As a warning; some people may find this story ideologically sensitive. It was not intended to be factual or to offend anyone. It is not meant to push religion onto people who are not religious, or vice versa. It is not meant to be a religious documentation. It is a fictional story that I came up with myself. It is meant to make the reader think. It is more philosophical than anything else. Spoiler I suddenly and inexplicably found myself in the middle of nowhere. And life got a whole lot simpler after that. Yet, it was so much harder as well. I remembered falling asleep before I got here, in my bed, in my house. On Earth. And suddenly, I woke up in the middle of nowhere, as in black emptiness, like space with no stars or galaxies or planets or anything. I don't know if the world was destroyed, or time and space broke or something, or if I died. I have no idea what happened. All I knew was that I had fallen asleep and woken up here. At first I figured that I had to be dreaming. There was no way that I had just suddenly been transported to some weird place like this. It was much more likely that this was a dream. So I chilled out and waited for myself to wake up. And in the time I was doing this, I discovered two very important things. The first of these things was that gravity seemed to be subjective. I was in control of which way I fell, how fast I fell, and even whether or not I fell. This was useful in the fact that I could travel in any number of directions, I could go forwards, backwards, sideways, up or down with just a thought. And while exploiting this, I found out my second important fact; the farther I fell, the more apparent it became that there was absolutely nothing in this place. No matter how far I went in any direction, not anything except the purest black could be seen anywhere. I was completely and utterly alone. There's no telling how long I waited, entertaining myself with the gravity. It was only after some time that I figured that I was not waking up by waiting, and nothing interesting was happening, so I decided to force myself to wake up. Of course, this entailed straining, slapping, pinching, and a plethora of other painful implements. But nothing worked; I did not wake up. I got a bit worried here, if I couldn't wake up, then this wasn't a dream. I came to this realization only after running through every situation I could in my head. I freaked out for some time afterward. After calming myself, I decided that the only thing to do was continue doing the only thing I could do. So I traveled for who knows how long; trying to find something, ANYTHING, in this vast expanse of nothing. Again, there's no telling how long I did this for, there was no way to tell time here. But I discovered something else of note; no matter how long I went on for, I never got hungry, thirsty, tired, or worn down. At first, I thought that this was a very nice thing; but as time went on and there was still nothing to do it became more and more annoying. I eventually came to the conclusion that I was not going to find anything here. With this conclusion, I stopped going anywhere, stayed where I was, and began contemplating my situation. I did this for a very long time; after all, there was nothing else I could do. And it was only after a very long time that it occurred to me; if I could control gravity, would it be possible for me to control something else? It was the best option I had. So I created a rock. I'm still not sure exactly why it happened when I wanted it to happen, or why a rock was the first thing that came into my head, but upon my request a small rock suddenly appeared right in front of me. I remember thinking that this was my ticket out of this isolation, after what had seemed like years I finally had my way. But it was not as much as I could hope for. The first thing that I wished for was a cellphone, and I got not a cellphone but the parts to one. I could wish for them to be put together as well, but there was no one to talk to. Only me. And this trend continued for what seemed like years. Objects would work, and I would be provided material gratification. But in the end, I was still entirely alone. Now, as far as I know, I have an infinite amount of time in this place. Since I never seem to get hungry, thirsty, tired, or older, it came to reason that there is nothing that will ever allow me to leave this place. After all, if there was an infinite amount of time to spend here, I would have enough time to do anything and everything. So it only makes sense that eventually, I would start to make things for reasons other than to give myself some short time of enjoyment. Although there was no way of telling exactly how long it was, I could have very well spent hundreds of years in here before this occurred to me. I decided that I could make things just for the purpose of making them. Just to occupy myself. It started with some very small things, and as time went on, they collected. At first there were charges, positive and negative, and they gathered to form some atoms. I remember it because it was so interesting, to see things act because of their own properties; it was almost like there was something else that was deciding things where I had been alone for so long. The atoms began to crash and collide, they gained more properties and acted in more ways. Clouds of gases and dust floated through the space. Stars were created as they collided, fused and exploded; planets and moons were created as they were pulled towards each other by the mass that I had given them. The suns and planets formed systems, galaxies were created as gravity took hold. There was no telling how long I was mesmerized by the actions and reactions that just then began to take place; it could have very well been thousands of years. It was an incredible thing to watch; I think that I will never see anything like it ever again. But eventually, though, the thing grew old to me. Because there seemed to be no end to my time in this place, the monstrous cataclysmal events that took place in this space eventually became repetitive and boring. I could move planets and extinguish stars, I could crush moons and ignite comets; I could cause the most beautiful and enormous reactions and events as much as I wanted to my hearts content, but that did not change the fact that they would grow old in time. And by this, I eventually decided to create life. At first, it was small and unintelligent. It didn't even know of its own existence then. But there was a good reason for this; of all of the things I could have made, I wanted to see something new. I wanted something that would learn and would be there so that I would not be alone. Because of this, I gave it the ability to grow; to change and evolve and learn and become anything. I had hoped that it would become something wonderful, and that it did. It grew and evolved just like I told it to, becoming more and more complex and numerous, gaining the ability to see, think, and finally to reason. Finally, there were other things here, I was no longer alone. I could be kept company, and unlike the things that I had made before, they were dynamic. They would change and become new. It was the greatest thing I could have possibly made. I came down to the peoples that I had created, and I told them that I had made them. Of course, they were intelligent, and demanded proof, but after I gave them such they were more than happy to accept me. Finally, I had friends, after what had to have been millions of years I was no longer alone. It was wonderful. I spent my time with them and they loved me. Some of them even began to worship me; I supposed that it was okay and decided to let it happen. But over time, more and more of them saw me as less of a friend and more of a higher being, even though I told them otherwise. They worshiped me and told me how great I was and asked me for things, and on many occasions I would fulfill these requests. But more and more of them isolated me, they looked at me as some all-knowing, ever present being who would love them. And it is true; I did love them and they were there for me; because of them I was no longer alone. And they loved me, and I would give them things because I loved them. I remembered that this was what I had believed to be friendship, so many millions of years ago; that I loved them and they loved me and we did things to help each other. But if this was friendship, why did it feel so empty? And even when they had alienated me as much as they had, and made me feel like I was no longer one of them, the worst was yet to come. As they learned more of the space in which they lived, they began to turn away from me, even saying that I do not exist because they wouldn't believe it. It hurt so much to hear that; I remember the pain to this day that it had caused me. And the horrifying things that followed were even worse. The people began to fight over me, they killed each other and hated each other because of my existence. I would have begged them to stop but they wouldn't have listened. But one thing struck me about this conflict; those who worshiped me asked me to let them live forever. How could I ever do that? After they died, they wanted to be brought to a perfect world where they would live for all eternity. And they wanted it so much that I couldn't bear to break their hearts. I couldn't bear to tell them that I could not do it; I could not stop their change that made them so beautiful; I could not change the fundamental ideas behind the life that I had given them. My heart was entirely broken that they would ask so much of me. And then, I found myself in the middle of the most horrible choice that I had ever heard of. I wanted so badly to have friends that would not leave me, so that I would not have to be alone anymore. I wanted so much to erase what I had made and start over, to create new life in the hopes that it would not begin to murder each other and make me an alien to their society. But the billions of lives that I had already created did nothing to deserve to die; they seemed so amazing and important that I did not want to kill them. They surely did not want to die, and I wanted to be part of something that was not them. Here was the dilemma that I had to face; to extinguish a thousand trillion undeserving lives or to live in solitude. After trying for so long to decide for myself, I went to look at the lives that existed. "Maybe, I will get some solution to my problem here, where it all is focused", I thought as I walked around, looking for something to judge by. Just then, I happened upon a hospital. It was perfect; all sorts of people from all sorts of places were collected here; regardless of who they were, they were brought here if they were injured. I went in. "Hello, what are you here for?" A woman approached me as I walked in. The air smelled of medicines and it was oddly silent, considering how many people were in the building. I wanted to see the people in the hospital, but the people who run them generally don't allow strangers to walk in and just look into people's rooms. "I'm here to see the person in room 242." I had picked 242 randomly off the top of my head. It made enough sense that a person picked at random from such a diverse crowd would be a good first place to start. The woman started leading me to the room, wordlessly. The hospital was a more morbid place the farther in, with good reason. It was a very short time before we reached the room with the number "242" engraved on the door. I went in. There were only two people in the room; a younger man asleep on the hospital bed and a woman sitting in a chair to the side. She looked so sad, but smiled when I came in. I could tell that it was fake. "Hi, what's your name?" The question struck me off guard. What WAS my name? It had been at least billions of years, and there was no one to talk to, so it was understandable that I forgot. I remember frantically searching my head for what I was called all those millenia ago, there was a J in there... "Djinn." "That's a cool name," she responded, "I've never heard it before." "Thanks." And here she began talking to me. She had no idea who I was or why I was in this place that was important to her, and she had absolutely no judge of my character. Yet here she was, accepting me and having a conversation with me. It made me feel happy. Just like I had when there were only a few people in the world, I felt like I was wanted. I felt accepted. I felt like I had a friend. "-So, how do you know my son?" Another question that threw me off guard. I responded with the only thing that I could think of. "I was a friend of his." She accepted my answer and turned back to the boy on the bed. I took the opportunity to glance at the chart at the end of his bed. "John Harrowman". "He's been in this coma for the past two years, you know." It was at that moment that I had made my decision. I apologized to her that I had to make a sudden goodbye, but there was something I had to do. And I remember one thing that I left her with; "If he wakes up, tell him that he's loved." It was unfair to them. The lives on that planet did not deserve to die. It was unfair that I should want to kill them for my own want. I was one being, for me to value myself over trillions of lives was a horrible thing to do. I had made them so that they would change, I could not blame them for changing into what they had. But it was so very lonely all these billions of years. I decided that I had lived for long enough, that it was time for me to go. And I wished myself away. But I did not leave. I could not leave. I tried everything that I could possibly do to make myself disappear, only to find that I would not die. It was a doomed existence for me; just as I could never get hungry or thirsty or tired or old, I could never die. I was left with only the existence that I had. I suddenly and inexplicably found myself in the middle of nowhere. And life got a whole lot simpler after that. Yet, it was so much harder as well. I suddenly and inexplicably found that I had the power to create things, but I cared so much for the lives of the people I created that I could never bear to destroy them. I am left here, alone, for what I assume is all eternity. That is all I was left with, and I suspect that it will be all that I am ever left with.
Asffgrhfhfghgfjj- Dalk made something nice!? And almost sweet? I can't even... Lulz, jokes aside, I loved this piece, and it was great to read. I like how you managed this whole concept. I was moved with the last snippet of dialogue. It was a bit bittersweet, but strangely seemed to tie things up well. I'm impressed by you, and well.... <3
Wow, that was a very good read. A scary an interesting thought, really nice. If your aim was to make one think, you definitely succeeded.
I expected as much from you. Haven't read something like this and liked it in a very long time. For that much I feel I should thank you for writing this. But as they say the devil is in the details. I feel like you could have found a way to better convey the timeframe in which all of this happened. As this is it feels like you're conveying the ephemeral quality of the eons but at the same time the character really feels time wearing on him so I feel like it's a good idea that ends up feeling very slightly clumsy and unintentional. So that was my one complaint. I'd like to keep in ming that it was a very minor thing to me and I'd like you to know that too. Overall, I pretty nearly loved it so I'm gonna just end it here on that note. Excellent work.
I would have put more detail into how time in this story progressed massively, but I honestly don't have that large of an attention span. It's why I write poetry more than anything else.
Either way it worked out pretty well and it makes it even more impressive that you got a coherent story together at all. Man I wish I was as good a writer as you sometimes.
I see what you're trying to do here. A look at eternity from God's point of view. I ejoyed reading it very much. This is actually something that I would expect to be in a literature textbook or other anthology of short stories. Maybe even a religion textbook. To be honest, you should publish this commercially at some point. I'm gonna e-mail this to a few teachers that I've had. They might enjoy this.
I would seriously email this to my religious studies teacher too, except she dislikes me to because I tend to outsmart her in class. >> Honestly, I thought this was beautiful. I was wondering how much it would progress past the snippet you showed me beforehand, and I was very much impressed. It's... so very accurate too. I actually grew so fond of the narrator that for a second there I felt bad about being a non-believer. :v Wonderful. ♥
