once upon a time in a land far far away there was an open field surrounded by a dense forest

all of the forest lands had been claimed long ago but everyone agreed the field was to be owned by no one

for generations the people of the forest built homes raised families and lived their lives in peace and at times they would go to the open field and wander about

occasionally they would simply enjoy the open space alone but they would also often look for a neighbor to speak to

the neighbors would greet each other and sit to share stories and songs and food and sometimes if the stories and songs and food were particularly good others would join them bringing their own stories and songs and food

it wasn’t long before nearly everyone from the forest was out in that part of the open field which had now been transformed into a festival ground and the people all had a wonderful time sharing their stories and songs and food

after a time everyone became tired so they all gathered what they had brought and said goodbye to their neighbors and returned home to the forest leaving the field as it had been

life was good

then one day someone had the idea of building a shelter in the open field in order to protect their festivals in case it might rain

several others thought that was a fine idea and the group decided to all contribute wood and time and labor to build the structure

when word of this reached the other families of the forest they were delighted and soon everyone was doing their part to make the festival space as nice as they could with decorations and landscaping and places for cooking and cleaning and other essentials

the people were inspired and the next few years saw the festival of the field grow and became more elaborate and well organized and soon the people of the forest were using this space that was now essentially a community center for weddings and funerals and concerts and meetings and all kinds of events besides festivals

life got better and better

as the population of the forest community grew it was agreed that there would be a limit on the size of the center and that the rest of the field would remain open so people could still wander about and enjoy the space alone

occasionally a young family would leave the forest to find other lands where they built homes and started new communities or joined already established ones bringing their ways to the people they met there

more and more people learned of the original community center and soon the people of those other communities began making a pilgrimage there bringing stories and songs and food from distant lands and different cultures

when these visitors arrived they were greeted as honored guests and often they brought something to add to what was now a beautiful old building with sculptures of elders and murals depicting favorite stories and shrines to honor the spirit that had built what was now a sacred place

they called it the common place and life was very good indeed

what?
you expected something else?

a tragic ending with betrayal and murder and war perhaps?

or maybe you think the story should end with the center becoming a commercial success dominating all the surrounding lands and leading to the destruction of the field and forest as wealth disparity brought disillusionment poverty and crime

shame on you

m(___)m

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