Rock Paper Scissors Water
Rock Paper and Scissors met in their usual place at the appointed time, to play their ageless game. Each reveled in their power: confident in their victories, yet forever locked in eternal standoff.
As the oldest, Rock spoke first, with their usual gruffness. “I have been here long before all of you. When the earth was hot, I flowed as magma. Eventually I cooled, becoming the mountains above you, and the ground beneath your feet. I alone am resolute, the foundation of all things, for I am created deep within the womb of the earth by pressures that would destroy you.”
Paper, the middle child, cackled at Rock’s bravado. “You think yourself indestructible” they said. “Yet the trees which once were me broke through you. Eventually humans discovered how to harvest the fibrous nature of my parents, making me thinner yet stronger with each passing generation. Where humans in caves once drew on you” said Paper “now they scribe and preserve their collective knowledge on me. You think yourself immovable, when in fact, you are simply unrefined. Rocks crumble into dust. I need merely cover you, and you vanish into obscurity, for I am the means by which humans record their ideas.”
Scissor snickered at Paper’s hubris. “You think yourself clever, the pinnacle of human achievement. Yet I too am a child of human ingenuity. Once I was Rock. Over time the humans discovered how to remove my impurities, reform and reshape me into something more useful than a cudgel. I am the best of Rock; forged and sharpened” snipped Scissor. “There is no idea you contain which I cannot shred.”
Rock chided Scissor in low rumbles. “Come closer” Rock bade, in a voice like gravel. “Your speeches, like your blades, tend to dull.”
And so the trio bickered over who was superior, none able to claim complete victory over the others. Rock boasted of strength, Paper bragged of its transformational power, Scissor crowed of its refinement. So boisterous was their contest they attracted the attention of a nearby brook, who asked if they could join in their friendly competition.
Rock scoffed at Water. “At least Paper and Scissor have form. You possess no shape, and hold no edge. You flow, whereas I remain. Best to go around me.”
Water gurgled in laughter. “Silly Rock. I go around you when it’s convenient for me. My rivers cut through the heart of your mountains, the pounding of my waves turns your children into sand. Without me, you would never have cooled into your present, resilient form. Submit, for even your greatness cannot stand against my relentless nature.”
Rock’s reluctant concession infuriated Paper. “You think yourself powerful because you erode Rock? I absorb you” Paper chastised. “You may overcome Rock in time, but only I can contain you.”
Water burbled soft giggles. “While you may cover Rock, your capacity to contain me is limited. Tears make your words run and rain dissolves your pages. Remember, as with Rock, I was there at your beginning. It was I who transformed you; me who broke pulp into the fibers humans reassembled as you. There’s a reason” Water sloshed “that books are not left out in the rain. Hide in your libraries, for there are no scrolls in the ocean.”
Scissor bristled at seeing their siblings dressed down. “Your arrogance is matched only by your amorphousness. You lack precision” Scissor snipped “and while I cannot stab, slice, or cut you, I am unharmed by you. You can best my siblings; you can only ever hope to match me in a draw.”
“Rock relies on resilience, Paper on flexibility. Your usefulness depends on the sharpness of your blades when pressure is applied. But have you forgotten” Water sploshed “I was in attendance at your creation too. You were heated repeatedly, and rapidly cooled in me. It is to me you owe your edge” Water rippled. “Return to me, that I may dull your blade with rust. For there is nothing you can cut I cannot corrode.”
An uneasy quiet settled amongst the combatants. Rock, the eldest, spoke. “We are Rock, Paper, Scissor. We personify power, flexibility, and accuracy. Our strengths and weaknesses balance, so no one can overcome the other. We have played this game for eons, none able to gain advantage. You only win” Rock grumbled “because you cheat.”
Water’s smile glimmered in the evening light. “We all owe our existence to Time” Water splashed. “Don’t be mad our father favors me, for I am formless persistence, assuming the shape of whatever challenge I face. You are avatars of static concepts, whereas I represent Change. I commit to Change, even when she requires millennia, for she rewards perseverance. You are Rock, Paper and Scissor: formidable, you are. I am Water; I Become what the situation and moment requires.
“The ability to be” Water concluded “will always, eventually lose, to the ability to Become.”
