FLASH - and I shot
through the atmosphere and into space.
As I continued away from Earth, I saw the true view of the planet and it
resembled a ball of multicolored yarn. I
myself (whatever my name was, I don’t remember) travelled on a thin wire.
I followed
what I thought was a spider but as I drew closer I noticed it looked like spun
twine. Tiny strings beneath it tapped at
the wire and coasted forward.
Earth and
the solar system were far away now. We
continued through our galaxy and curved away from the bright center of the
Milky Way. Was the black hole
feeding? I could not tell, but thousands
of wires fell into the crushing light, as did stringy spheres that rode
them. What were they doing? My wire
wobbled and I looked forward. My
companion shook the line again and it curved farther away from the black hole.
“That is a
party we’re not invited to. You need to
be initiated to get into it.” My
companion’s voice sounded like a small woman that sucked on helium. It was a bit annoying.
We
continued away from our galaxy and travelled on past other galaxies, but we
kept a great distance from them. How
fast were we going? They moved by us so
quickly. Were they moving too? At times a supernova would pop and the
energetic residue showered us. My body
would shiver and calm and feel hot and cold.
Or was it a tingle that rattled my core?
Did I, was it… No, it
couldn’t. It felt like billions of
feathers tickled my privates and I, well…
I looked down and found no love parts.
What was I? I resembled my
companion in form, just a bundle of glowing strings in the shape of a sphere
and little nubs that tapped at the wire.
What is this body and why aren’t I afraid? I nearly wobbled off the wire.
“Focus
forward and don’t look down!” My squeaky
companion ordered.
I listened
to her, to it, and continued. The black
of space began to change into spectra of color like some astronomical aurora
borealis. I saw black turn to red and
blue and yellow and green and in between and back again but then the colors
faded. I went to speak but for some odd
reason, I just couldn’t. It was as
though my vocal chords had been tangled.
I focused
on my senses. I know I saw like eyes do,
for I saw what I’ve said thus far.
Feelings were spontaneous, hot and cold, sharp and soft, but I felt no
fear, but I could have sworn I smelled some kind of soap, or was it bubble
gum? Does space even have a smell or was
I riding some bubble gum string? I
tasted carbon. Or was it carbonation,
like a sour pop with bursting bubbles?
How could I have any senses without a nose, mouth, eyes or even fingers?
More
galaxies passed. They varied in size and
shape. Some were spiral and some egg
shaped and others like clouds. We came
close to one galaxy that looked like a sunny side up egg but with a white yolk
at its center. The central glow undulated like a weightless sea of milk. It grew brighter as I neared. I flowed forward in a trance, cutting through
other wires as I did. A few wooly
spheres yelled at me and one with what sounded like a strict New York accent
shouted, “Don’t cross the streams pal!”
But I couldn’t help it: the light was so beautiful. My wire zigzagged, angles sharp. It became taut and I felt unbalance but I was
so close. I could hear laughter and
cheers and, was that, the sound of drums and bass? Were they all dancing? Was the center of the galaxy where the wires
and spheres converged? Suddenly my wire
came to a point and I stopped short. I
fell to the side but regained balance.
Before me was a sphere of wooly yarn that changed colors like the cosmic
borealis. It was enormous and towered
over me and bobbed up and down on a wire as a road.
“WELL, YOU
LOST LITTLE PLUCKER?” Its voice was so
loud it sounded like a thunderstorm swallowed a billion bears.
“WELL?”
I shook in
fear and my twine unraveled and sagged.
“There you
are!” Came that holy voice of vinegar.
“Sheesh, I’m sorry great Bouncer.
He is new to his true form and tied up in the confusion.”
“WHY DID HE
LEAVE HIS GALAXY?”
“Oh, I’m
showing him the Wrapper. But we’ll go
back to our galaxy afterwards.”
The great
Bouncer ‘s color stopped at red, then faded into a soft green and blue.
“LITTLE
PLUCKER, BE ON YOUR WAY. WHEN YOU GET
OLDER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GET INTO OUR SINGULARITY PARTY.”
My
companion nudged me and we began to move away.
“AND BE
CAREFUL WITH THE PATH YOU TAKE. THERE
ARE A LOT OF HIDDEN BLACK HOLES OUT THERE, ILLEGAL PARTIES TRYING TO STEAL
STRINGS AND WIRES,” shouted Bouncer, sending ripples down our wire.
“AND CHECK
YOUR STRINGS! THEY LOOK FLIMSY!”
A curl of
my partner twisted up. “Thanks again
great Bouncer!”
We fled
away like cotton balls in wind. I looked
back once more and saw Bouncer rush back down into the bright bloom of light,
that Singularity party.
“Never mind
that now. You’ll get back to yours soon
enough. Now stay focused on the path,
and stay close behind me!” Her voice was
so sharp that it nearly split my ends.
Soon
galaxies became sparse until there was nothing but stray atoms that danced like
mosquitoes near us, attracted by our glow.
Then we were there, at the end of the universe.
“Well, here
you go kiddo. The Universal Wrapper!”
Before me
was what looked like soundproof foam material that moved like a melting
mirror. I drew closer and gazed at my
reflection. I peered through my curls of
glowing strings. There, deep in the
fibers was my life, or what it was when I was alive, on Earth. It was my past, my love now gone, my family,
friends, pains, broken dreams, and then – my death. I felt knots like muscle tense.
“It’s
normal to feel emotion. That’s what you
are, a ball of energy, E-Motion, Energy in Motion, you in your purest form. But
you never really die.” Her voice was
suddenly softer. There was a familiarity
about her, something familiar in her folds.
Was she my sister? But I didn’t
have one when I was alive.
“No, I’m
not what you think. I am your
SuperPartner. I am what you never were
and could have been.” A string of hers
bent like a smile.
I looked
back at the Wrapper wall and went to touch it but a force held me back.
“You can’t
do that. “ Her voice returned to that whiny shriek. “That wall keeps us, all this noise in.” She waved behind us with a curl. “But once the noise calms and the lights
expire, then the party is over and we’ll have work to do.”
My strings
twisted in a confusion.
“You’ll
understand, once we all calm down and the Wrapper fades. Then we’ll meet others beyond, in the other
Multiverses and the real party begins.
I’m talking quantum foam parties!”
A ripple of
excitement buzzed through me. I turned
and there saw a complete view of the universe.
“Wow,” rang
my chords.
“Really? That’s all you have to say?”
All I could
do was shrug a string.
I looked
closer at the universe. A super-clustered
mass of stars formed a head. Smaller
clusters formed eyes, a mouth that smiled and, were those stray stars
pimples? The universe is only fourteen
billion years old after all, still young and naïve.
“We have to
go.” She moved down our wire and I
began to follow. “When we get back, we
will dive into your black hole. It might
look tiny, smaller than a pinhead, but it’s enormous, so unravel responsibly. Then you can party till the sun goes out… All
of them!” She squirted a laugh that
reverberated my elements. “We’ll have a
quick drink at a neutron star before we head back.”
She
vanished down the wire and left a blur of light as a trail. I felt the wire tug and pull me and I was
about to fly forward at light speed but before I did, I glanced at the
universal face again, and I could have sworn I saw it wink.
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