The Tower

A long time ago, people were speaking one language. They decided to build a tower to show The Lord that they were as great as He was. But it angered The Lord. He destroyed the tower and mixed people’s languages so they could never communicate with one another freely again.

The time had passed. The world had been divided into many different nations with many different languages. However there was a man who had a dream about a tower reaching into the sky. In that dream, the God had told him to build it as a connection between heaven and earth. The man drew the construction plan and gathered all needed materials. A few days later he began to build the tower.

The man was working day and night, without rest. His wife begged him to stop but he wouldn’t listen. He said it’s the God’s will, so he must fulfill it. When the building materials ran out he deconstructed his own house and used it as material, and when the house was completely gone, the man began to dig the rocks from the ground and use them as well. The wife couldn’t take this any longer. She left him with his mad plan.

After few days the top of the tower was no longer to be seen. The people in the village wondered how tall it could be. They wanted to ask the constructor, but the man never left the top of the tower. They had never seen him again.

Many years later,  a boy named Kangin was training for a climbing competition. He was tall and bulky, very strong and often connoted with a bear; he would climb at any type of wall in a blink of an eye.

One night he dreamed about climbing on the tower. He knew the story of the tower and its constructor but for him it was just another folk tale for misbehaving children.

On the next day he packed his equipment into the car trunk and headed to the tower. He took his girlfriend Seohyun with him. She was sweet and pure, and next to her boyfriend she seemed like a porcelain doll. The idea of climbing onto the old tower wasn’t much in her liking.

“What, you’re afraid it will eat me up?” Kangin while their car had stopped in the traffic.

“No,” she rolled her eyes“ But maybe if people are saying it's dangerous then maybe you should think about it and not do it so quickly.”

“I thought about it and I see nothing wrong in climbing there. It’s not like we’re going to vandalize it. No one will get hurt.” He pushed the gas pedal only to brake a second later with accompaniment of Seohyun’s shout. Some pale, skinny highschooler almost made it under his car and now he was bowing nervously. Kangin groaned and drove away. His girlfriend let out a sigh of relief.

“ No one will get hurt, huh?”  

The car speeded alongside the main road leading through grasslands and small forests. It was a beautiful day in June. They left the city behind and were convinced that the air in the suburbs smells much different; so fresh and sweet. Seo opened the window by her side and stuck out her head, letting the wind blow through her long brown hair. On the horizon appeared the outline of the tower assuring Kangin that their destination was close. It was sending a hypnotizing feeling of dread; looking like a holistic monument forbidden for people. Kangin thought that the old folk tale did its work. He decided not to be foregoing. Seo would have laughed at him and this was unacceptable.

The tower was indeed very old and it was truth that the top could not be seen. Seohyun looked at it with a frown. She had a bad feeling. It felt like the tower was pushing her away. She could’ve sworn she heard something like wailing but it also could be the wind, blowing really strong. 

Kangin prepared himself and nailed the first bolt into the wall. He took a first step and then another one, and another. Seohyun was following him with her eyes as he climbed higher and higher. After some time he had climbed so high that she couldn’t see him anymore.

There was nothing around. Just the wall and nothingness behind his back. He was climbing for an hour already but still hadn’t reached the top. The tower really was very tall; covered with large rocks and yellow mortar. The strength was slowly leaving him but he knew he couldn’t give up.

The colors around him had changed. The sun was setting slowly and the evening was about to start. Kangin felt the air become colder. He could see his own breath. But how can it be so cold since it’s summer, he thought. Long way above his head the first star began to shine; the sky adopted golden and purple colours.

He reached out and suddenly felt the end of the wall with his palms. Not believing his eyes Kangin looked up. He pushed himself up but then he saw a hand that was reaching out for him. He shouted in surprise and tilted back. 

Everything was happening in slow motion. He couldn’t see the hand any longer but only the top of the tower receding from him.

He was falling.

Seohyun was sitting on the ground waiting for her boyfriend to come back. It was evening already. The cicadas began their evening concert, the stars became noticeable in the sky. She was worried since Kangin gave no sign of life.

The girl came up to the tower, raised her head and shouted out his name.

Suddenly she heard a clink. Something had fallen from above. Seohyun picked it up to realise it was Kangin’s climbing harness and rope. She called him once again but without an answer. Again she could feel the anger of the tower. The wind blew very strongly and Seo had to give in. Frightened, the girl fled with the equipment pressed to her chest. She jump into the car, started the engine and drove away. Gotta find help, she thought desperately while the tears were flowing down her face.

A few days later there was still no sign of Kangin. No one knew what happened to him.

But some people said that it was a curse. That the tower took him as a sacrifice. Others said that he simply fell and killed himself.

Though the truth remains unknown.