The Wall

We've filled the wall. A thing we never imagined could happen. For the entire length of our memory we have been comfortable here. A broad, hard surface filled with little hole for each part to be safe from the atmosphere, near enough each other to see neighboring parts speak and distant enough that each part has its own portion of the food cloud. The perfect place for us to live.

We should have considered this consequence when the food cloud became thicker. Instead we took advantage of the abundance, eating more than we needed. It feels good to be stronger, to not have to reach so far or wait so long to gather enough to eat. We can think better. But also, more young parts survive from egg and must find holes. There has never been a shortage of holes before--how were we to expect one? We thought the wall was endless.

Now we know it has a shape. Flat, wide, almost a circle, though slightly longer in one direction than another. But then it turns. The wall has sides. There are still good holes in the sides of the wall, but the parts must live more more spread out in order to share the cloud fairly.

Even the sides have edges. They don't turn as the wall edges do, but they change. The good holes fill with soft stuff, and must be emptied before a part can makes itself comfortable. The farther down the parts go to look for holes, the worse it is. The soft stuff gets thicker, and it will not keep holes. It folds in and covers a part that tries to dig into it.

We understand now that when the Singer told us about other walls like ours, they weren't speaking of other areas of our wall, but other walls entirely. If they would only come back, we could ask them where those walls are.

Time frame: ~24.5 million years in the past