Above the Darkness by Sarah Morrissette - HTML preview

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Chapter 9: Birth

I appeared right before the edge of a cliff. I looked down and all I could see was darkness. I felt a push, and I was falling fast, down into the darkness. I could see below to me what looked like burning coals, so I held onto my necklace and said, “Become a trampoline,” and it did. I bounced a few times, then sat on the trampoline looking around. I noticed that the coals beneath the trampoline were burning through it, “become a magic flying carpet,” and it did. I flew slowly on the carpet along this large canyon where the only available light was coming from the burning coals.

The canyon then opened up to this great plain. It was almost desert-like, with the sky emerging with the ground. The sky was a bright orange that gradually faded into the reddish-grey ground. I found this sight to be very captivating. I did not know why Oochoo was so worried about me. Besides the hot coals and the fall in the beginning, there was nothing scary about this dimension. There was one weird thing about it. It was completely silent- not a sound! I thought maybe I was deaf, at first, but it wasn’t that at all. There was just no sound.

I looked down to discover my appearance. I was only a wispy, gas-like figure made up of the same colours as the landscape and so much that if it weren’t for the magic carpet I would fade right into the background. Maybe that is what is supposed to be so scary about it - that there was no existence to be found, and, if there was, it must be hidden in the background.

I felt my heart beating fast again with anxiety, as I felt like I was being watched. I thought about changing my present into glasses so that I could see bodies of existence, if there were any, but then I realized I could not touch the ground, so I had to stay in the air. Instead, I commanded it to be a see-through bubble that flies and has the ability to see any life form. I thought this might be too complicated, but it wasn’t for something so magical.

I was then sitting comfortably in this bubble and a computer-like screen appeared in front of me. I started to see some figures, and more figures, and even more figures! I was completely surrounded by these gas-like figures. Their faces were long and droopy, with no physical features on them at all. The way the outline of their faces moved, it looked like they were saying something, but, still I couldn’t hear any sound. At first I was terrified, because I thought they were going to surround me like a pack of wolves, but they left just enough space to not touch my bubble. All they did was glide slowly past me, but it seemed like it was never going to end, that this dimension was just covered in these figures.

Not only was it covered by these figures, but I noticed the whole place was made up of these creatures. The ground was actually moving and had faces, as did the sky. Everything was moving like rivers flowing in and out of each other. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. They did not appear to want to hurt me, but I was scared of becoming one of them. They were just lifeless beings, having nowhere to go and no reason to be living, except to keep their own planet intact. In a way they were working together, because if one stopped then their planet would just stop existing. They had this eternal duty to keep moving and just “be”. The boredom would make me crazy by itself, but knowing that is the only reason for my existence was also a terrifying thought.

I decided to keep moving with the flow to see if it would lead me to somewhere different. For what seemed like hours and hours, nothing changed. Right before I thought I was going to go insane from the boredom, I finally saw something different! Although it did not appear friendly, I was still happy to see the larger figure.

The large gas-like figure was not moving! It was bigger than the rest of them and had big yellow eyes! “COME HERE, COME HERE, COME HERE!” I finally could hear something! It kept shouting out to me with a very deep voice. I was frightened to keep moving towards it, but the bubble would not let me stop. “FINALLY YOU ARE HERE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR A LONG TIME!” I did not know why it was still crying out to me since I was right there, but surprisingly it did not hurt my ears.

“WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW MY LANGUAGE?” I yelled back to it, just in case it had a hearing problem.

“I WAS TOLD YOU WERE COMING ELIZABETH, AND THAT YOU NEED GUIDANCE FOR YOUR DISCOVERIES.”

“THERE IS NO NEED TO YELL,” I cried out to it, desperate to speak in a regular tone.

“Sorry. That is just how I have to speak when I address the inhabitants, for their hearing is not very good you see, or rather, non-existent. When I shout, the bass of my voice carries out and they understand my commands.”

“Interesting…now what can you tell me?”

“Well, firstly, I want to welcome you to GASSILO. And I am GOASILA, RULER AND SEEER OF GASSILO. I see all that goes on, and correct the many mistakes that present themselves.” The large transparent figure continued to yell the name of the dimension and his name. It seemed that he needed to do so, to be sure everyone was aware of it. In fact, it was quite humorous.

“What kind of mistakes do you correct?” I asked somewhat suspiciously.

“Well, all mistakes, not only on GASSILO but also on other dimensions. I am sort of like… What do you call those electronic things that you use to communicate?”

“Telephones?” I asked, still doubtful of his presence.

“No. Uh.. You write out things to communicate, and then send mail.”

“OH. Computers and what you are referring to is e-mail sent through the internet.”

“Yes, yes of course. COMPUTERS!” I rolled my non-existent eyes. “I correct… What do you call it? Uh…viruses in the system, so things run smoothly. Here, if one of my creatures stops or slows down more than the others, I have to correct its speed or GASSILO will collapse on itself.”

I perked up, as I became more interested, “Hmm. I was wondering about that actually. How are they all able to move in exactly the same direction and at the same speed? I found it quite fascinating how it was surviving, but now that makes more sense. But how do you correct these types of mistakes, say in a place like Earth?”

“Well, that is very simple. It has to do with the deaths and births. I try to keep enough balance. If there are too many births, I send over energy; what you might call “population control.” I know it may sound cruel but, if I did not do that, the Earth would also collapse on itself because there would be too many creatures living on it. And the creatures would suffer from longer, more torturous ways of dying, like starving or freezing to death.”

“So do you control Mother Earth then?” I asked again in a suspicious manner.

“Oh no. That is too much responsibility. I might send her a signal saying a hurricane is needed in a specific area but that is up to her as to how big it is or even if she will do it. There are many signals I have put out regardless if she follows through on them or not. You see, your dimension is almost at its breaking point, with the people and nature. Mother Nature is hesitant, because she does not want to sacrifice too much of herself, because many creatures depend on her and it takes some time to rejuvenate herself. But, I still have to send those signals. It is my responsibility to let her know.”

“Wow. That is amazing. I never knew there was actually a somewhat organized system. I thought it was just random,” I replied with great enthusiasm.

“Well the situations that humans create are sometimes related to these “random” acts of Mother Nature. For instance, your pollution has caused her to lose her barrier against the Sun, which has created some necessary natural disasters, and climate change.”

“Hmm. That is interesting, because many humans really don’t take responsibility for that. They just assume Mother Nature, or God is the one controlling everything. And others believe they have total control and that they can correct their mistakes, but both are wrong, right?”

“Yes. Exactly, Elizabeth. Humans are not as smart as they think they are. They rely so heavily on beliefs of their own without discovering what is really there. But that is part of your job - to discover the real workings of the dimensions.”

“Am I the only one that has to take on that responsibility? And, have there been others that did what I am doing, on Earth and other dimensions?”

“Yes. As you probably had been told, you are not alone in this. And, I have done what you have done. It started when I kept stopping the system on this dimension by going too slow all the time. So the wise ones wanted to show me what I was doing and the havoc I was creating. After that, I decided to be who I am now, so others like me won’t mess up the system, because Elizabeth, the ’SYSTEM’ is very important for the dimensions. But, some day, I will have to choose my replacement.”

“Hmm. Does that mean I might be making mistakes? I might be creating some havoc that I need to correct?” I asked concerned.

“No, no. That is not necessarily true. You have to be patient in discovering your purpose. You are doing great. I was impressed with your calm nature in this very scary place.”

“Well I am not going to lie. I was definitely afraid at first, but then I just tried to learn how this dimension worked instead of being scared of it. What helped me was, at first before I discovered the beings, I saw the beautiful colours. And after that, I appreciated that these beings were making something so beautiful and also cooperating better than I had seen any humans do.”

“Well, I am very glad to hear that, because humans are always afraid of what they call “hell”. And I was afraid that you might see this place as that. Although this is the first dimension, and it does have a chilling atmosphere, there are great lessons to be learned from it. Really this is the most hellish place that exists because of its boring predisposition. It might make a regular human go crazy. But, another way of looking at it, and the way I believe you came to look at it, is that it is very peaceful. I am also glad you didn’t refer to the beings as something like “lost souls” because they are not at all. They are actually the births of new souls.”

I couldn’t believe my ears! I was getting to see where souls are born! Everything in me pulsated with electricity. “WOW. So I once was one of these beings?” I asked looking around me in awe. My body relaxed as I breathed in the silence before he replied.

“Yes, indeed you were,” Goasila smiled with his now endearing blue eyes. His eyes had changed at least 5 colours since I started talking to him.

“Is there anything else I must do, or find out before I leave?” I asked with anticipation.

“No. That is all for now Elizabeth. Is there anything you would like to ask?”

I pondered for a little bit then said, “Yes actually. You said this was the first dimension and Oochoo said that Earth was only the second dimension. How can that be when Earth seems a lot more complicated?”

“Well, that is a very difficult thing to explain, my little smart one. And you will soon enough get to know the inner workings of Earth in more detail, but I will try to put it simply. Basically, Earth is somewhat the opposite of this dimension, besides Mother Earth trying to make sense of it all, by creating some sort of system. Essentially, it is chaotic. Nothing is or at least appears to be in a certain, organized system. The only things certain are death and birth, which comes from this dimension. Earth is a playground where humans and all living creatures are playing with each other, discovering their strengths, weaknesses, and the purpose of their souls. Many are born again and again, to come back to Earth to discover these things, and often it takes many times to find out what these things are.”

“Well, the creatures on Earth do continue to act like children even as they get older. They always seem to play these games with each other, and are often torturing one another.”

Goasila laughed, and nodded in agreement, “You are quite a treat Elizabeth. Your insight is much higher than a regular human. You truly are on the brink of your ultimate discovery.”

“Ha-ha. Well, that is good to know. I guess I must be getting back to the playground now Goasila. You were a delight as well. Thank you for all of your insight. It was truly an eye-opener.”

“I am so glad you enjoyed your time here. Be good to yourself, and continue to be good to others. You are special, so keep it that way.” Goasila winked and I was sent up to the top of the cliff. This time I didn’t fall into Gassilo, I fell right into my bed.