The Sham

Long ago, before men had learned to do evil, there lived a creature with one eye, and a black heart that pumped black blood through all of him, filling him with hate. He had no power to create, destroy, or move another object in any way. Even in his endless wanderings, the ground did not give way beneath his feet. He had only the power to see, and to make seen. His skin was white, and his eye was red; one huge eye in the middle of his face. His black heart with the black blood is what filled him, but his eye is what drove him. Never was there such an eye in all the world. It could see near, and it could see far, like the best of men's eyes. But it was not like our eyes, because it could also see deep. This white creature with the red eye filled with black blood roamed the earth, searching the deepness of things. It is said that anyone who looked into the creature's red eye could also see the deep that the eye looked into. That is why this creature is feared by men in all places. Who could bear to see the deepness of himself? He is not feared the way one fears ghosts or monsters. Over time, it is easier to see that the monster's fangs were actually ridiculous buckteeth. Children fear them most, and the old are nearly immune. Those who know of the white creature with the red eye and the black heart call him "The Sham," and their fear of him does not diminish; it grows more desperate with each thought. But then it was not so. You see, this was long ago, before men had learned to do evil, when all things were beautiful, and all that was covered in the deepness of things was even more so. So, the white creature with a red eye filled with black blood saw the deepness of things and was unsatisfied, endlessly searching the deepness of things to find some evil to bring from its hiding place.

The way that men learned to do evil is a different story for a different time. Today, I will tell you about The Sham and the power he gained when the deepness of things turned dark.