In a world where supernatural events abound, it would be too difficult to rate the degree of weirdness in each of them. However, supposing we wanted to do that…
How strange would it be to suddenly lose your most important possession in exchange for the desire you’ve had all your life?
Of course, I don’t mean any worldly objects, such as money or land.
Family or friends? Well, those things are valuable but not indispensable.
Freedom or life, eh… close, very close, but you’re still wrong.
I am talking about something real. Something physical and not just a sensation. Something that every living possesses, and although some have more of it than others, it is impossible to lack it in its entirety. Or it should be.
However, an exception to that rule is happening right now.
Set in an unknown location, within a strange land, a somewhat unusual situation is unfolding.
It is impossible to describe the exact process of what happens. But it is easy to understand the result.
Creation; Birth; A new life.
A miraculous act that all of us have witnessed at one time, whether or not we remember it.
But never in this way.
This was a birth not blessed with a father or a mother. This being was born incomplete, imperfect, without an accompanying body.
Then, Is he alive? Of course, he is. He lives because he thinks and feels.
He lives like the intangible, invisible air that wanders through space.
This being is a newborn, too young, too small to think adequately. Therefore, his primitive mind is guided only by instinct.
A dominant instinct that drives it to move in search of knowledge.
Curiosity.
He wants to know what he is; He wants to know where he is.
So, he started to move in search of answers.
Yet, the only thing he achieves is to present us with the scenario of a tragic play.
Although birth is an event worthy of pomp and celebration, the actions of the little one obscure it, who, despite lacking a body that allows him to see, smell, hear, or feel, acts with the will to sense his surroundings.
How does he try? That is something he knows.
But that doesn’t matter, as the result is an evident failure.
Sure, it’s impossible for him. After all, he was born with nothing, so he can’t do anything. Except…
His actions were not so useless, for he managed to get something out of it.
And although he is still far from being able to achieve his only and impossible wish, what he got this time was…
Tiredness
The unbeatable heaviness that comes after a hard day’s work.
That was a sensation beyond anything he had experienced before, so the little one could not bear the pressure it exerted on him.
Then, with no chance to fight back, he fell asleep. Going into deeper darkness than the one he has been in so far.
As expected, its appearance and disappearance did not affect the surrounding environment in any way. However, whether or not by chance, shortly after he fell into the world of dreams, a change occurred at the hitherto unchanging site.
”Splash”
The little one was no longer alone, as a new tenant had arrived to keep him company… no, in fact, the rightful owner had shown up to claim his home.
. . . . .
His rest was not equivalent to his death, so the time has come at last for his awakening.
When he woke up, he found himself dazed after such an experience. But this did not last long, for after clearing his mind, he immediately resumed his vain attempts.
Although to the eyes of the omnipresent viewer, his actions only appear to be repetitive, that is not the case.
He has grown up.
Minor changes that are imperceptible at first glance, comparable to the difference between a speck of dust and a grain of sand.
Are tiny, to be sure, but not insignificant, for the latent potential within him has been shown…
. . . . .
Ignorance or indifference is not a symbol of non-existence.
Even if you don’t know what is happening second by second, the world does not wait for you or inform you.
Moving beyond all bodily senses, thousands of things are happening. Everywhere at every moment.
Something like that has happened here.
The little being has already gone through an uncountable number of cycles, and as expected, its growth has become visible.
Wake, try, and sleep. A long repetition of the same thing each time, but with slight changes appearing gradually.
Changes that by themselves would not make any difference. But one drop at a time fills a glass, and so does this being.
New thoughts appeared, which, unfortunately, were quickly quelled by the curiosity that also spread beyond their initial levels.
But their growth did not stop there.
It is not only his mind that has become more efficient. Unexpectedly, he also gained the ability to fulfill his wish that, until now, seemed impossible.
Or at least partially…
Extending his consciousness like a gas, he can sense his surroundings. However, despite being able to do so, he cannot identify it, for his mind is empty of knowledge.
But there are still a couple of things he has managed to understand.
The first is that he has gotten a vague idea of the size of the place he is in. It is smaller than he imagined.
Although he can pass through a thing that moves around him, there is a limit in the distance that prevents him from extending beyond it.
That struck him as odd.
His discoveries did not end there.
It wasn’t only the barrier. He also sensed something else that he couldn’t get through. Something small connected to the walls using an elongated extension.
Upon discovering this, his curiosity urged him to learn more about it. But as time went by, thanks to his growth, he realized the futility of his actions.
Then, forcing himself to accept his situation, the little one stopped trying.
Relaxing, he floated in the void, doing nothing, slightly satisfied after having felt his surroundings.
But how long will he be able to stay like this?
. . . . .
Growth or evolution often occurs against the wishes of the individual. Although change sometimes brings with it pleasant things, the opposite also happens.
Besides, only death is forever, and that’s a truth that the little one will have to learn in the flesh.
No one possesses an unbreakable will, so the tranquility that the little one feigned over time eroded. But it was an external intervention that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As a blank canvas, he lived immersed in the gap between innocence and ignorance. Possessing no knowledge, he was ignorant of all common sense.
He did not know what ‘time’ was.
However, that ignorance ended after sensing the changes his neighbor had experienced.
Different. He was no longer the same as before. He had changed slowly. It wasn’t just the little one who was growing up.
After discovering that, a fuzzy concept of time formed in his still immature mind.
The before, now, and after appeared.
So, he began to doubt.
With simple thoughts that translated into words would be…
How long will I be here?
And that was a question he was not yet prepared to face.
. . . . .
‘Thump; Thump; Thump; Thump’
If the little being possessed a body, that would be the sound he would be generating at this time in a crude attempt to break the barrier that imprisons him.
He still knows how futile his actions are, but driven by desperation, he does not think of stopping even for a moment.
Yet, it did not start this way. Previously, he still managed to maintain a certain degree of control.
He wanted to escape from his confinement, so he thought the way to do it was to explore his surroundings in detail in search of a gap that would allow him to get out.
Then, thanks to his growth, he discovered something he couldn’t feel before.
There were movements outside the barrier.
After feeling this, an infinitely simple world began to form in his mind. A place in which he traveled everywhere, living new experiences that filled his curiosity, which was now about to overflow.
But the reality was cruel because, in the end, that is all he could do, for the long-awaited breach was nowhere to be found.
Desperate and heartbroken, the little one continued to give his all without giving up.
He insisted and insisted until… he couldn’t do it anymore.
He possesses few desires, but each one is worth as much as anyone else’s.
He wants to escape; he wants to feel; he wants to know.
But he could achieve nothing, and in his failure, despair was the one who embraced him.
‘Thump; Thump…”
. . . . .
The river of time, with its unstoppable waters, carries everything in its path. Joy, sadness, anger, pain, or hate, nothing is relevant to it. Everything is eroded and, in the end, destroyed.
If you have not experienced this, you haven’t lived long enough.
On the other hand, the little one, despite his young age, has already done so…
As if dead in life, without thinking, he only exists and nothing else.
He has despaired after understanding the eternity of every moment.
He has raged against everything that prevents him from moving at will.
He has been saddened to realize that his efforts do not bring about change.
And now, he has let himself sink into depression.
Sad. Miserable.
Even death is not a hope for the little one because he does not know about it.
But fortunately, he is not alone.
. . . . .
There was no longer anything to motivate him to feel his environment, and although he still did, this only happened once every few cycles.
So, occasionally, after waking up, out of sheer habit, he would scan his surroundings feebly.
But it was this seemingly futile action that saved him.
For he felt that the guy had grown up. Much, much more than before. So much so that the prison that encloses them both was no longer enough to hold it.
And although the walls did not succumb to such a change, they had to move away from them, expanding the interior space.
Feeling this allowed him to discover what hope was.
He began to believe that his neighbor would be the one to bring freedom to both.
