This is a wild idea I came up with. Definitely needs some work (a lot of work) but it could become an interesting story if I give it a bit of love. I started it a few years ago. I intend to revisit it very soon.
Gen’sis
In the beginning there was no word. There was only energy and thought floating through the dark abyss. The darkness was the life. The darkness was where creation began. It gave birth to light. The darkness thought, let there be light, and there was. Yet, it remained, to be with its new creation. The darkness was still the source and the creative power, even though light, the demi-creator, was born. The darkness was the more vast expanse. The darkness was the essence of the universe. These were the revelations of Cree’gen, one of many on its home world, Gen’sis.
The wind traveled from just below the oxygen poor atmosphere, down to the planet, across the face of the deep…the waters, over the land and into the valley of the Knowing. It crept silently, a wisp between leaves and branches and everything green. It had no detectable color, it was untouchable form. There was no void within the wind, it was omnipresent on the planet. It was the life of the people, what gave them the ability to continue. For the moment, it was their survival in their world. Their air was made of a thin gaseous helium, abundant helium. It was their life source.
Cree’gen sat atop a mountain looking up at the suns. They both shone bright and blue on that particular day. It closed its eyes and inhaled the rich helium that was life to all on Gen’sis. It exhaled a long breath, opened its eyes, and watched the many flowers in the gorge sway from the light wind. They too needed the life giving breath of life, the wind upon their petals and their suns warming the ground beneath them.
Cree’gen picked up from its left side a book that sat on a large gray rock. It flipped open the pages and from behind its ears it removed a large feather. From its right side it reached for the ink that was in a small clear glass bottle. It flowed black and fogged the sides of the clear container, only to eventually settle into the remaining ink. It tilted the bottle sideways to watch the globs float back and forth, a mini universe in the palm of its hand. It turned the bottle up again and opened it. The feather was a bright red, and the wind caused it to blow west. Cree’gen dipped it into the ink and proceeded to write.
The book was well worn with many pages filled. Each thought was scribbled in all directions, some with a feverish hand, all with determined strokes. Cree’gen’s recent thoughts began to fill the page. It was filled with an overwhelming curiosity. The paper was where it spilled its mind, allowing it to stain each page with symbols that became words, words that became patterns of thought. And patterns of thought that became almost tangible living entities. These entities communicated through space and time, joining the ranks of the living with a fierceness that begged the question. Who and what are words? And where did they come from? The answer was always the same. Cree’gen heard their murmurs like whispers in the night.
“We were created by you. Just as you created yourself,” was always the answer. It was the answer to many questions. But it never answered the highest question. How?
Cree’gen became aware of its own existence almost immediately. It walked among its people with daily curiosity. It wondered how it came to be and why, even though deep down it knew the one basic truth of how it came to be. But the deeper how and the deeper why eluded Cree’gen. Everyone on Gen’sis knew their beginnings. Because everyone came to be in the same way. The only things left unanswered were the questions Cree’gen was determined to answer.
Through writing, Cree’gen was able to tap into truths waiting to be unveiled. The feather was the conduit. The paper the place to land. And the words…yes, the words were the second medium of discovery. They added a dimension to communication on their world that was new and exciting. Cree’gen knew this…even as most of its people used their minds to communicate. But Cree’gen wanted to explore symbols and how they bent the mind to a new way of being and thinking. Words were a gift from the source.
Before Cree’gen realized, the sky had turned a deep dark blue, with pinpoints of light blinking above its head, shining on the grand canvas that spread across the expanse. The night sky was bright. Each of their four moons were full. Cree’gen rose and walked along the valley floor, through the waist high grass that lightly lashed its legs as each tall green blade bounced about. It was a good night for thinking and meditating. Cree’gen knew this. The full moons always gave way to deep introspection. They were silent guides that spoke only when necessary, and then, only in whispers. Their whispers told tales of the origins of many things, including Cree’gen.
Cree’gen heard one of the elders speak to it. It was Bi’chen, down in the village. It had been looking for Cree’gen through many minds. Finally, it decided to call to Cree’gen through the planet. It heard Bi’chen’s voice reach it through its mind.
“Are you writing again?” asked Bi’chen.
“Yes Elder,” answered Cree’gen without moving its lips.
“I thought you would tire of such a primitive form of communication.””
“It is an interesting experiment Elder. The symbols challenge my mind to envision things differently.”
Cree’gen spoke with the elders, asking questions no one ever asked publicly, but talked of in hushed tones by fire light. It was not that it was forbidden to ask, no one ever imagined it needed to be asked. They existed. Wasn’t that enough? It was not enough for Cree’gen.
“Elder, I understand the beginning, but how did it happen and why was it this way?” Cree’gen asked.
“Child, it is not for us to understand at this time. Wait for clarity. It will come,” responded Bi’chen.
“We know of other worlds; worlds that require two to create. But we are not like them. Why?”
“Because that is not how the universe allowed us to come into being. It allowed for a different way for us. And that way has worked for us for the last 50,000 years. Your curiosity will not change what we are.”
“But Bi’chen, is it not our destiny to learn and grow?”
“Yes Cree’gen. But not in a rushed way. Not through anxiety.”
Cree’gen could not contain its fascination with its beginnings. One day it simply appeared out of nothing, at least as far as it could tell. It had taken many decades for it to discover that it created itself. The memory of that moment was lost for a time. It seemed a very long time. Although it finally realized how it came to be, it still didn’t know how it did it. There was another force that created the ability within it, in all of its kind. Cree’gen was the only one that lost the memory of its beginning. But the remembering changed everyone. Cree’gen’s awakening came with many questions no longer asked. It came with a wondering that went beyond mere curiosity. Cree’gen wanted to unlock a secret housed only in the universe and in the age of its people.
One thing was certain in all the asking, everyone from its race created themselves. It wasn’t like on other worlds where either copulation, parthenogenesis or the division of cells was a necessary methodology to bring about the existence of another. Its people simply could create themselves, from nothing. Or from the vastness of that which allowed them to come into existence. The Gen’sis people could bring about their own existence. The only problem was many of them didn’t know or couldn’t remember the conditions that brought about their desire to come into being.
This missing piece was a recent flaw. Their ancestors, the Gen’sis Elders, knew everything. They explained the process, but it was far too complex for many Gen’sis to understand. Cree’gen wanted to understand. It wanted to know its beginnings and the conditions that existed which allowed it to bring itself into being. Why did it want to exist? Why did it bundle the universal resources that allowed it to bring itself to Gen’sis, to become alive in a new way? What was the driving energetic force? Cree’gen knew there was more to it all. But it would take many of their moons’ rising and setting to understand.
“Everything in the universe comes about through need,” said Bi’chen one night to Cree’gen. “This need is never one way. Each new thing arises from an infinite amount of needs, all existing at different moments and for different reasons. New needs are created from existing needs satisfied.”
“I don’t understand, Elder.”
“Listen with more than your ears, Cree’gen. Hear me with your heart. Everything is in a state of need for survival. The universe knew it could not survive by being the only source of creation. This knowing is not a sentient knowing, nor is it a knowing lacking intelligence. It is something in between the two. Something far more complex. It needed to allow for everything. And in doing that, it allowed for all possibilities.”
“I think I understand, Elder.”
“Do you? What do you understand?”
“In other worlds, existence is dependent on what is perceived as a duality. The two, a splitting apart of things, or a coming together of things that lead to a division that builds the whole. That way is one of many ways the universe allowed for being. But with us, it wanted something more sure, something lasting. It wanted something that contained the essence of it in a purer way. So it allowed us to create ourselves.”
“That is correct. We are the other way. A way out of many other infinite ways of existing.”
“But Elder, how did it do it?”
“This is what you want to know, child. But this is not something I can merely tell you. Examine other worlds. Go on a quest. Seek out the answer you need. It will find you.”
“That is not an answer Elder.”
The Elder Gen’sis villager laughed out loud. It was not accustomed to this new Gen’sis creature, fresh and new to their world. It had a different mind. It wanted to know that which only experience could teach.
© zaji