My tale is a sad one.

Its not one I would think youd like to hear, but I think Ill tell it
anyway. You can listen if you want, if you really want to know whats happened to me.
You see, Ive been alive for a long time. So long, in fact, that I havent even really
bothered counting. It sounds like itd be torture, but as a whole its really not so bad.
After the frst few years, you sort of get used to it, you know?
Its not like there was anything to do, either. I lived a solitary life, save for one
companion. He was my partner, my soul brother, my other half; he might as well have
been me. The two of us lived together in a great and mighty kingdom, but not for long;
by the time we found ourselves presented with the gift of life, the kingdom was already
beginning to fall. We, it seemed, were the kingdoms last hope, its fnal treasure, and, as
such, we were quickly hustled of to some vault or another and locked up, in the hopes
that their legacy would live on.
After that, it was dark for a while. We hadnt been alive for long, so we werent sure
how much time was really a long time. Im still not entirely sure, but I think its safe to say
that we were down there for a long time. We werent down there forever, though,
because eventually, there was light. With the light came dozens of men, fling, sorting,
and categorizing everything they could fnd. Eventually, they noticed us, and we were
soon carried of with the rest of the contents of the vault to a distant, far-of land, which
seemed to be the mens home.
Once there, we waited until we were fled, sorted, and categorized again, and then
were picked up once more and sent of to yet another strange place. There, we were set
down and left alone, fnally, for what seemed like an eternity. It was a nice eternity,
though. There was light, there was sound, and there were people everywhere looking at
us and talking about us. After all the time we had spent alone, it felt good to see people
again.
Soon, though, we began to hear other voices, ones that didnt belong to people. It
seemed, going by what the voices told us, at least, that we were built with a purpose
beyond self-preservation, and that that purpose was fnally going to come to fruition. We
were warriors, they said, of times long past, but there was fnally a chance for us to
experience combat, as we were meant to.
We accepted the task, naturally, and began to lie in wait for the children the voices
had described. We had thought that children were small, weak, and pitiable, if anything,
but we must have been wrong. Obviously, the children were important, since the voices
had told us that they were.
Eventually, the children arrived. After taking some time to observe them, we sprung
into action, my brother, always the brave one, charging ahead while I stayed and
protected him from behind. I weep, now, for his rashness, for the children were much
more powerful than we had expected. His disposal, it seems, was but childs play to
them, and I quickly saw him scattered to the foor in pieces.
I charged after them, but it was too late. They had left, my brother was gone, and I
was trapped here forever. The moment I tried to move past the doorway, I felt something
inside me grow dark. All of a sudden, I found myself a mere statue again, unable to
move so much as my little toe.
Soon, some men arrived and set me back where I had been, brushing the pieces
of my brother of the foor as they did. I saw one of them step on his eye, and desired
with all my soul to strike out at him, but found myself just as powerless as before. I was
partnerless, brotherless, half a man; I might as well have been dead. I wept inside, as
the days went by, but consoled myself with a promise. Someday, some way, somehow, I
would fnd the children, and I would make them pay.
After what seemed like another eternity, though, I heard familiar footsteps coming
up the stairs. As the rest of the people fled out, two new visitors stepped in. I
recognized them without even having to look up. They were the children, or two of them,
at least, who had killed my brother, who had cursed me with eternal solitude. They were
the ones who would pay.
All of a sudden, I found myself blessed once more with the gift of movement, and
took advantage of it immediately. Without hesitating for a second, I few from the
pedestal I had been set upon, swung my arm out, and knocked one of the children to
the ground. Within seconds, the other had joined him, as I began to kick them about the
room.
They quickly lost consciousness, but that didnt stop me. I failed my limbs about
wildly, knocking them from wall to wall, and stomped them into the foor until there was
nothing left to step on. Soon, I found my vision beginning to darken. I smiled, greeting
my death with open arms. It was fnally here. My purpose had been fulflled. They were
gone. There was only one left, and it was me.
I had won.