Qabalistic!

By Ethan Sarem

Within this world, we live in relative concord… Always room for discord.
But what if there was a utopian civilization, within this world?
Qabals constructed such a place, dwelled there a long time.

Who are Qabals? People like us, all walks converge in commune.
Differences mean nothing, everyone meets halfway… That’s utopia!
But it’s abandoned… What happened? Nobody knows, save one.

Three years ago, commune discovered by Erica Esote, woman fascinated by Qabals.
She serves as caretaker, studying commune to crack Qabals’ code!
Sadly, she hasn’t made much headway… Symbols stymie her. Artifacts, not so much.

One artifact above others, protect it… A mask, feared and revered by Qabals.
They believe there’s a ghost in the shell, the mask is alive? Erica finds that hard to believe.
Until one day, she ventures to mask’s shrine… And it possesses her!

From then on, they work in tandem to revive Qabals… Is this what Erica was meant to do?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781387615339

Book preview

Qabalistic!

Qabalistic!

Qabalistic! ©2017 by Ethan Sarem.

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-387-61533-9

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from Ethan Sarem, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews and articles.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and places are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or things is entirely coincidental.

1. Qabals’ Ruin

The world doesn’t share secrets willingly,

their discovery depends on us

Secrets are like Easter eggs,

some hidden in plain sight…

Others cleverly concealed

Whether trifle or tremendous,

secrets worth something…

Makes sense to seek them

There are people who will do anything

to preserve a secret, know anyone like that?

To such people, I say this:

A secret that deserves to be made public

can’t be secret forever

Truth trumps fiction,

secrets unearthed in truth’s name…

Truth will out

World we live in, we live in relative concord… Relative emphasized, always room for discord

Varying beliefs, varying worldviews…

Impossible to meet halfway, discard differences

Know what?

It isn’t strange to pose worlds without villains, even if they can’t be realized

That’s why I’m a utopian thinker, a dreamer… Utopian civilizations are worth pondering

Thereby hangs a tale,

the one you’re reading now…

What if there was a utopian civilization?

Separate from ours, yet within this world…

An enclave, if you will

If this weren’t fiction, I’d search for such a place… Lamentably, this is fiction

Somewhere in this world lies a settlement, belonging to utopian civilization… How old is it?

Age doesn’t show, nor does it slow…

Timeless withstands time long as it ticks

Settlement abandoned, survives as ruins… Mystery beckons someone solve it

Can’t miss mystique mist, surrounds settlement… What happened to inhabitants?

Better question, who are inhabitants?

The Qabals, civilization on par with ours

Qabals abandoned settlement, faded to obscurity alongside ruins… Who knows of them?

One person knows they existed,

inquisitive about them… Studies them solo

Settlement remotely resembles city,

expansive enough to be called one…

Rivals modern cities

Inscriptions carved into building walls,

symbols don’t resemble known tongues

Spoken today or dead,

must be invented language…

Best guess, let’s go with it

No two symbols are selfsame,

nor are two symbols similar…

Translation impeded

Only Qabals can read Qabals’ tongue,

present-day descendants aren’t recorded…

Far as I know

Efforts aided given universal symbol,

something easily fathomed… Even by laymen

Sadly, nothing like that exists…

Study stymied, progress made later lieu of sooner

Qabals’ settlement has a name,

christened by caretaker… Qabals’ Ruin

Caretaker knows many a story about Qabals, studies them three years and counting

Despite this, they haven’t made headway

regarding symbols…

All they can do, write them down

Some inscriptions accompanied by illustrations, universal symbol aids translation… I