I was more than content to watch other vendors fail and crumble,
However, my feelings for my new friend were different.
I enjoyed his presence.
I wanted him to remain my neighbor.
If there was anything I could do to make that happen
Then I would not hesitate to do so.
The prophets were out in full force
As winter rapidly approached us.
The sense of annoyance amongst the crowded streets
Grew to match the increased intensity of the prophets’ words.
They spoke of the mighty blizzard.
The burial of the city underneath snow.
I did not give them my full attention as
I was mainly focused on setting up my visual table,
However, I was hearing random words.
I found myself only capturing the strong words
Such as destruction or disastrous.
One portion stood out in the statements of chaos and
Lured me in like a hook to a hungry fish.
I had never heard them use
The word madness before.
The crispness in the tone which he used struck me as odd.
I had heard so many negative words spill from their mouths, but
They were always the same each day.
Using the new word was unpredictable
And prompted me to halt my work and look to the prophet.
He spoke of the damage that the lands would receive
The punishment that would reside deep within the soil.
As he continued, I found myself dwelling in his words.
I even took a few steps towards him.
He proceeded by saying that the animals and vegetation
Would be depleted and would not
Return as long as the frost covered the land.
He spoke of freezing rain and large ice storms
That would slaughter the livestock as they grazed upon the fields.
As I stood there with a piece of fruit in my hand,
I pondered the idea of a land without that type of food.
It was as if the prophet was speaking directly to me that day.
That time I actually heard him.
In the past, their words never meant anything to me.
They were focused mainly on the global aspect of the storm and
Not at a level that I could properly understand.
I could not control the atmosphere or
The destruction of mountains and valleys.
But the notion that the vegetation would be in danger
Was something real that I could associate with.
My life was based on vegetation.
Without vegetation I was nothing,
The idea of losing everything I owned caught my attention.
What if he was telling the truth?
What if all of the crops were to be destroyed?
My livelihood could not survive such a devastating attack.
If I were to avoid the onslaught of the approaching storm,
I needed to prepare to the best of my abilities.
I needed to store as much fruits and vegetables that I could.
I imagined the amount of food that would be required
To feed all of the citizens of the city.
I needed to acquire a level of food that would meet that demand.
As I surveyed my current stock of product,
I was reminded that the prophets
Had also mentioned the suffering of animals.
I had to inform Beelzebub as his store
Would endure the pain as much as mine.
The day proved to be too busy
To spread my concern.
I planned to visit with him the next day.
The morning came quicker than I had liked,
But the store of a vendor never waits
And the customers did not either.
I crossed the street before the crowds got too heavy and
Was welcomed by Beelzebub inside his store.
I did not want to startle him with my new found claim
So I began the conversation by asking about his storage facility.
He said he was nearly full to capacity,
That he would need to begin turning away product
For the time being.
I gradually brought the prophets into our conversation
And asked him his thoughts regarding the blizzard.
He said that he had no concern about it
Since our last conversation about the subject.
I wanted to choose my next words carefully
As I did not want to portray the idea
That I believed the full tale.
I told him that maybe we should expand our storage
To acquire more stock in case we experience
An abnormal winter season.
I specifically did not mention the word blizzard
As to not cause panic.
He agreed with me as more storage of stock
Resulted in more money.
Regardless of whether we received poor weather or not,
The extra space was a good idea.
Over the next few days,
We worked busily on expanding our storage areas.
We were able to double my space
Due to the amount of store floor space I was able to remove.
Beelzebub did not fare as well as I,
However we were able to increase his space substantially.
The extra area filled up quickly
As the farmers enlarged their delivery amounts.
Each day I heard new threats from the prophets
That seemed to be pointed directly at me.
The main reoccurring statements included
The deprivation of crops and vegetation.
Their words involving the topic
Were painful to my ears.
I could not avoid or ignore them.
I tried to not hear them,
But their tones echoed through the streets.
It was as if they were the only sounds I could hear.
Normally the rustling noise of the outside streets
Filtered their words, but lately the prophets
Had been subduing all other sounds.
I felt my anxiety of the situation rise
With each sermon I heard.
It was slowly affecting my work and my concentration.
A new concept from the prophets did catch me off guard
Involving the mass starvation
That would occur due to the lack of crops.
I had never ventured too much further
Pass the notion of destroyed vegetation.
I did not realize the severity of such an event.
I imagined people fighting for food,
Possibly dying from starvation.
I needed to store enough food to feed everyone
To help them to survive the catastrophe.
I needed more food than I originally thought.
My store was not capable of handling such a quantity.
To meet the new demand, I tore down an adjacent wall
To the next door shop, which was vacant at the time.
No one ever used the space,
So I did not think that anyone would ever notice.
From the outside, the two shops remained separate,
But served as one large room from the inside.
I did not want to give the idea
To the outside world that I was expanding
So I only removed a small portion of the wall
To provide me with access to the other side.
To hide the pathway from my patrons,
I stacked up boxes in front to conceal the hole.
I now had plenty of space to store the food,
Much more than I actually required.
When speaking with Beelzebub,
He di
d not have enough area to expand.
The vicinity of his walls to his neighbors forbade him
From gaining more.
He informed me that in his current state
That he would not be able to take in any more supply.
In a gesture of good faith and
Without giving too much thought to it,
I offered him the opportunity
To share the space of the vacant store next to me.
The area was twice as big as his store
And the storage was sufficient for both of us.
The openness shared between the two stores
Would allow for more conversation even during the busy times.
We got along so well
That I did not have any concerns
And never resented my idea.
He thought the gesture was a wonderful one
And asked when he should begin moving his supplies.
I needed to still clear some debris from the space
So I offered to assist him the next day.
A new morning sun rose and
The warmth of it did little
To heat the environment as winter had begun.
The season always had a way to defeat the sun
And shun it from the sky.
Beelzebub and I met early at his store.
We loaded up his stock, tools and supplies
And quickly unloaded them within the new area.
Once everything was transferred,
It was apparent that we each had plenty of room.
The large storage space in the back
Was more than adequate to hold our overstock.
The customers loved the idea
That they could buy their vegetables and meat
Within the same shop.
Word spread throughout the city and
We soon became known as the largest vendor in the region.
Although the business merger was a success,
I could never really enjoy the outcome
As the words of the prophets continued
To bombard my mind and pierce my thoughts.
No matter how much I focused on my customers,
There was always a portion of me
That I gave to the prophets each day.
I became so accustomed to hearing their stories
That it was part of my daily routine.
I tried desperately to avoid them,
But the cold wind delivered their ideas directly to my ears.
The continuation of time
Led us further into the winter season each time the sun set.
The chill in the air grew more intense every night.
Each day that followed became colder and
Was well announced by the prophets
Who started their rants early.
They claimed it had begun,
That soon the frost would reap the ones who did not believe.
The scene of the prophets saying their words
While their breath froze in contact with the air
Added to the intensity of their speeches.
The crowded streets paid no attention to them, but
I could not rid myself of the forecast.
The only vision that provided me with comfort
Was the amount of food we were collecting.
My worrying decreased every time
I gazed upon my storage space and
Saw the mass amount of food.
I slept well each night knowing
That I would easily be able to feed my customers
Throughout the duration of the storm and amid the aftermath.
The salvation of the citizens was my main concern.
My preparedness would be felt by them
In their time of need.
With every turn of a new day
The weather turned for the worse.
It was not so much the temperature,
Rather the wind that made the outside unbearable.
The wind would barrel through the city streets
Striking everyone within its path.
It was relentless and unlike anything
The city had experienced before.
It spared no one from its chilly persona
And weaved its way through every street
Like a snake through a grassy field.
The cold only added to my concern
That the prophets were correct.
I found myself paying more attention
To them as others passed me by.
I desired more details and a scheduled time frame,
But they could offer me none.
Each sermon brought about new clues
Regarding the blizzard and I was there to collect them.
I became fascinated with the topic and
Even showed up on the streets
Before the prophets would appear.
I noticed that I was even defending them
When the crowd would insult them.
They spoke of a never ending snow
That would fall from the heavens, blanketing the city.
They said we must fear the blanket as
It would suffocate us and conceal us from the region.
Others balked at the idea, but I did not.
I knew they were telling the truth;
I knew they were only trying to help us prepare.
I was going to make sure that I heard their words;
That Beelzebub and I were going to be ready.
We owed it to ourselves, our livelihoods and
Our customers to be well prepared.
With that day’s knowledge
Embedded within my mind,
I told Beelzebub the latest news.
I spoke of how we needed to
Deliver the food to citizens of the city
Prior to the blizzard.
I asked what he was concerned about and
He said that he worried about his own safety,
Which was something that I never thought about.
His small pause escorted me down a path
I never knew existed.
A path of self-conservation and salvation.
If we gave away all of the food,
Then how would we possibly survive the duration
And aftermath of the storm?
His point made me reorganize my whole outlook;
Take more of a selfish glance at myself.
I looked to the stockpile of food and
Realized that we could survive for several seasons
After the winter had vanished.
If the prophets were indeed correct in their words,
Vegetation and animals would cease to exist.
The outcome would prove to be more deadly
Than the storm itself.
We would require as much food as possible
In order to survive.
I could not sacrifice my hunger,
Face possible starvation
For a crowd of people
Who chose not to believe the prophets.
Beelzebub and I worked hard to collect the extra food,
We should be able to do with it as we see fit.
My tumbling of emotions were
Obviously was written on my face
As Beelzebub smiled at my confusion.
He added that seeking personal salvation
Would not make us bad people;
The others chose to not listen to the warnings of the prophets.
He said that we could not change the fates of others;
That we were only in control of our own actions.
He was correct in his words.
I could not alter the fates of those who did not believe.
It was not my task to work for the welfare of others and
Spend my thoughts in order to prepare them.
I could tell that my partner was no lo
nger concerned
About not having food for others.
His brief moment was all I needed to change the course
Of my ship and all the cargo that was on board.
We could not simply stop the selling of our products,
But we could reduce the quantity
That our customers were purchasing.
We could ration the amounts that we brought
Out of storage and placed within our storefront.
It was determined that we would
Tell our customers that the food levels
Had decreased due to the winter season.
Over the next few days, we implemented our plan and
Sold low quantities of food to our customers.
Some became irate when informed
That they could not stock up for the season,
I told them that anything was better than nothing.
We made sure to keep our main storage area
Hidden from anyone entering into our store.
My tolerance of people walking out
With food was decreasing
As I viewed a bundle of food equal
To a day of survival after the storm.
I felt like I was selling
One day of my life away with every customer.
Beelzebub had the same thought.
He came up with the idea to lessen
The quantities within the bundles.
We did not think anyone would notice
The reduction and we were right.
They were just happy to receive the food.
Each day the weather got colder,
We matched the decrease in temperature
With a decrease in the amount of food.
Later in the days, we would not replenish
The storefront with food.
We told people that we had none left.
After the store closed,
Beelzebub and I would eat to keep up our energy.
The once clear skies turned to a dark grey.
The snow started out light and was
Quickly absorbed by the ground.
By the end of the day,
There was a light coating of white coloring the streets.