Fruitbat

23. 23

23

Si

Eternity . . .

“Danny?” I call into the blinding white void. I can feel him nearby but can’t visualize him . . .

Until he answers.

“I’m here. —look at me.’’

His smiling maple eyes are first to appear, before his face is right in front of me, and then all of him materializes and I feel whole again.

We’re both wearing airy white garments from head to bare toes. The bright void whisks away, like bright color being blended into a can of paint to create a new hue, on a swirl that transforms the space into a grand dome of starry galactic infinity .

The floor is mirror-polished marble with pale rainbow veins, reflecting back the midnight blue and glittering specks from overhead.

A pedestal stands at the center of the hall, no. An endless row of pedestals, lined up as far as the eye can see, and each one holds a stone tablet.

I don’t have to ask, I know—somehow—that each one represents a lived life. A recorded history of my, our, everyone’s experiences through all of time.

Danny’s fingers are woven with mine.

“I‘m here—I won’t let go.” he says.

Shimmering silver threads wrap our hands and climb our arms, securing our connection.

We step up to the nearest tablet and gaze at the blank slate until a tiny blue pin-light begins to dance over the stone. It sweeps and traces unfamiliar shapes that still happen to make sense, jotting down every moment we’ve just experienced. Every lesson we took on and conquered. Every joyful and pained piece of that little life.

The strange neon hieroglyphs forming on the tablet seep into the stone like fluid on a dry sponge. They disappear to the naked eye but carry away every ounce of earthly emotion tied to our memories, contributing to the vast collective knowledge for the universe.

We’re all just part of a single web of energy, linked across space and time, existing all at once and cosplaying various scenarios and lifetimes to gather perspective that helps the consciousness to grow and expand through all of eternity .

Ethereal cogs in an ancient machine.

I lean against Danny’s shoulder, and he loops me into his arm.

“We should plan the next trip.”

“Let’s just rest and enjoy each other for a while? I’ve missed you.” I kiss his cheek.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

He is everything I need.