The Buttoned Sky

In a bleak valley where the hills are riddled with mines, a young laborer named Revel slides out of a cracked hut each dawn, his mother’s frail shape curled on a mink‑skin blanket. The world above is ruled by hovering red and blue buttons—gods that watch every move of the “ruck” below, their presence a constant, oppressive glare. Daily life is a grind of dirty water, stale bread and the endless shoveling of coal for a gentry that seems to delight in the suffering of the common folk.

Revel’s mind is a storm of restless thoughts, his “impious brain” flipping between angry curses and bitter humor as he trudges deeper into the mine. Though he knows killing a god is a notion almost absurd, the idea flickers like a spark, feeding his yearning for a sliver of freedom. As he navigates the shaft, the faint glow of the celestial buttons reminds him that the heavens are never far, and his growing defiance hints at a confrontation that could reshape his world.