The next morning, at the edge of the city dump, a hunched man in dirty overalls walked his usual route.
His name was Marlo.
He found the artifact first—gleaming gold now, no longer wood and eyes, but smooth and shining, like a priceless relic.
And beside it, a child.
"Good Lord…" he muttered, falling to his knees. "Who left you here?"
The child cooed.
The gift shimmered.
Marlo took the baby into his arms. And with a frown, then a smile, he said—
"Well now… maybe it's time you had a new home."
He didn't notice how the artifact glinted strangely in the sun.
Or how the engraved eye at the center slowly opened again.
Where greed lies, there it grows and devours all.
Even in gold.
Even in love.
Even in a new home.
The New Beginning… or Is It?
Years passed.
In the quiet town of Ellenshade, the child grew—now known as Eli Marlo, raised by the humble garbage man and his warm-hearted wife. They had no other children, but Eli filled their home with laughter and light.
The artifact, now polished gold, sat above the fireplace like a trophy. The townsfolk admired it, often asking,
"Where'd you get that fine piece?"
"Looks ancient worth a fortune!"
Marlo always chuckled.
"Oh, just a gift we found… on a very strange morning."
But the Gift Watches
At night, the eye would flicker open—just a slit.
It watched Eli sleep.
It whispered… but only when the room was dark.
Eli began drawing strange houses. Always with eyes. Always with doors that shouldn't be there.
He began talking to someone named Schwazz—though no one by that name lived in Ellenshade.
He grew fond of secrets. Of keeping things.
One day, his teacher scolded him for hoarding toys in his desk.
Eli smiled.
"Where greed lies…" he whispered to himself,
"...it grows."
Will the manor return , can it ever be returned back?
On Eli's eighth birthday, the artifact changed.
Its gold sheen melted away like wax—revealing the old wood, the Latin inscriptions, and the eye—fully open.
The house had slept long enough.
Now it remembered its purpose.
And now, it had a new generation.
A pure vessel.
One it could shape from the beginning.
In the dead of night, as the wind howled and the town slept, Eli stood before the glowing relic.
He placed his hand upon it.
And smiled.
"It's time to build again."
---
THE END.