World

I can see it. 

I can see it all. It is all around me. Millions of orbs covered in a tar-like substance that creeps up every one. As the viscous liquid reaches the top, it seems to drip up into the sky. Everything in this world is wretched. Only a faint glow from an unknown source allows me to see in this world - I see no life. Everything is dead. 

I go to an orb and push back the liquid. I rub the glassy surface until it becomes clear. There is a being inside. Something that lives. It has no age. It is beautiful and radiant. 

I want desperately to take hold of it. I want to touch it and make it mine, but the hard, impenetrable glass-like shell prevents me from releasing it. I go to another thinking that it would be different, yet it radiates the same beauty as I push back the ooze. It is something amazing to see. Both orbs now project soft colors and glistening light as I watch them in the otherwise dim world.

Tears begin to form. I look at another, then another, but there is no freedom for them. As I turn to look back at the orbs I had once cleaned, I see the gunk making its way back up their sides. There is no hope for the beautiful light hidden within. This vile slime is desperately consuming the light hiding life in death.

I return to the orb I had turned from and notice that the ooze had already begun crawling back up it. I rub it off again and place my head to the surface. I can hear a voice calling out. “Such a life I live,” it says. “Such beauty surrounds me. What else could I need.” I leave this orb to its contentment. It sees no need for me. My heart sinks.

I walk to another and repeat the process. This orb speaks softly in whimpers and cries. It talks of pain and fear and hurt. Water is running down my cheeks at such sorrow. I turn to another to hear its thoughts. It waivers. “I like that. No, I like this,” it mumbles. “What difference does it make? It will all soon end.”

I walk between each one. Hundreds, Thousands, Millions. I have seen them all. I have heard their thoughts. I can feel their pain. I cry out to the heavens and ask not to see. I cry out to the heavens and ask to be free, but I stand alone.

The tar-like substance has noticed me. It has left the orbs nearest to me and forms a puddle at my feet. The light from the exposed orbs is comforting and warm. I can see the beautiful hues lighting up the world. 

This is what I can do. 

This is what I must do. 

I call to the darkness, to the vile liquid. I yell out its name. It leaves hundreds of orbs in its want to swallow me. I smile as I see hundreds of orbs free, but my heart aches to see that many of the other orbs have absorbed the wretched slime. I remember each of those orbs. I remember what I had seen in them and I remember their hearts.

I continue to yell until all had heard me. I am now surrounded by a sea of this slime. I place my foot in the tar. It oozes up my foot. Such searing pain crawls up my legs as I stand my ground. I can feel hatred and fear and disgust. I can feel a burn like acid destroying my skin. 

I look out over the sea of dark and light orbs. I look out over the now bright and colorful world. I smile just a bit. The searing pain has reached my side and has no desire to stop. I am soon covered with the darkness. The substance has taken over every inch of my body. Only my mouth is free to the world. 

I cry out, “It is finished.”

My body is gone. It has dissolved into the mass. But as it mixes with the crude oil, the darkness breaks down. The liquid begins to lighten. Its blackness goes clear as it begins to disappear from the world.

The orbs that had already been freed sing a song of joy. They shine like suns. Their glass is broken and their beings emanate freely from an unending source.

The orbs that were still covered in darkness are briefly exposed to this new, bright light that has brought forth a new world. These orbs cry out in regret but disappear with the liquid. 

I have returned to the world I once knew. I am again one with it and it is now one with me.