Kicking Diamonds

[CelestialRequiem]

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"You know, there was a time when it never snowed in the desert."

Flip-Flop rolled his eyes at his grandmother. He couldn't imagine a winter without snow. He wished he could. Snow was cold and wet and miserable. But it snowed every year in the swamp without fail in his- admittedly, very limited -experience. Often abundantly. "Yeah right, grandma."

Memories of the Lost laughed and nudged the younger buck playfully. "It's true! I'd never even seen snow until my third year. And even after that I only saw it a few other times in the desert. We would say 'someone must have kicked a diamond'."

"What? Why..?"

"There's actually a funny little story behind it. It's said that the first snow came from a giant diamond."

"See....a very, very long time ago, a buck was wandering the desert. Or, really more like running through it. You see, he was a bit of a thief and had just stolen a tribe's most prized possession. A stone as clear as the dew on a spider's web that sparkled so brilliantly in the sun it was said to be blinding. Surely the most beautiful diamond ever! This wasn't the first time he'd stolen something from a tribe. He was actually quite notorious throughout the desert for snatching up anything shiny that came into his sights. And he always got away."

"Unfortunately for the tribe, this time would be no different. The buck managed to elude them by slipping into a dense thicket of tall, dry shrubs. Though the tribe had definitely seen him go into the thicket, none of the members seemed willing to enter themselves. They all whispered something about curses and monsters and bad omens. And after some time they all eventually gave up the chase, leaving the buck with his marvelous new prize."

"The buck continued deeper into the thicket, deciding it would be better to leave from the other side. And while the shrubs did seem to get denser the deeper he went, eventually the thicket opened up, but not to the great, vast desert on the other side. Instead, the buck found himself in a clearing at the center of the thicket and what he saw there made him completely forget about the small stone he had just pilfered. Right in the middle of this clearing, half embedded in the earth, was the biggest diamond to have ever existed. I mean, massive. Big enough that three or four acha could fit inside it comfortably!"

"Cautiously approaching the diamond, the buck pressed his nose against its surface, just to be sure it was real. And it was certainly real enough. And strangely cold. But most importantly, it was shiny. He had to have it. With the now significantly less impressive diamond carelessly tossed to the ground, the buck began trying to excavate this massive gem."

"He pushed and he shoved and he even tried a solid headbutt, but the diamond didn't budge at all. So, he tried all of that again. And again. And again, until he was completely exhausted and out of breath and ideas- which he obviously didn't have many of to begin with. Frustrated with his lack of success, the buck turned his hindquarters to the diamond and gave it one swift kick. And in that instant the diamond exploded into a cloud of tiny, glittering diamond dust. The cloud shot up into the sky and quickly spread across the entire desert. And all of those tiny dust particles slowly drifted back down to the earth. And that's how the desert's first snow came to be."

Memories beamed at her grandson, clearly very pleased with her storytelling. Flip-Flop simply stared back at her flatly.

"That doesn't make any sense, grandma."

"Oh, you're no fun!"