Transcendence. A Short Story

Transcendence

It is almost impossible to express what I have to say, although I know every word in every language which has ever existed and will ever exist. Every thought of every impressive thinker and inventor throughout the whole history of human beings was influenced, directed and created by me. Aristotle, Co- pernicus, Newton, Einstein – the enlightenment of all these people who see - med to be ahead of their time was actually my brilliance and part of my eter- nal inner calling. But who am I? If time has no meaning to you, people are just your transmitters, and you have the ability to form the world after your con - cepts, names become more and more insignificant. I know that humans will always try to name things and try to find answers to everything they can’t ex - plain, so I gave myself the name of “Lived”, thousands of years ago. Although I seem to be human, physical decline and death is not part of my existence. It is impossible to define my age since I don’t know when and how I was crea- ted. Although nobody has ever taught me anything I know everything - phy- sics, chemistry, biology, maths, languages. Everything you sometimes ask yourself, I know the answer.

The first thing I can remember was the brightest and most beautiful light I have ever seen. Brighter than the sun and more magnificent than any existing word could describe. The place in which I appeared was emptier than void, colder than Pluto’s surface, and darker than Earth before sunrise. When I clo - sed my eyes for the very first time, I started thinking about human species and the creation of earth. While I was trying to reflect anything I could remem - ber, my body became lighter and lighter, my thoughts passed by, and all of a sudden I felt a scorching heat. I winced, opened my eyes, and found myself in an apocalyptic landscape. The ground beneath my naked feet felt dry and hot, there were no plants, no buildings, nothing but this arid, desert-like lands - cape, as far as my eyes could reach. I looked up, the sun was burning on my slightly transparent red skin and wrapped the sky in an astonishing blood-red cloak. Although I already knew when and where I was, the destroying beauty made me feel deeply impressed and terrifyingly stunned. I must have been standing there for hours until the lethal star disappeared at the horizon and was replaced by millions of peacefully sparkling yellow stars. The moon was shining like a pure diamond and the sandy, devastating ground of the day glit- tered as if it was fresh morning drew in spring. At this magical moment, I took the decision to spend the rest of my eternal being to ensure that everybody will have the chance to understand the whole universe and its grace like I do. I sat down and started thinking about how I could implement my self-given destiny.

When I closed my eyes again, millions of years went by, gigantic masses of rocks formed mountains, asteroids brought crystal-clear water to earth, and on the once harsh planet, life slowly began to spread. Plants smoothly pushed the earth aside, searched for their way to the surface and gently stret - ched towards sun. The first organisms evolved far below the surface of the seas and as further million years passed by, the first human beings began to populate the earth. I finally opened my eyes and stood up, life was all around me. I knew that I have almost waited long enough now and the time to form my perfect world will soon be coming.

Then, one night, in the deepest winter, when flourishing plants have already died, animals have disappeared, the whole earth was covered in ice, and even the oceans were frozen, I started walking through one of the first human settlements. All of the people were sleeping in a big and deep cave, they wrapped themselves in fur, trying to flee from the icy temperatures outside. They were freezing terribly and trembling like aspen leaves. There was no heat, no light, nothing but darkness and cold. A superior species, blessed with the ability to understand life and its existence, but unable to achieve indepen - dence from the enslaving nature around it on its own. I moved to the wall which was covered with dry and pale moss. I carefully took some of it off, pla- ced it in the middle of my palm, and focussed it. My hand began to heat up and the more I focussed, the more my hand transmitted energy and tamed the lethal cold. In the blink of an eye, the air around my hand caught fire and inflamed the moss, which I silently put on top of a few small branches in the middle of the cave. The growing fire started crackling and lighted up the air as the cosy warmth lifted the icy ban. All of a sudden I heard a noisy breathing behind me. I noticed that my gift did not pass by unnoticed, and slowly turned around. A tall, bony, and undernourished man was staring at me with his half- closed wild green eyes. He scrutinized me doubtfully and carefully approa - ched the fire's sparkling light. He raised up his hands and tried to touch it, but instinctively pulled them away as the flames hit his skin. The inquiring man stared at me again and hasty woke up the sleeping men and women in the cave . All of them showed the same behaviour, at first they carefully approa- ched, then they tried to touch it, and after a few moments they held their hands at a reasonable distance, enjoying the pleasuring heat. Then, when the fire slowly began to shrink, I grabbed and added more branches. My first stu- dents observed my actions and as they understood the principle of fire, they soon copied them. They brought dozens of branches, which they once put all over their poor floor, hoping to somehow isolate them from the stony and free - zing ground. There was no doubt that they did not immediately understand the sense and use of my creation and as they were able to control and keep the fire alive on their own, my first mission seemed to be accomplished. I knew that it would take a long time to implement my self-given destiny, but the joy in their bleak eyes when they experienced nature's mercy, made me feel deeply satisfied and encouraged my decision. I took one last look at their confident faces, closed my eyes, and my body, asking for the next destination of my journey, became lighter and lighter.

Thousands of years I brought enlightenment. Astronomy, languages, and maths - anything humans needed to improve their live I gave it to them. Soon the first advanced civilizations developed and people achieved superiority over the nature around them. It could have been a perfect life, but the more knowledge I transmitted, the more my generous gifts were misused. Anything I provided them with was taken for granted, nobody showed gratitude, and their free will became an insurmountable barrier and the root of all evil. I reali - zed that human species, despite its ability to form a peaceful world, started to bring misery and death to anything around. Languages were used to insult in - stead of sharing pleasure with each other. Physics were solely used for their own benefits, disregarding any other species, and consciously destroying their own environment. Even the fire, which once was the saviour of their poor lives, was used to inflame entire villages, becoming one of the worst mortal dangers. Although I was almost at the end of my journey and people were taught most of my knowledge, especially the value of peace, there was so much war, sorrow, and despair. My idea of a harmonious coexistence of plants, animals, and humans seemed to have failed and I started to regret the terrible curse I had brought to beautiful earth. Soon I understood that my creation was about to destroy its own planet and I knew that I was unable to avert further damage. For the first time in my life I felt powerless since there was no possibility of restoring peace without having control over their free will. I had to choose now between the suffering planet, begging for salvation of its torturers, and my creation, possessing the ability to restore and prevent its beauty. A decision I could not bear to take. Desperate, shocked, and distur- bed by what I had done, I decided to no longer interfere in their lives and clo - sed my eyes for the very last time. From then on, until the end of their exis - tence, I abandoned them to their own fate.

As the centuries passed by, fate took its unavoidable course and nature cruel - ly revenged on humanity. Torrential rainfall and years not even a single sun - beam found its way on earth, followed by years of scorching heat, when even the last raindrop vaporized before it could reach at least one of those billions of dry throats. The strangled planet took them anything they disregarded for such a long time. The animals, which provided them with food, but were never considered as equals and were kept in tiny cages. The plants, which provided them with the fresh air they needed to breathe, but always had to fight against their stinky and polluting factories. At the end even the water, which was the fuel of their physical appearance, but was wasted day after day for unimportant pleasure. Everything was gone. Thinking about how won - derful and perfect life could have been, I went to the place where I once star - ted to implement my self-given destiny. The cave was empty, there were no branches, no humans, not a single evidence that this place was once home to the most blessed species on earth. It was a depressing sight, nothing seemed to have survived. But as I came closer to the point on the wall where I took off some of the dry and pale moss thousands of years ago, I saw an almost fa - ded painting. I reached out and touched the rough stone, it felt cold beneath my hand. My long and pale fingers slowly moved along the contours of the painting. Even though it was almost faded I was impressed by the details and the different colours, made of blood and coal. I closed my eyes and imagined the painting human. I could almost see his movements, hear the sound of his finger that moved along the cold wall, feel his energy and upset. My eyes were wandering along the huge and somehow misshapen figure on the wall. It had two sharp horns on his forehead, deep black eyes, and all around its body red flames were flickering. It did not take long until I realised that this painting should represent the moment fire was brought to earth, but I could not recognize the terrifying creature. All of a sudden anything became clear to me. Understanding my true destiny and the reason for my existence, I closed my eyes, deeply satisfied and filled with joy. My body became lighter and ligh - ter and as there was no destination, I ascended until I saw the bright and ma - gnificent light I had not seen for so long. I opened my eyes again and found myself back in the arid, desert-like landscape, where my journey had started and I knew that I would not change a thing.

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