Idea: These twelve keep the world alive (and then there were none)

There is precisely one reason why God has not descended from On High and made the world perfect and without sin: The tzadikim.

They are men and women whose existence is a testament to humanity's ability to rise from even the greatest depths of sin and come to a full redemption. They are the proof in the pudding that there's hope for us yet, that the project shouldn't be deemed a failure and scrapped. Their continued existence prevents the end of the world as we know it, and you have never known their names. They are not Gandhi, they are not Jesus. They lead lives of little renown as they act as teachers to those who need their help, and the world makes sure that the world forgets them as they pass away.


There are between nine and twelve of them at any one time, save for three months in 1133 when there were only eight. Though one may die he will quickly be replaced by another. It's just the way that the world works, just like they're always forgotten after they die. Perhaps they are not merely the world's protection but its justification, its very reason for existing: to create such people.

There's a problem now. Last year there were eleven. Eight months ago there were ten. Six months ago, nine. Another two months later and there were seven. As of last month there are five left. And one of them is hunting the others.

He's a serial killer, once former but now having taken back up the tools of his trade. He was one of those that was never caught. One of those that left a trail of bodies across an entire country, but they never connected all the dots.

If the man isn't a tzadik then that's alright. The whole system is messed up, he's decided. Free will is a load of trash. It's time for God to stop waiting around for humanity to improve itself; the fact that there has never been a thirteenth tzadik should surely prove that humanity will never be good enough.

If he's going to be stopped, then the other tzadikim may need to draw on their own shadow-ridden histories. But will they, in the course of stopping him, be forced to go so far that they will invalidate their own claims to tzadikhood?

Do you like what you've been reading? Subscribe to White Marble Block to stay updated on the latest stories and ideas.