Re: The Minaret
The first few paragraphs are my personal reflection of the minaret as I was a kid. I was egocentric (as children tend to be) and did not truly have faith in God. ("I was above the trees and well above the puny lives that whizzed by in their little cars. On that minaret, I was the ultimate power. This is how I spent my time as miserable believers chose to stay inside and weep to their Lord.)
The last paragraph goes to say that over the years, I have developed faith in God ("I cannot say whether those trees would still prostrate or if those people would still stare up at me the way they used to, because fear of a greater being has crept in silently over the past few years and taken over this place.") "Fear of a greater being" is the fear of God that I now have, which is keeping me from sitting on the minaret and thinking the same thoughts as I used to.
Light symbolizes belief. As a child, I did not want to be in the light and I felt it was a burden/bother. I paid no attention to the light. ("Overhead, a small dome shaded me from the sun so I would not be bothered by the presence of the light.") Then, the last line shows how the light is now the one thing that I am certain about (unlike whether the trees will still prostrate or the people still look up).("But I can say that the light that shines is still the same as it was many years ago, the same light that never fails to rise every morning and fall each night."
Zakk - Oh yea you're right. If you look at the sentence's grammer I think it makes it sound like the backs of the trees are doing the action. =\ Okay but I already emailed the story to the guy. I think I'll email him and ask him to change it if the editors haven't already. Thanks man.