Moral and Consequence

Marble rolled across the surface of the plane. This was not a straight plane, nor was it curved. It was neither rough nor smooth, but somewhere in the middle. It allowed Marble to choose his direction but also shaped his decision. It was thus that Marble came to a canyon, and upon traveling through it several lengths, a fork into two paths.

On the left, the path sloped downward and it was named Consequence. On the right, the path sloped upward and it held an ancient, nearly crumbling sign upon which had been inscribed the now barely readable title “Moral.” And so Marble sat before Moral and Consequence, choosing. Consequence was the easier choice, with its smooth, curved downward slant. But something warned against it. There was a bend in the path and it was impossible to know what was beyond it. Such was the angle of the slanting path that once Marble started down it, he would not be able to stop or go back. Moral, on the other hand, stood high, daunting and at first glance seemed proud in the self-righteous sense of the word. Upon further inspection, however, it was not self-righteousness but more of a tired type of pride, almost regal in its nature. Marble glanced from one to the other. He sat that way for quite a decent amount of time. Finally, he moved slowly towards Consequence. Upon getting to its edge, however, he threw himself in reverse, and began the arduous task of climbing the Moral slope. Long it took, but when Marble finally arrived at the top, a great feeling of accomplishment overcame him. He had chosen the higher road and it felt very good indeed. Suddenly, Marble had a thought. Slowly, he rolled to the edge of the plateau he was now on. From this vantage point, he could plainly see the entire path of Consequence. Indeed, the path was not long at all. For very shortly after the bend in its path, the road simply ended, its end dropping off into space.