The Destruction of Mankind: Seven Thousand Jars

Before dawn, seven thousand jars had to be ready. A brewer lifted another empty vessel into place. The order had come from Ra, the sun god. This was no feast.

Ra had heard that people were plotting against him. He sent his terrible Eye to punish them. The goddess went, and the punishment did not stop.

Now Ra looked at what his anger had begun. At dawn, she would return to the people who remained. He wanted them spared.

His new order went to the brewers. Make beer. Make enough to flood the fields. Make it red.

All night, the brewer lined up empty vessels and carried full ones away. Her arms shook. Each time she stopped, she could still hear another jar being set down.

Outside, the sky was beginning to pale. They carried the beer to the place where the goddess would return, and poured it over the ground.

At dawn, the goddess returned. The fields ahead shone red. The people Ra now wanted to save remained hidden.

She saw the red water. She drank.

She drank until the killing no longer interested her. The power that had terrified the world grew heavy with sleep.

Morning came. No new cry rose from the fields. People who had expected to die stepped out into the light.

Ra called the goddess back in peace. The people were spared. The damage already done did not disappear with his change of mind.

The worker put down her last empty jar. Someone beside her began to laugh, then cry. She stayed there until they could stand together.