Escaping the Enclosure by Jay Pimple

 

In the Enclosure of Latuim walls, colossal boulders made of Muliem sulked

lifelessly. Ironically, these humongous rocks were one of the most alive materials

residing on the land. This Enclosure spread obliviously, cliqued by the inanimate,

grey Latuim barriers, which sturdily refused to appear exuberant on this

effervescent day. Light emanating from the circular Scorcher in the sky illuminated

the land, and the Muliem boulders imitated the cyan hue that draped the sky. The

day had begun, and most of the Muliem boulders had purged the scent of slumber,

while some remained ensnared by it. They began rolling towards the nearest

ingress in the sanctuary, while some rolled towards the entrance where they would

meet their acquainted Virilim boulders. The word sanctuary was a deceptive veil

for what truly was a prison, meticulously built by the Virilim to prevent the Muliem

from ever rolling outside their habitat.

It was prevalent history, that years ago, a Virilim rock had rolled from its habitat,

cascading down from a towering bluff and into a source of water. And such was

this world, that all the water sources ultimately amalgamated at the Sea of

Somatic, in which the Virilim boulder was shaped into a voluptuous sphere with an

arrow levitating on top of it. It was the first of the three materials to ever gain such

a calibre of physical properties which allowed it to move speedily and manoeuvre

objects. It was not long before each Virilim boulder of age was transformed into

powerful spheres. As they travelled the world, they discovered the other two

materials: the vivacious Muliem and the lifeless Latuim. Latuim being lifeless, was

used by the Virilim to construct their structures and build the high walls of the

prison for the Muliem. As for the Muliem, they became sources of entertainment

for the Virilim: malleable according to their fancies and disposable just as

effortlessly. Sculpted into trapezoids and other shapes of beauty, the Muliem

would be chosen by the Virilim, and when the sculpted Muliem became an object

of mundanity, it would be cast into the very Enclosure from whence it came. As

years passed, to be chosen by a Virilim became the purpose of the Muliem, for not

only did it let them glimpse the outside world, but also allowed them to be crafted

into an object of beauty.

On this particular day, as the intricate gates into the Enclosure were opened by the

Virilim, a Muliem, that went by the name Arinia, rolled atop numerous boulders with

immense speed, utterly uninterested in the crimson Virilim that entered. “Foolish

rock! I beg you to stop behaving so barbarically. You are not a pebble anymore. No

Virilim would ever choose you, should you have a crater,” bellowed Rumien, a

relation. Arinia opted to neglect the shrill voice. Ubiquitously, it saw the Virilim

courting the Muliem, some conversing with familiar Muliem while some simply

lifted a Muliem they saw and egressed the Enclosure. It finally arrived at the

location of its friend, another Muliem called Eroline and found Eroline absent. After

some contemplation, Arinia concluded that Eroline had finally made an

acquaintance among the Virilim. After all, it had always heard Eroline fantasise

about meeting a Virilim who would sculpt Eroline and how Eroline would beautify

the structure of that Virilim. Such thoughts abhorred Arinia, for, any Muliem boulder

to tribute its frame for some Virilim, who would only discard it once uninterested

was an act of stupidity. Seldom, did a sculpted Muliem remain with the Virilim unti

the Virilim became lifeless, as the interest of only a few Virilim could be held

perpetually

Slightly poignant, Arinia decided to return to its location, where inevitable

admonishing was impatient for its arrival

“I have had enough, Arinia. Maintain your frame for me, if not for yourself. Now tha

you have come of age, you should maintain the beautiful frame that you have i

order to be chosen by a Virilim. They do not choose us Muliem if we have craters

And the sooner you get chosen, the better. They hate the old Muliems. Can’t endur

the chiselling and sculpting. Don’t you remember our old neighbour? It somehow

enthralled a Virilim, and when it was being sculpted, it broke off into thousands o

pieces. The Virilim had to use them as a walkway to its structure. It was shattered

figuratively and literally,” laughed Rumien the relation. Arinia, who was entirely

unintrigued by this conversation, was weaving a web of its own thoughts and gav

a slight laugh as a reaction to the laughter that it heard. These inexorable lecture

were like the sounds of the rolling stones to its ears, which after hearing

incessantly everyday had become an object of neglection for its subconscious. But

its relation did not give up, rather, it attempted to involve yet another relation int

what it considered ‘convincing’ Arinia. “Oh Nerlien, help me out here. Why does i

not understand what I am saying?” prompted Rumien

“Rumien is right, Arinia. You know, just get chosen by a Virilim and quickly for

another material with it. If it is a Virilim then great! If it is a Muliem then you ca

bring it here and you are free!’ persuaded Nerlien. Attempting a small opposition

Arinia said, “But I am not yet mature enough to handle such things. And how wil

forming another material make me free. It will just increase my work. I think that 

should wait."

“Stop blabbering about waiting. The realisation of immaturity, is maturity in itself

Besides, aren’t we here to help you? Forming a boulder will bring you happiness, i

will fill the void in your life” continued Nerlien. “Precisely my point, Nerlien

Precisely my point.” With the zenith of conviction in its voice, Nerlien spoke again

“Don’t you remember Serece, who thought that it was not mature enough? I hear

from one of the cast-away Muliems that it settled nicely in the structure of som

well-off Virilim.” “It was quite skinny, wasn’t it? I wonder how it managed to get that

Virilim?” The two battered down sculptures now proceeded to criticise other

Muliems, and Arinia deemed that telling them that only the appearance of 

boulder did not matter, was an act of futility

The day passed in usual recreation, the Scorcher in the sky departed and left 

despondent and dark sky in its absence. Arinia lay under the petite white lights that

were scattered in the sky and pondered all the counselling that it had received

earlier during the day. “Would making the purpose of my life to be a sculpture really

pacify me?” it thought. “Or would it be a sculpture not of beauty, but of regret?” A

a child, its ambition had always been to float in the waterbodies, about which the

cast-away sculptures told her. It wanted to experience the weightlessness of being

carried away. It wanted to go to the Sea of Somatic and be transformed into 

curvaceous sphere like the Virilim. It thought that the barbaric and unsophisticated

look of the untamed boulders became beautiful when sculpted, but it would look

transcendent as a sphere. Yet all of this, all these thoughts were the debris of

Arinia's wall of ambition. “Would it really be possible to escape this sanctuary

Would the Virilim let such an act transpire?” questioned Arinia. Meanwhile, in it

subconscious, the debris was being rebuilt into the wall of ambition. And this act

had transpired only because of the fuel of the daily “counselling”

During the following days, Arinia met with various cast-away sculptures in an

attempt to find out more about the Latuim walls. It discovered, that similar to the

Muliem, the Latuim, too, had a habitat where they were procured abundantly. While

some of the sculptures repented having been taken away by a Virilim, the rest

considered it a benediction. A few of the cast-aways had seen their Virilim sculpt

Latuim with sharp, piercing tools, often being thrust into the Latuim, in contrast to

the soft, chiselling method used on Muliems. Arinia scrutinised yet another thing

even more abominable than pining over a Virilim, that some of the cast-aways that

repented, had a thought in them about avoiding the same thing happening to other

Muliems, while some declared still, that it was what a Muliem was destined for

Arinia was appalled to its very core; truly, immensely appalled. It wanted to scream

sense into the incorrigible and superficial minds, and make them palpable of the

ludicrousness they spouted. But Arinia knew that it was pointless, and the only way

to obliterate such thoughts in the future was by educating the younger Muliem

The season had changed and rain descended from the skies. On this particular day

the hue was a fusion of darkness and cyan. But as darkness was present even in

the slightest, a feeling of gloom had enveloped everywhere. “If only the Virilim

would construct something above us to avoid the disgusting rain… It makes it so

hard to move around in the wet mud.” whined Arinia. “All the chosen Muliem have 

roof over their head, they don’t suffer from these things. They lie untouched inside

the structures of the Virilim,” declared Rumien in a taunting manner. “And what

about after they become cast-aways? Then they have neither structure nor proper

movement to save them from suffering,” retorted Arinia. “But they don’t have 

frame like you, Arinia. Why can’t you just see it?” argued Merlipe, yet another

relation. “Why can’t you see that I simply don’t want to become a sculpture an

then be cast away like all of you?” “How dare you talk so impudently! We have

fulfilled our purpose, our destiny, unlike you. Besides, how many days are you going

to continue behaving so petulantly and continue ‘learning about other materials’, as

you call it? Don’t you remember the story of the learned Muliem, who was so

learned that it bored the Virilim with its speech, and was ultimately smashed into

smithereens. You know that the Virilim do not like informed Muliem.” This advice

from Merlipe gave Arinia a small bit of satisfaction, knowing that the chance of a

Virilim being interested in it was lessened. Arinia answered in a calm and

satisfactory tone, “I am learning all this to break open the Latuim walls and flow to

the Sea of Somatic to become the first, fully functional Muliem.” All three of its

relations guffawed with feelings that conveyed Arinia to be insane. Rumien replied

in a euphoric manner, “You, who has never seen either of the two ends of our

Enclosure, except for the wall where we are, wants to go to the Sea of Somatic.

Besides, don’t you remember the legend passed down among the Muliem which

conveyed the true intention of the Virilim?

First were the Virilim that reached

The Sea of Somatic and preached,

To restrain the Muliem by building walls,

From opposing the Virilim, supreme of all.”

“Be that as it may, I will emancipate!"

exclaimed Arinia, after the incessantly heard lore finished.

In the succeeding week, a plan formulated. The cast-aways who had once been

sharp geometric sculptures and were willing to help would lance at the wall until it

tore down. Following this, other Muliem who shared Arinia's intention would

escape from the walls and be liberated. Two days before the Great Escape, Arinia

informed its relations about its plan, and received the longest counselling session,

during which it held its ground with a firm rejection of the conversations that took

place.

Finally, it was the day of the liberation. Word had not spread much about the event

that was going to take place, for secrecy had been rigorously maintained with an

exception of relations. The liberation was going to take place at night, when the

Enclosure would be bereft of any Virilim.

Evening came, and soon the Scorcher was going to obscured by the darkness. The

darkness obscured the sky at last and all the Muliem who were going to escape

gathered at a spot away from the wall. It was near to all of the Muliem except

Arinia, as they lived alone, without any relations. This curse of solitude of the

Muliem was considered as a blessing by Arinia. Led by Arinia, the henge began

moving towards the wall, surreptitiously. After a few minutes, they arrived at the

wall. But, to their horror, a few crimson spheres stood in a perimeter, and at their

foot lay the cast-aways obliterated into smithereens. Virilim! As the Virilim

advanced towards the escapers, they stood terrified and rooted to their spots.

None of them could process it! Even after much envisaging, they could not decide

how to react! They were frightened, frightened to their very core. One of the Virilim

spoke, in a rather deep and disgruntled manner, “Thank you, Arinia, for luring out

these rebellious Muliem. You may return to your relations. And as for the rest of

you, you… will never know the joy of moving again.” A resisting Arinia was carried away

 by some of the Virilim to the place where its relations lay. It wailed and shouted and

 thrashed, but the grip of the Virilim, too, did not let it escape. The Scorcher rose into the

 sky, and its luminescent rays filled the world. The relations of Arinia woke up and

 arduously rolled over to where it rested. “What is it, Arinia? Did you change your mind?”

 enquired Rumien with a tone of concern, but slightly doped with mischief. “I was

 thinking all night, about who informed the Virilim of our plan. Now, the cast-aways

 would not inform and neither would the other escapers as it would mean their own

 deaths,” spoke Arinia, melancholically. “Why did you do it? Why did you inform the

 Virilim?” it questioned the relations. “Why should we be the only ones who do not get to

 be free? We know that we are not of age to be transformed like you are. Why should we

 be the only ones sculpted and cast-away like objects that have no value? Why should

 only we give our frames to form materials and have it deteriorated? Well, now we won’t

 be. You, too, will be sculpted like us. And form a material like us. And be miserably cast

 away… just…like… us!” exclaimed Nerlien with manic outrage. With malignant

 satisfaction,

Rumien continued, “We informed some of the Virilim that had come, that you had

lured out some cast-aways and outcasts who were planning to escape. Thankfully,

they believed us.” Arinia felt horrified as it loathed the rocks in front of it. Such

disgust had never been felt by it. It rolled away as fast as it could, seeking solace in

the company of its friend Eroline, despite knowing that Eroline would not be there.

But to Arinia's surprise, it found Eroline resting at the old location, sculpted and

cast away. "What happened to you?" questioned Arinia, horrified. "What do you

think? I thought that I was finally happy, but I seem to not be fascinating enough for

even a month. Don't ever do this to yourself, Arinia, don't ever..." Eroline uttered,

painfully. Sighing, Arinia spoke, hesitantly, almost wanting not to, "You may find this

surprising, Eroline, but I have begun to think that perhaps I should form with a

Virilim. My relations say that they will help me if a Muliem if formed, but I know it is

a lie. It would be much less painful than drawling on in this atrocious place." "You

think that, but it is untrue. You can move here, freely. Do what you want, where you

want. You don't have to lie here like some thrown away, unloved sculpture like me."

"No, Eroline, living with the Virilim is better." "How, Arinia? Why?" "Because the

Muliem... they are their own enemy."

Days passed, and Arinia crossed the ridge of contemplation and reached the path

of making a decision. It was resolute, absolutely resolute about attracting a Virilim.

In the sky of soot, the grey walls of Latuim appeared luminescent as Arinia passed

by, firm about being one of the stones in the henge that it once deemed ludicrous.

It rested beside one of the ingresses, far away from its relations with the intention

of evading an encounter with them.

The Scorcher ascended in the sky, and Arinia proceeded towards the entrance to

implement its decision.

The sky changed its blue robes to black that resembled the gloom and

disappointment within Arinia. The rain added to its despondency. It had found all

the Virilim unworthy of possessing her, of carving her. It felt a pointlessness in its

life like it had never before. It could not determine what to do, its existence was an

unchanging and unimportant presence, something unaffected by the change

prevailing around it. Surreptitiously, a large sphere rolled towards her.

"Are you Arinia?" it whispered. Startled from her daze, Arinia answered in quite a

hurried voice, "You- are you- Yes, I am. Are you here to obliterate me?" "No, I am not.

The Enclosure is vast... undefinable. There are many places to hide. But that is

irrelevant. If you want to escape, tonight, come with me" the Virilim presented

Arinia with an option.

"Even if we do manage a successful escape, what good will it do? I will be one

escapee, and an unknown amount of you. It would be as futile as attempting the

escape," argued Arinia. "Before you failed, before you even formulated a plan, there

was another henge who willed to emancipate. They, too, were unsuccessful. But

they were betrayed, and eversince, Virilim have been keeping a watch there. Unlike

the participants here, they were not smashed. You need to break out from here, and

break them out, too. And I know how you can do that."

The Virilim and Arinia moved towards the nearest Latuim fortifications. "Why are

you helping me?" interrogated Arinia. "Because the Muliem need to be equal to the

Virilim." "And why do you, a Virilim hold such a noble notion?" "Because I was quite

fond of the Muliem that formed me, a beautiful sculpture. But it was thrown away

as if it was a replacable, frivolous thing. I do not wish for anyone to endure this,

ever. You may think that the Virilim do not care about the Muliem that formed

them, but many do. They are just too oppressed to announce it and too weak to

endure the battle that will follow it."

The rain continued to descend as the Virilim and Arinia arrived at the Latuim walls,

and the floating arrow above the Virilim torqued and now pointed at the foot of the

wall. "The rain!" exclaimed Arinia, "That is how the water is drained from the

Enclosure." "You need to thrust at the holes with all your power. One hit will shatter

the slightly unsupported wall above it. Only your untamed frame can do the

desired. Once you go outside, keep moving till you find a water source. I will go to

where the primary escapists are, and convey to the guards that they have been

called back to the headquarters. Leading the escapists to the opening in the wall

will not be a difficult task after that." "But how will I know in which direction to

move, which direction will lead me to a water source?"

"Remember, water leads to water. Now thrust! All of this depends on you."

The contrasting crimson and cyan stones stood beside one another, the former 

being sophisticated and curvaceous, while the latter was undefined and had

multiple surfaces. A hole in front of them had opened new possibilities for the

Muliem. Arinia at last egressed the Enclosure and saw in front of her green sloping

grasslands as if on a hill. Little streams of water that flowed from the semicircular

ducts in the wall carved a path through the small grass that had sprouted.

Epilogue

Ever since a hole had been carved in the Latuim walls, many years had passed.

Much had changed, but the biggest of these changes... Was in the ancient legend:

First were the Virilim that reached

The Sea of Somatic and preached,

To restrain the Muliem by building walls,

From opposing the Virilim, supreme of all.

But one there was so resolute,

Who tore down the wall like a brute,

And went to the Sea to become the stray,

That formed all the Muliems of today.