FOURTH POST:
The Beginning of the Fall
Heaven goes on and on. Earthlings always worry about there not being enough room in heaven for everyone, but heaven is limitless. Besides, That One can always make it bigger. Actually, in heaven “size” is not the same as it is on Earth. Nobody really takes up space per se, and you can’t really measure the size of heaven in earthly terms. I don’t fully understand it. Athena’s way smarter than I and can explain the physics of heaven much better than I ever could. I’d ask her, but we haven’t spoken in millennia. Our relationship became strained, we grew further and further apart, we started hitting each other. Then I raped her, and she gave me the worst beating of my existence. And she left. And I haven’t seen her since. That was two-thousand years ago.
What started it all? Free Will. Hear me, Earth-human: Free Will is stupid. Curse That One for creating Free Will. I do with every move.
Shortly after That One announced the creation of Free Will, he called a meeting with all of us in heaven. Heaven has a huge amphitheater in which we all can meet. We gathered there, billions of us, at the amphitheater, which was in the middle of a grassy field full of grazing giraffes and ten-foot tall sunflowers. The amphitheater went on for miles, but it felt oddly intimate. Every time someone stepped forward to address the assembly, his, her, or tron face appeared on the sky before us so that all could see, and the voice was as loud and clear as if the person were standing next to you. Above the face, looming over us, was the face of That One, intense indigo and full of stars in each eye, impressive but not intimidating. Back then, That One made a point of not being intimidating.
That One spoke with a voice like a loud purr that we could hear and feel. The purr filled me with warmth. Athena and I held hands and smiled at each other. We loved the Divine Purr. Our affection for each other grew stronger when we felt and heard the Purr.
“Starting today, we are beginning a new creation. I am finishing the planning for a new universe, which will feature a planet much like Xela. The planet will be called Earth, and humans like yourselves will inhabit it. I will use all of you as messengers to Earth-humans. To differentiate from Earth-humans, from here on out I will call you angels, a word that will mean ‘messenger.’ You will convey messages and assistance to me and to the Earth-humans. I thank you in advance for your assistance.” We all cheered. We had no problem with that ruling. We had no problem with anything That One said, because there was no Free Will. Whatever That One decreed was fine with us.
The Divine Purr went on. “Thank you for your support.” He paused. “As I indicated in the morning announcement, this new universe will have something that I call Free Will. Let me explain. You all have automatically accepted whatever I have told you. If I told you that you were to do a certain job or a live a certain way, you obeyed me without question. With Free Will, all living creatures, including you, will have the option of disobeying me. Obeying me, loving me, will be a choice, not a requirement.”
We all just stared at him. He smiled. “You don’t understand, because Free Will has never been a possibility. Once I give it to you, though, you will understand, and you will also question my decision. You will wonder why I gave you Free Will. Free Will is part of a larger, more elaborate plan that will lead to greater love than we have ever known. You see, choosing to love someone is greater than being required to love someone. Free Will will produce creatures who choose to love, and that love will produce a greater joy than anyone has ever known.”
Someone said, “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, MamaPapaTrona, but you know best. Whatever you want is fine with us.” Many of us said the same, including Athena and I.
He stared at us and nodded slowly, still smiling. Then his smile shrank, disappeared. He stopped nodding. He sighed. “I love you all. Do not forget that, ever. I love you all very much. Please remember that.” Everyone cheered. We knew. Then. We had always known. We never questioned That One’s love. We never had questioned it, anyway, until the next instant. That One closed his eyes. Purred. The purr swelled, became so loud that my ears hurt. The purr vibrated throughout my head, throughout my heart. Then the purr died, disappeared. I’ve never heard it again.
That One opened his eyes. His stars glistened. “It has been accomplished,” he said. “I hope this was a good idea.”
“Hope what was a good idea?” I asked.
“Free Will.”
And out of my mouth came something strange, foreign, frightening, disturbing. I said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. You made a mistake, MamaPapaTrona.” Every head turned to me. I had done something no one had ever done: I had disagreed with That One. I had criticized That One. I don’t think anyone was afraid of That One being angry with me. I certainly was not afraid, because we had never seen That One’s wrath. There had been no need for wrath, because no one had ever disobeyed him. I hadn’t disobeyed him, either, at that point. I simply had disagreed, but the statement sounded and felt terrifying, horrible.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I said, dropping to my knees. I bowed my head. “Please forgive me,” I added. That was the first time anyone had ever asked That One for forgiveness.
That One patted my head. “Lucifer. A sword’s going to pierce your heart. You have no idea. But all manner of thing shall be well.”
“I believe you,” I said, but within me formed this: YOU ARE WRONG.
That statement has never left me.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Third Post of Part One: Perfect
THIRD POST:
Perfect
After the fair, we moved back home, and after helping unload, I ran to my room, slammed the door, and sobbed. I lay in my hammock, rocking back and forth, telling That One all my heartache.
“MamaPapaTrona, why did you create love and heartache?”
He sat on my chair, ankles crossed, hands folded in his lap, hair shining like silver, eyes neon purple. His whole body was silver and glowed. He was naked but had no genitalia. His voice sounded male, but he could have been male, female, or tron. This was usually how That One appeared to me back in those days. To a million people That One could appear in a million different ways: female, male, tron, animal, plant, amoeba, inanimate object, solid, gas, liquid, plasma. That One could appear as small as a quark or as a large as a galaxy, or could appear as a quark-sized galaxy. Amazing, really. I’ll admit: I’m envious.
Anyway, that was how That One appeared to me back in those days. The sight was always comforting, never frightening. We weren’t afraid of That One back then. There was no reason to be.
In response to my question, That One said, “I wanted you to experience love, because it is so beautiful and wonderful. Unfortunately, with love comes heartache. If you want to experience true love, then you need to risk heartache.”
“You know best,” I said. In those days, I meant statements like that. “Will we end up together?”
That One nodded and smiled. “You sure will. Even now, her Mom and Tron are discussing moving to your neighborhood so that you two can be together.”
I sat up, leapt out of my hammock, hugged That One.
Sure enough, she virtual-messaged me the next morning and told me that her mom and tron were indeed planning the move. I held and kissed her virtual image. Virtual images felt sort-of real. You couldn’t hold them too tightly or they dissolve. We could kiss, but if we kissed too passionately, we’d lose the connection. At the time, you couldn’t make love via virtual messaging.
She said, “I told my parents that I could tell that you were the one for me to be with. They talked to MamaPapaTrona, and she/he/tron said that you and I should get married.” We kissed, caressed, too hard. The image broke up. We lost the connection. I was okay with that, though, because I knew we would soon be together.
In three weeks she was living next door to us, and, the next week, we were married. Weddings on Xela were simple, small, and quick. We focused on the relationship, not on the wedding. You Earthlings spend all your time on the wedding and ignore the marriage. Silly. That One had approved the marriage, so we figured we had nothing to worry about. Because of my butterflies we had enough money to buy our own house, so we bought a Cape Cod a block away from our parents. I made butterflies, went to school, and loved my wife.
I could go on and on about all the wonderful times we had. We never had children, because That One had said that he did not want us to have children. We were fine with that ruling; no one ever had a problem with That One’s ruling. We traveled, visited our parents, had lots of fun. My fame for my butterflies continued to grow, and Athena became a college professor at a local university. We had a comfortable, happy, and full life.
When we turned one-hundred, we moved to heaven, where we had a beautiful apartment. We wanted for nothing. We played with animals, often went zebra-riding, made love whenever we wanted, visited family and friends. I took up tennis in heaven and won several regional championships. Athena took up singing in heaven. That One gave her voice lessons (you should hear That One sing). She had a magnificent voice, and she gave concerts that would draw a billion people. She could sing ten vocal parts at once. They often called her a one-woman choir.
Let me explain that the laws of science that apply to Earth do not apply to heaven. However, it is beyond my ability to explain how things such as gravity and time work in heaven. Athena was always better at understanding all that. Rather than fumble with trying to explain how heaven “works,” I’m just going to describe heaven in a way that you Earthlings will understand. After all, I am pressed for time. The light of That One will soon obliterate me. So, as you read my description of heaven, keep in mind that my description is not exactly right but is an approximation for the sake of convenience.
Anyway, Athena and I had a marvelous time in heaven. One of our fondest memories was a vacation we took to the Elysian Fields, a part of heaven known for its exceptional beauty, music, and food. She went there to perform a concert, but the rest of the time we were free to see the sights, ride the animals, and, best of all, go mountain-swimming. There is this gigantic mountain called Olympus – the Olympus of Greco-Roman mythology was based on it – made entirely of water. People would come from all over heaven to try to swim to the top of it. The mountain is the tallest in heaven and, if you were to measure it in earthly terms, it would measure about eight-thousand miles high. Athena and I loved athletic challenges and were in good shape, so we decided to take on Olympus. We did research on Olympus and trained for months. Finally, we went on our trip. The day after she gave her concert, we began the climb.
Athena was often about a half-mile ahead of me. She was and is smarter and stronger than I. I was doing fine, however. The water got colder and rougher as we climbed higher, but we were tough. For a few miles, a pod of dolphins swam along with me and encouraged me with their clicking and whistling dolphin sounds. It was exhilarating to see their blue-gray, gleaming bodies smoothly swimming and then leaping out of the water and diving back below the surface.
Swimming upward is strenuous, especially since the current is moving down-mountain. You have to maintain a certain speed, or the current will start to carry you downward. You won’t fall. You’ll just end up losing ground, so to speak. Occasionally there is an island that you can stop to rest on; we had studied and memorized the island locations as part of our training. We knew our route by heart.
There is an island about halfway up Olympus called Io that Athena and I had agreed to meet on, so I stopped there. Athena was already there, basking in the Light (what there is instead of sunlight in heaven.). The island was only about the size of a city block and was covered with sparkling black sand. We made love, achieving floating, and then took a nap in each other’s arms. The air was warm, the sky vivid green, That One’s smile radiating upon us.
“How do you feel?” Athena asked once we woke up.
“Great,” I said.
“You’re doing brilliantly.” Athena knew that she was smarter and stronger, so she often looked out for me. She did not do so in a condescending way, but with just the right amount of tenderness and with much respect. I knew that she was smarter and stronger, but I felt no jealousy. On the contrary, I was happy for her that she had so much intelligence and strength. That was the attitude in heaven back then. Sometimes people competed, but there was no ill-will. No battle of the egos. No insecurities to overcome. No self-esteem issues.
“Thanks,” I said. “A pod of dolphins kept me company.”
Athena sat up and gave an open-mouth smile. “That’s fantastic!” she said. “What a great experience for you.” Dolphins were Athena’s favorite animal, but she was not even a little jealous. She was just happy that I had had the experience instead of resentful that she had not.
As we resumed our swim, I became more and more tired, so we swam slower and slower. The water became frigid and the waves gigantic. Death was not a concern, because there is no death in heaven. However, I was getting pretty worn out. My arms and legs felt numb and wobbly at the same time. I wasn’t out of breath, because, in heaven, there is no need for breathing. Still, on the last island stop, only six-hundred and sixty-six miles from the summit, I said, “Maybe you should go on without me.”
She kissed me long on the mouth. “We’ll just wait here until you’re ready. We’re not in any hurry.” So we did. There was no food on the island, which was covered with snow (snow’s not cold in heaven), so That One showed up with a picnic. He came to us in the form of a white-tailed doe, one of our favorite animals, carrying the picnic basket with his/her mouth. We ate sandwiches and cookies while That One lay next to us in the snow, and we petted her as we ate. The snow was soft and fragrant. That One was beautiful and gentle. The food was soothing and rejuvenating. Athena was beautiful and brilliant. After a while, my limbs felt ready to finish the journey.
We made the last leg of the trip easily. At the summit we could see for billions of miles. We could see the roller coasters and skyscrapers of heaven. We could see the planes and planets of heaven. We could see on and on. We made love right there at the summit, achieved floating. My whole body turned into music and blended with Athena, who also had turned into music. I could smell fresh-bread and could feel That One’s love massaging my entire body. Athena and I, in our love-making-floating on the mountain-top, could not discern where That One ended and we began. The three of us were just music that smelled of bread and felt like massaging. We remained that way for about a year and then finally changed back and allowed the currents to carry us to the foot of the mountain. At the bottom I felt stronger than ever, renewed, invincible, and full of praise for that one and love for Athena.
That’s heaven. You Earthlings think that heaven’s a bunch of clouds and harps and “Kum-Bye-Ya,” but it would be hell, so to speak, if it were like that. The reality is that heaven, at least back then, was endlessly entertaining, stimulating, and exciting. It was like being on vacation all the time. You were always having fun and never bored. And the food in heaven was vastly superior to anything you Earthlings can cook up. There was no anxiety, fear, sickness, or grief. You have no idea how wonderful heaven is, or was, before That One ruined it with grouchiness and wrath, all stemming from his stupid Free Will experiment. What an idiot. If I were in charge, things would be better. I know better how to be God than God does, and don’t you forget it.
Billions of years went by. Eventually, That One decided to make Xela and its universe part of heaven. Once that change had been made, he got his “brilliant” idea.
I’ll never forget That One announcing one morning after second breakfast: “Attention, all residents of heaven. I have decided to create a new universe. It will be much like the previous universe, but with one key difference, my greatest invention so far. I call it Free Will.”
Perfect
After the fair, we moved back home, and after helping unload, I ran to my room, slammed the door, and sobbed. I lay in my hammock, rocking back and forth, telling That One all my heartache.
“MamaPapaTrona, why did you create love and heartache?”
He sat on my chair, ankles crossed, hands folded in his lap, hair shining like silver, eyes neon purple. His whole body was silver and glowed. He was naked but had no genitalia. His voice sounded male, but he could have been male, female, or tron. This was usually how That One appeared to me back in those days. To a million people That One could appear in a million different ways: female, male, tron, animal, plant, amoeba, inanimate object, solid, gas, liquid, plasma. That One could appear as small as a quark or as a large as a galaxy, or could appear as a quark-sized galaxy. Amazing, really. I’ll admit: I’m envious.
Anyway, that was how That One appeared to me back in those days. The sight was always comforting, never frightening. We weren’t afraid of That One back then. There was no reason to be.
In response to my question, That One said, “I wanted you to experience love, because it is so beautiful and wonderful. Unfortunately, with love comes heartache. If you want to experience true love, then you need to risk heartache.”
“You know best,” I said. In those days, I meant statements like that. “Will we end up together?”
That One nodded and smiled. “You sure will. Even now, her Mom and Tron are discussing moving to your neighborhood so that you two can be together.”
I sat up, leapt out of my hammock, hugged That One.
Sure enough, she virtual-messaged me the next morning and told me that her mom and tron were indeed planning the move. I held and kissed her virtual image. Virtual images felt sort-of real. You couldn’t hold them too tightly or they dissolve. We could kiss, but if we kissed too passionately, we’d lose the connection. At the time, you couldn’t make love via virtual messaging.
She said, “I told my parents that I could tell that you were the one for me to be with. They talked to MamaPapaTrona, and she/he/tron said that you and I should get married.” We kissed, caressed, too hard. The image broke up. We lost the connection. I was okay with that, though, because I knew we would soon be together.
In three weeks she was living next door to us, and, the next week, we were married. Weddings on Xela were simple, small, and quick. We focused on the relationship, not on the wedding. You Earthlings spend all your time on the wedding and ignore the marriage. Silly. That One had approved the marriage, so we figured we had nothing to worry about. Because of my butterflies we had enough money to buy our own house, so we bought a Cape Cod a block away from our parents. I made butterflies, went to school, and loved my wife.
I could go on and on about all the wonderful times we had. We never had children, because That One had said that he did not want us to have children. We were fine with that ruling; no one ever had a problem with That One’s ruling. We traveled, visited our parents, had lots of fun. My fame for my butterflies continued to grow, and Athena became a college professor at a local university. We had a comfortable, happy, and full life.
When we turned one-hundred, we moved to heaven, where we had a beautiful apartment. We wanted for nothing. We played with animals, often went zebra-riding, made love whenever we wanted, visited family and friends. I took up tennis in heaven and won several regional championships. Athena took up singing in heaven. That One gave her voice lessons (you should hear That One sing). She had a magnificent voice, and she gave concerts that would draw a billion people. She could sing ten vocal parts at once. They often called her a one-woman choir.
Let me explain that the laws of science that apply to Earth do not apply to heaven. However, it is beyond my ability to explain how things such as gravity and time work in heaven. Athena was always better at understanding all that. Rather than fumble with trying to explain how heaven “works,” I’m just going to describe heaven in a way that you Earthlings will understand. After all, I am pressed for time. The light of That One will soon obliterate me. So, as you read my description of heaven, keep in mind that my description is not exactly right but is an approximation for the sake of convenience.
Anyway, Athena and I had a marvelous time in heaven. One of our fondest memories was a vacation we took to the Elysian Fields, a part of heaven known for its exceptional beauty, music, and food. She went there to perform a concert, but the rest of the time we were free to see the sights, ride the animals, and, best of all, go mountain-swimming. There is this gigantic mountain called Olympus – the Olympus of Greco-Roman mythology was based on it – made entirely of water. People would come from all over heaven to try to swim to the top of it. The mountain is the tallest in heaven and, if you were to measure it in earthly terms, it would measure about eight-thousand miles high. Athena and I loved athletic challenges and were in good shape, so we decided to take on Olympus. We did research on Olympus and trained for months. Finally, we went on our trip. The day after she gave her concert, we began the climb.
Athena was often about a half-mile ahead of me. She was and is smarter and stronger than I. I was doing fine, however. The water got colder and rougher as we climbed higher, but we were tough. For a few miles, a pod of dolphins swam along with me and encouraged me with their clicking and whistling dolphin sounds. It was exhilarating to see their blue-gray, gleaming bodies smoothly swimming and then leaping out of the water and diving back below the surface.
Swimming upward is strenuous, especially since the current is moving down-mountain. You have to maintain a certain speed, or the current will start to carry you downward. You won’t fall. You’ll just end up losing ground, so to speak. Occasionally there is an island that you can stop to rest on; we had studied and memorized the island locations as part of our training. We knew our route by heart.
There is an island about halfway up Olympus called Io that Athena and I had agreed to meet on, so I stopped there. Athena was already there, basking in the Light (what there is instead of sunlight in heaven.). The island was only about the size of a city block and was covered with sparkling black sand. We made love, achieving floating, and then took a nap in each other’s arms. The air was warm, the sky vivid green, That One’s smile radiating upon us.
“How do you feel?” Athena asked once we woke up.
“Great,” I said.
“You’re doing brilliantly.” Athena knew that she was smarter and stronger, so she often looked out for me. She did not do so in a condescending way, but with just the right amount of tenderness and with much respect. I knew that she was smarter and stronger, but I felt no jealousy. On the contrary, I was happy for her that she had so much intelligence and strength. That was the attitude in heaven back then. Sometimes people competed, but there was no ill-will. No battle of the egos. No insecurities to overcome. No self-esteem issues.
“Thanks,” I said. “A pod of dolphins kept me company.”
Athena sat up and gave an open-mouth smile. “That’s fantastic!” she said. “What a great experience for you.” Dolphins were Athena’s favorite animal, but she was not even a little jealous. She was just happy that I had had the experience instead of resentful that she had not.
As we resumed our swim, I became more and more tired, so we swam slower and slower. The water became frigid and the waves gigantic. Death was not a concern, because there is no death in heaven. However, I was getting pretty worn out. My arms and legs felt numb and wobbly at the same time. I wasn’t out of breath, because, in heaven, there is no need for breathing. Still, on the last island stop, only six-hundred and sixty-six miles from the summit, I said, “Maybe you should go on without me.”
She kissed me long on the mouth. “We’ll just wait here until you’re ready. We’re not in any hurry.” So we did. There was no food on the island, which was covered with snow (snow’s not cold in heaven), so That One showed up with a picnic. He came to us in the form of a white-tailed doe, one of our favorite animals, carrying the picnic basket with his/her mouth. We ate sandwiches and cookies while That One lay next to us in the snow, and we petted her as we ate. The snow was soft and fragrant. That One was beautiful and gentle. The food was soothing and rejuvenating. Athena was beautiful and brilliant. After a while, my limbs felt ready to finish the journey.
We made the last leg of the trip easily. At the summit we could see for billions of miles. We could see the roller coasters and skyscrapers of heaven. We could see the planes and planets of heaven. We could see on and on. We made love right there at the summit, achieved floating. My whole body turned into music and blended with Athena, who also had turned into music. I could smell fresh-bread and could feel That One’s love massaging my entire body. Athena and I, in our love-making-floating on the mountain-top, could not discern where That One ended and we began. The three of us were just music that smelled of bread and felt like massaging. We remained that way for about a year and then finally changed back and allowed the currents to carry us to the foot of the mountain. At the bottom I felt stronger than ever, renewed, invincible, and full of praise for that one and love for Athena.
That’s heaven. You Earthlings think that heaven’s a bunch of clouds and harps and “Kum-Bye-Ya,” but it would be hell, so to speak, if it were like that. The reality is that heaven, at least back then, was endlessly entertaining, stimulating, and exciting. It was like being on vacation all the time. You were always having fun and never bored. And the food in heaven was vastly superior to anything you Earthlings can cook up. There was no anxiety, fear, sickness, or grief. You have no idea how wonderful heaven is, or was, before That One ruined it with grouchiness and wrath, all stemming from his stupid Free Will experiment. What an idiot. If I were in charge, things would be better. I know better how to be God than God does, and don’t you forget it.
Billions of years went by. Eventually, That One decided to make Xela and its universe part of heaven. Once that change had been made, he got his “brilliant” idea.
I’ll never forget That One announcing one morning after second breakfast: “Attention, all residents of heaven. I have decided to create a new universe. It will be much like the previous universe, but with one key difference, my greatest invention so far. I call it Free Will.”
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Second Post: My Wife Athena
SECOND POST:
My Wife Athena
According to Greco-Roman mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom who emerged full-blown from the head of Zeus, but billions of years before that story was born Athena was my wife on Xela. So long ago. Billions of years before I was the evil, hated, dreaded – misunderstood – Satan, I was Lucifer Epoh, the husband of Athena Dria, the most beautiful and brilliant and good-hearted of all women. Eve was scum compared to her.
We met at the annual summer fair that was always held just a mile from my house. I had been born in that house and had grown up there with my parents. Every summer the fair would set up, and we would all head over there and live there for the entire week. Everyone did. We’d set up our camper and just stay there. Mom and Dad took the week off from work, and we all did nothing but sell crafts that we had made, go on rides, go swimming, and eat all that marvelous fair food, from pickled potatoes to barbequed kumquats (believe me, they’re tastier than they sound). Our whole village shut down for the fair.
I started making butterflies when I was six. By the time I was sixteen, my butterflies had won awards and had also become a helpful source of supplemental income for my family, and the most profitable event for me by far was the fair. So I would set up my stand and sell butterflies at ten dollars each. That was a bit pricy, but people were willing to pay ten dollars a bug because mine were the best.
It was on the third day of the fair when I was sixteen that I met Athena. It was a chilly day, only about a 150 degrees Fahrenheit (on Xela, temperatures ranged from 100 to 300, which, for us, was a pretty comfortable range). I was wearing a jacket and had one of the butterflies perched on my head. Athena, who was seventeen, walked up to my stand.
“I like your jacket,” she said. She had shoulder-length, black hair, fair skin, and dark brown eyes. She was petite, only about five feet tall and slender. She was wearing a denim skirt and a bright red blouse. My mind went blank from desire. Not lust, like you humans are always obsessing over. Just desire in the purest sense. Nobody lusted on Xela, because nobody was able to. We didn’t even know what lust was. It was inconceivable.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.
“You’re Lucifer Epoh, aren’t you? I’ve been wanting to meet you for months. I saw your butterflies on the news. I heard you make the best butterflies in the nation. Only God does better.”
“God’s the one who has given me the ability,” I said. I meant it. Back then, I loved That One as much as I loathe him now.
She smiled and touched my hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, and you are even better looking in person than you are on TV.” I could feel my face turning pink. I wanted to kiss her.
“Why don’t you join me?” I asked. We found another chair, and she sat next to me. For the rest of the week, we sold butterflies together and got to know each other. Without ceasing I could feel excitement fluttering in my stomach. I felt aroused, nervous, and giddy. We laughed a lot. That first night we kissed and caressed. We kissed deep and long each night afterward.
The last night we lay beneath the full moons on my bed at the camper at the fair. Mom and Dad were in the next room and knew we were together but were not worried. On Xela, parents knew they could trust their children not to do anything wrong, because no one did anything wrong. They knew that Athena and I were lying naked together in my bed, kissing and caressing, but not making love. It did not occur to us to make love yet, because the time was not right. On Xela, people were neither ashamed of love-making nor careless about it. The balance was perfect. We knew the time was not right, so we could just lie together and be intimate without going too far.
I marveled at her body’s beautiful curves. I loved the sound of her breathing and the feel of her warmth. She lay next to me, her head on my chest, my arms around her.
I said to her, “I could easily fall in love with you.”
I felt her nod. “I wish I didn’t have to go back to my village tomorrow, but I need to go home with my parents. We would miss each other too much.” Now it was my turn to nod. I felt my warm tears run down my face. She reached up and kissed me on the lips.
We promised to virtual-message each other. Virtual messaging meant that you could create a virtual image of yourself that could visit the person. Virtual messaging was not as satisfying as really being with the person, but it was far better than nothing.
The next day we hugged, kissed, and whispered good-bye, our eyes deeply fixed on each other. Our parents were patient and understanding with us.
Xela was wonderful and free of sin, but it was not free of sadness. It was paradise, but it was not heavenly paradise, so there was still the possibility of heartache.
My Wife Athena
According to Greco-Roman mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom who emerged full-blown from the head of Zeus, but billions of years before that story was born Athena was my wife on Xela. So long ago. Billions of years before I was the evil, hated, dreaded – misunderstood – Satan, I was Lucifer Epoh, the husband of Athena Dria, the most beautiful and brilliant and good-hearted of all women. Eve was scum compared to her.
We met at the annual summer fair that was always held just a mile from my house. I had been born in that house and had grown up there with my parents. Every summer the fair would set up, and we would all head over there and live there for the entire week. Everyone did. We’d set up our camper and just stay there. Mom and Dad took the week off from work, and we all did nothing but sell crafts that we had made, go on rides, go swimming, and eat all that marvelous fair food, from pickled potatoes to barbequed kumquats (believe me, they’re tastier than they sound). Our whole village shut down for the fair.
I started making butterflies when I was six. By the time I was sixteen, my butterflies had won awards and had also become a helpful source of supplemental income for my family, and the most profitable event for me by far was the fair. So I would set up my stand and sell butterflies at ten dollars each. That was a bit pricy, but people were willing to pay ten dollars a bug because mine were the best.
It was on the third day of the fair when I was sixteen that I met Athena. It was a chilly day, only about a 150 degrees Fahrenheit (on Xela, temperatures ranged from 100 to 300, which, for us, was a pretty comfortable range). I was wearing a jacket and had one of the butterflies perched on my head. Athena, who was seventeen, walked up to my stand.
“I like your jacket,” she said. She had shoulder-length, black hair, fair skin, and dark brown eyes. She was petite, only about five feet tall and slender. She was wearing a denim skirt and a bright red blouse. My mind went blank from desire. Not lust, like you humans are always obsessing over. Just desire in the purest sense. Nobody lusted on Xela, because nobody was able to. We didn’t even know what lust was. It was inconceivable.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.
“You’re Lucifer Epoh, aren’t you? I’ve been wanting to meet you for months. I saw your butterflies on the news. I heard you make the best butterflies in the nation. Only God does better.”
“God’s the one who has given me the ability,” I said. I meant it. Back then, I loved That One as much as I loathe him now.
She smiled and touched my hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, and you are even better looking in person than you are on TV.” I could feel my face turning pink. I wanted to kiss her.
“Why don’t you join me?” I asked. We found another chair, and she sat next to me. For the rest of the week, we sold butterflies together and got to know each other. Without ceasing I could feel excitement fluttering in my stomach. I felt aroused, nervous, and giddy. We laughed a lot. That first night we kissed and caressed. We kissed deep and long each night afterward.
The last night we lay beneath the full moons on my bed at the camper at the fair. Mom and Dad were in the next room and knew we were together but were not worried. On Xela, parents knew they could trust their children not to do anything wrong, because no one did anything wrong. They knew that Athena and I were lying naked together in my bed, kissing and caressing, but not making love. It did not occur to us to make love yet, because the time was not right. On Xela, people were neither ashamed of love-making nor careless about it. The balance was perfect. We knew the time was not right, so we could just lie together and be intimate without going too far.
I marveled at her body’s beautiful curves. I loved the sound of her breathing and the feel of her warmth. She lay next to me, her head on my chest, my arms around her.
I said to her, “I could easily fall in love with you.”
I felt her nod. “I wish I didn’t have to go back to my village tomorrow, but I need to go home with my parents. We would miss each other too much.” Now it was my turn to nod. I felt my warm tears run down my face. She reached up and kissed me on the lips.
We promised to virtual-message each other. Virtual messaging meant that you could create a virtual image of yourself that could visit the person. Virtual messaging was not as satisfying as really being with the person, but it was far better than nothing.
The next day we hugged, kissed, and whispered good-bye, our eyes deeply fixed on each other. Our parents were patient and understanding with us.
Xela was wonderful and free of sin, but it was not free of sadness. It was paradise, but it was not heavenly paradise, so there was still the possibility of heartache.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Part One: Xela; First Post
PART ONE:
XELA
FIRST POST
I was born 25, 396, 723, 006.3875 years ago on the planet Xela, which existed in a universe that no longer exists. Before creating the present universe, That One created a prior universe. He loves to make things, and, I must admit, no one is better at it. That universe was similar to the present one, and Xela was much like Earth. A key difference, however, was that Xela was unfallen. The Adam and Eve of that planet, who were also called humans and whose names were Gabriel, Urania, and Yg-gnu (humans on Xela came in three genders), never sinned, because That One had not given them Free Will. None of us had any choice but to obey That One. There was no temptation, no option of rejecting That One. We all just obeyed, so we never fell from grace.
If you ask me – and That One should have – that creation was vastly superior to the present one precisely because there was no Free Will. Free Will was the stupidest, most egotistical idea That One has ever come up with. Life on Xela was perfect. We had no poverty, no disease, no crime. Everyone got along. There was no racism or sexism. We didn’t need laws, because everyone instinctively did the right thing. We had births but no death. Once you reached the age of one-hundred, you walked through a tunnel into heaven. In fact, everyone was free to move back and forth between heaven and earth. Heaven was not above – it was just through the tunnel. People one-hundred and older lived in heaven, the rest of us lived on Xela, and everyone was okay with that. There was only so much room on Xela, but heaven was and is infinite. Because people obediently crossed over to heaven at the age of one-hundred, over-population was not a problem on Xela. Everything worked smoothly because there was no Free Will to mess things up. That One never should have come up with Free Will.
You fallen humans, by the way, think That One is perfect, but that’s just not true. He definitely makes mistakes, and Free Will is one of them. If you all could accept that he makes mistakes, you would be a lot happier, because you wouldn’t have such high expectations of him. He is powerful and brilliant – unfortunately – but perfect? No way. Not even close. Everyone gets so furious with him for not fixing this or that problem. It doesn’t seem to occur to you all that maybe he simply can’t or that maybe he tries to but sometimes gets it wrong. The sooner you accept that, dear Reader, the better off you’ll be. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not expect their gods to be perfect, and you should not, either. Trust me. Stop expecting That One to have all the answers and to be perfect. He doesn’t, and he isn’t.
But he did get Xela right. That planet was way better than Earth could ever be. The old days. Everything was perfect, but life was not boring. Far from it. We built gorgeous buildings, sang stunning songs in 10.5 part harmony, played magnificent games. Everyone had his or her or tron (the pronoun for the third gender) dream job for which he or she or tron was perfectly suited. Our work days were not too long. We worked just the right number of hours. My job was to make artificial butterflies out of glass, paint, and gold. They were exquisite, delicate beauties that I designed to breed and play chess. They were incredible. People loved them. I was profoundly fulfilled, and every day we all praised That One – whom, in those days, we called MamaPapaTrona. That One was always available. We spoke back and forth. That One had the best laugh and a beautiful voice and was endless fun and was a great cook.
Ever since the introduction of Free Will, though, That One has been moody, grouchy, unpredictable. Oh, I miss those days.
Understand this, dear Reader: my whole existence since the introduction of Free Will has been to get back the infinite pleasure that I had during those years on Xela. Xela is my Rosebud. I am in love with Xela and ache to return to her, to that planet, that time.
The best part of Xela was my wife. She was gorgeous and tender and intelligent and compassionate beyond words. Sexy, too. The love-making! Love-making on Xela was far more intense, powerful, and fulfilling than it has ever been on Earth. You have no idea. Not only did it feel incredible, but, at the point of orgasm, you filled up with delicious smells and tastes, and you had visions and heard music. Sometimes you even floated. “Make me float,” we used to whisper seductively to each other. Love-making was holy in a good sense. That’s how love-making would be on Earth if Adam and Eve hadn’t ruined everything with the Fall, and the Fall would not have happened if That One hadn’t made the worst decision ever.
It is because of That One that I lost my wife. She’s still alive, but we are forever separated.
Her name is Athena.
The approach of The End is making me weaker, so I need to take a break from blogging. I’ll resume shortly.
XELA
FIRST POST
I was born 25, 396, 723, 006.3875 years ago on the planet Xela, which existed in a universe that no longer exists. Before creating the present universe, That One created a prior universe. He loves to make things, and, I must admit, no one is better at it. That universe was similar to the present one, and Xela was much like Earth. A key difference, however, was that Xela was unfallen. The Adam and Eve of that planet, who were also called humans and whose names were Gabriel, Urania, and Yg-gnu (humans on Xela came in three genders), never sinned, because That One had not given them Free Will. None of us had any choice but to obey That One. There was no temptation, no option of rejecting That One. We all just obeyed, so we never fell from grace.
If you ask me – and That One should have – that creation was vastly superior to the present one precisely because there was no Free Will. Free Will was the stupidest, most egotistical idea That One has ever come up with. Life on Xela was perfect. We had no poverty, no disease, no crime. Everyone got along. There was no racism or sexism. We didn’t need laws, because everyone instinctively did the right thing. We had births but no death. Once you reached the age of one-hundred, you walked through a tunnel into heaven. In fact, everyone was free to move back and forth between heaven and earth. Heaven was not above – it was just through the tunnel. People one-hundred and older lived in heaven, the rest of us lived on Xela, and everyone was okay with that. There was only so much room on Xela, but heaven was and is infinite. Because people obediently crossed over to heaven at the age of one-hundred, over-population was not a problem on Xela. Everything worked smoothly because there was no Free Will to mess things up. That One never should have come up with Free Will.
You fallen humans, by the way, think That One is perfect, but that’s just not true. He definitely makes mistakes, and Free Will is one of them. If you all could accept that he makes mistakes, you would be a lot happier, because you wouldn’t have such high expectations of him. He is powerful and brilliant – unfortunately – but perfect? No way. Not even close. Everyone gets so furious with him for not fixing this or that problem. It doesn’t seem to occur to you all that maybe he simply can’t or that maybe he tries to but sometimes gets it wrong. The sooner you accept that, dear Reader, the better off you’ll be. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not expect their gods to be perfect, and you should not, either. Trust me. Stop expecting That One to have all the answers and to be perfect. He doesn’t, and he isn’t.
But he did get Xela right. That planet was way better than Earth could ever be. The old days. Everything was perfect, but life was not boring. Far from it. We built gorgeous buildings, sang stunning songs in 10.5 part harmony, played magnificent games. Everyone had his or her or tron (the pronoun for the third gender) dream job for which he or she or tron was perfectly suited. Our work days were not too long. We worked just the right number of hours. My job was to make artificial butterflies out of glass, paint, and gold. They were exquisite, delicate beauties that I designed to breed and play chess. They were incredible. People loved them. I was profoundly fulfilled, and every day we all praised That One – whom, in those days, we called MamaPapaTrona. That One was always available. We spoke back and forth. That One had the best laugh and a beautiful voice and was endless fun and was a great cook.
Ever since the introduction of Free Will, though, That One has been moody, grouchy, unpredictable. Oh, I miss those days.
Understand this, dear Reader: my whole existence since the introduction of Free Will has been to get back the infinite pleasure that I had during those years on Xela. Xela is my Rosebud. I am in love with Xela and ache to return to her, to that planet, that time.
The best part of Xela was my wife. She was gorgeous and tender and intelligent and compassionate beyond words. Sexy, too. The love-making! Love-making on Xela was far more intense, powerful, and fulfilling than it has ever been on Earth. You have no idea. Not only did it feel incredible, but, at the point of orgasm, you filled up with delicious smells and tastes, and you had visions and heard music. Sometimes you even floated. “Make me float,” we used to whisper seductively to each other. Love-making was holy in a good sense. That’s how love-making would be on Earth if Adam and Eve hadn’t ruined everything with the Fall, and the Fall would not have happened if That One hadn’t made the worst decision ever.
It is because of That One that I lost my wife. She’s still alive, but we are forever separated.
Her name is Athena.
The approach of The End is making me weaker, so I need to take a break from blogging. I’ll resume shortly.
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