Year of the Broken Crescent- A Serial Short Story Part #2

      Caliland is an example of pacifistic sustenance. One of the prime directives of the Universal Code is that there should be no violence; not even animals are subjected to death. The community is therefore vegetarian, and whose prime diet consists of nuts, buds, dates, berries, fruits, grains, edible leaves and spices, and so forth. The food combinations are nearly endless, and it is so organic and healthy that hardly anyone ever gets sick. However, at festival periods Calians indulge in foods of the sea; the villagers do not feel guilty killing these, since sea creatures are known by legend to be immune to pain.

     Caliland is a community which holds many festivals each year. The Crescent Moon Festival was in motion at the time of this historic period in Calian history. For the festival, the Calians indulge themselves in dancing and acoustic music, until the night of the summer’s first crescent moon, when all Calian couples gather in one field, the Field of Velvet Grass, and make love with their life partner until daybreak, in the faint light of the moon. The tradition was meant to offer a feeling of openness with the love of all the people of Caliland, and that the love of all the couples would rise in the air to God all at one time.

     Caliland is divided into a sequence of connected villages. Each village is responsible for production of some food, product, or service, which will be of benefit to all members of society. One village is in charge of farming wheat and oats, and another apples and cherries, and so forth. Monja Demone was a leveler of land. This was the heaviest job in all of Caliland, which involved removing steel and rock, which still remained on the west half of the island from the giant towers which once touched the sky in California. Levelers sacrifice a great deal, but their job is crucial in opening up new arable land for the community. Hulia Simmon’s lifework was that of a laundress, but she was also proficient in tailoring. Seth Angelo was, and still is to this day, a shepherd; he sheers the dense wool which is useful in many ways to the Calians, but most importantly he keeps the curious sheep from wandering into Amarist. Amarist is a forest in the center of the island, and is forbidden to all Calians. The giant plumes of steam that drift from its center give it a sense of animated life. It is feared by many of us to be immortal ground. I had the regretful privilege of an in depth interview with Monja. My name is Shalon, the historian of Caliland, and now I bring you the fated tale of Monja Demone, Hulia Simmons, and Seth Angelo.