A Faction of Philosophy

The cobblestone sent a ripple of unease through the Gardeners. The Menders saw it as a threat, a discordant note in their carefully constructed harmony. They argued for its removal, for it to be buried again beneath the soft, dreamed-of soil. But others were captivated. They saw in its unyielding solidity a kind of truth, a foundation upon which a different kind of story could be built. For the first time since the un-writing, a true faction emerged: not one of memory or imagination, but of philosophy. The Gardeners were no longer just building a world; they were debating what it should be made of.