they were more than that. They were a warning. A world apart, but not forever.

Centuries later, men would return, bringing steel, smoke, and hunger. The tortoises would dwindle, the birds would vanish, and the islands would bear new names. But the sea would remember Brelanga’s discovery. And the wind, howling still, would carry his unspoken prayer: that the world might listen before it was too late.

The end

A DIPLOMATIC DISASTER (WITH CAMELS)

Genre: comic fantasy

Inspiration: 1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia was signed near Ganja, and Azerbaijan and Russian troops were withdrawn from occupied territories.

Word count: 1,021

Photo by Saj Shafique on Unsplash