The Bridge Over The Enoxa

These were two prosperous kingdoms on the either side of the mighty Enoxa. The Enoxa would freeze in the cold ghastly winter of the north and that's about the only time people from either kingdoms could visit each other. Enoxa's basin was wide and its current strong to forbid any human movement otherwise. In winter however, it would snow a lot and the entire river would freeze. Paradoxically, the dark harsh winters was a time of merriment for people of the two kingdoms who had kins on either sides. The peoples of the two kingdoms would visit each other share gifts, spend valuable time together before it was time again for the Enoxa to melt away their joys.

Both the kings summoned their generals and commanded them..."Generals, our brethren can't meet their blood relations otherwise but in winter, we need to build a bridge during this approaching winter and make it survive the strong currents of the Enoxa when it melts. Summon the best of our architects/engineers and build a plan to get it done".

And so the two fiercest of generals that the entire north knew took the task (at their respective master's orders) to a war-footing. The generals had only 5 months. The winter had already started to set. The Enoxa was slowly freezing. The black shadow of death was slowly being cast. The generals had to summon their best men, come up with a plan and build the bridge of hope across the Enoxa. So the best architects that both the kingdoms had were sought; they came up with a design and work started after a couple of months over the frozen Enoxa.

The gritty workers from both the kingdoms started to work together, the work of digging huge bores thru' the frozen waters of the Enoxa, laying a deep foundation some 50 feet beyond where the frozen waters met the ground. They toiled day and night, they moved huge stones and constructed columns from either end of the Enoxa's large basin. They built upon the foundation that they had made; created aqueducts for the water to flow thru' so it would stand the test of the Enoxa's currents in summer. Everything looked good and the bridge looked well on the way to completion.

Until one fine new moon night the two supervising generals, over some drunken revelry, had a fight. Each burning in the fury of their egos, withdrew their workers from their side of the bridge and called it quits. The bridge of hope suddenly looked dull and perishing under the moonless night sky. The stars shone brightly, but down below, the bridge was dilapidated. Weeks passed by and the unfinished bridge with its arched stone columns started sagging as the water started to melt. The kings, oblivious to the happenings of the fateful night, were eager to see how their famed generals had done on the so called bridge of hope. The generals hurriedly re-visited the site and were saddened by what they saw. They soon realized that in their brief moment of stupidity they had blew the bridge and it would never get done now. It was too late then...atleast for that winter.

The Enoxa is a symbol of time and bridges are the relationships that we build during our life over time...don't burn them before they are even made.


--Sifar.