THE ATLAS STORIES · II
Intent
A short story from The Mask is the World
For generations, a bridge has been rising across an ancient sea. Its builders are certain that one day the two shores will become one.
But what happens when a vision of the future becomes powerful enough to demand almost anything from the present? Would you build a future you may never live to see?
READING TIME · approximately 5 minutes
When did we start building this bridge?
I don’t remember precisely, but tens / hundreds / thousands of years have passed… The only thing I remember from my whole life is the battles of this giant bridge.
We’ve been building it for decades, and we won’t stop. We must cross.
An active sea separates the two sides, and the sea will not separate them forever. When the bridge is done, the two shores will be one, and crossing will be a mundane act… But till that’s done, we won’t stop building the bridge.
We must cross, and after us, many must cross. Then, the sea will not be a barrier but rather part of the beautiful scene that the sun’s setting draws here, and the two sides will become one city.
They fight us relentlessly, and they don’t want us to enter their city and change its face forever, but they will not be able to stop the insistence of our great army. They destroy our structures sometimes, but we always rebuild… what we rebuild is always stronger than what’s destroyed. Our real weapon is will and power and insistence… We know we will be victorious and we will enter the other side… We know that because it is a sacred prophecy that can’t go wrong.
Our army is blessed. Our prince is blessed.
We will build the bridge and enter the city, and then we will cross to new worlds.
What is the difference between people, really? On this side and the other?
What is the difference between people’s deeds here and their deeds there? Between the bread here and the bread there?
Why should this imaginary barrier last forever?
Sometimes, a structure can change people’s work and their daily lives. This structure will change their thoughts and their habits. It will also change what they believe, and it will colour what they want… until new bridges are built.
Let them fight us, as the stench of death spreads everywhere. All this death and struggle can’t last forever. The sea won’t stop us, and neither will names. Let them say that this is one continent and that is another, that this is one country and that is another… doesn’t matter. We will make it one, god willing.
Thousands of our countrymen have died to build this bridge, and now their bodies are part of it, and this is why the defenders won’t really be able to destroy what we’ve built. I look at all my brothers who’ve fallen while we built, and I might join them any day, and I know we won’t stop.
Someone, after many years from now, might see this as a bridge made of stone, but I see it now as a bridge made of bodies.
The bridge extends day after day, and we might not have paid attention sometimes, and it might have grown incorrectly, but we’ve always corrected our mistakes so that the colossal work can continue. Who doesn’t try doesn’t err… we’ve learned with years what we should do.
I envision the future sometimes… and I see future generations living here, in a giant city that owns the past and the future. In a city that connects countries that have always been borders between warriors. The bridge is an extension, as those generations will be an extension of us and our sacrifices. They will build – after us – many bridges above this sea, and they will adorn it with statues of all the martyrs that have left and that are still here, and to princes we love because they are the will of our mighty nation… Because they challenged the world as conqueror sultans, magnificent rulers, and legalist reformers. Many great palaces and amazing mosques will be built… and then there will be new bridges named after the sea and heroes and old cities.
I look at the past sometimes… and I see generations that have passed before us, and many brothers that have fallen and have become the bridges. Sacrifices are a must, and cruelty is a must, because history doesn’t change without them. To advance, we must leave behind things we love…
After all this time, and after I’ve become weaker than I used to be, I now know much more. I started working on the bridge as a youth, and the bridge was there, and I’m older now, and I’m still crossing and building… Years and friendships and memories have been piled behind me, and the days have taken their tax from my age.
I look behind me, and I look in front of me, and I can see more clearly. I can see the world from where I stand, and similitude reigns. Battles forge people and show them the essence of the world as they stand on the bank that separates death and life.
I know that this bridge won’t completely be finished, because it will extend to the edge of the world.
Heroes will always cross, and the present moment will extend forever. The march never ends, but that is easier to see for someone who – like me – has spent a whole lifetime in effort, labour… and contemplation.
I know that I will be – like my brothers – the bridge… and the bridge will be me.
As I’ve crossed and built, thousands will cross above whatever remains from my body.
They will cross like me, and they will build their own bridges… continuously forever.
Beyond the Story: The Bridge
We will Cross the Bridge is one of three stories in The Mask is the World that correspond to the three movements of The Atlas of Worldly Wisdom: Awareness, Intent, and Creativeness.
The bridge represents Intent: seeing a possible future, choosing a direction, and sustaining action toward something that does not yet exist.
Intent connects the present to the future. It gives continuity to effort across failures, corrections, years, and even generations. The builder may never reach the other shore, yet what is built today can become the ground on which others cross tomorrow.
| AWARENESS | INTENT | CREATIVENESS |
|---|---|---|
| 🗺️ The Path to the Perfect Map | 🌉 We Will Cross the Bridge | 🗿 My Last Sculpture |
| Knowledge → Awareness | Planning → Intent | Action → Creativeness |
Explore the Ideas → The Atlas of Worldly Wisdom
Explore the Stories → The Mask is the World