The Crack

Before they could even begin, it appeared. Like an insidious disease. It crept in like a thief in the night. It came so unexpectedly that no one saw it. No one had thought that it would happen. 

But it did.

At first it was as fine as a hairline. In fact everyone who saw it brushed it aside thinking it was a strand of hair that had gone astray. 

But it wasn't.

And everyone thought it didn't matter much. 

As it widened, the humans found a way to overcome it. At first they could skip over it, hop over it. As it grew wider the younger humans took it to be their new skateboarding hangout. 

Soon it grew as wide as a chasm. It wasn't a problem. The humans constructed a bridge over it. First it was a wooden bridge. And then a new concrete bridge was built. And in the end it was replaced with a titanium bridge.

Of course there were some who fell into the chasm. But they rationalized that it was their bad luck that had caused their death.

It never occurred to the humans that they needed to fix the crack. It took too much effort. Too much work. Too much thinking. Building something over it was much quicker and easier. If it grew wider, build a longer bridge. Build a more magnificent bridge so that the chasm wouldn't be noticed. The brightness and luminosity of the bridge's brilliance would divert the attention from the chasm. 

And then it happened.

It gave way. The chasm turned into a never-ending-abyss. And it continued to expand and it ate up its surroundings.  Its appetite could not be quelled the moment it tasted land. Its thirst could not be quenched. It was ravenous for more. It lusted and hungered for more and more and more.

And it couldn't be stopped. 

And it all began with a hairline crack...