The Creators

This is the first short story I ever wrote, the one that kick-started all the others....

There was once a universe unto itself.

There was emptiness, and then there was light. The light spread through the universe like wildfire, a curtain of energy flowing through the void. Seeping into everything, giving it life.

I

Suns were born and planets formed. In this cold, dark space, one small sun gave Light to a small planet. As life became prevalent on the planet, a species of Hominids became rulers. These creatures were thinkers, they had large brains that allowed them to construct complex thoughts and ideas. But for as intellectual as they were, they were unaware of the light.

Even though the light was everywhere and flowing through them, the only time they were aware of the light was when it bounced off something. And even then, they did not see the light, but rather the shades and hues within the light spectrum: Reds, Greens, Blues, and Yellows.

These colors both fascinated and scared the Hominids, they didn't understand what they were seeing. They did not like that they could not explain the world around them. They needed an explanation, they wanted to know the "how" and "why." And so they Created stories to help explain the world that they inhabited.

Blue was the color of the Water Creator, who was wise and deep, just like the ocean. Red was the color of the Passion Creator, who was responsible for Love and the blood that flowed through them. Yellow was the color of the Sun Creator, who provided warmth. Green was the color of the Terra Creator, who made the plants and animals.

After a time, the Creators became central figures in the Hominids lives and even began to take on the traits of the Hominids. The Creators were now capable of love, but also hate. They could be giving, or envious. These Hominids looked up to the Creators and desperately wanted to be more like them, to be Creators themselves.

As the Hominids evolved more, they began to develop unique personalities and found themselves attracted to certain traits of the Creators. Some were drawn to the personality of the Passion Creator, while others found that the messages from the Terra Creator resonated more. As the Hominids became drawn to certain Creators, their focus on life shifted. Those that looked up to the Passion Creator focused on living life to the fullest and connecting to others. Those who looked up to the Terra Creator in turn focused more on connecting to the land they lived on and animals they shared it with.

It was not long before 4 divisions were drawn and 4 separate villages were erected, each designed after one of the main Creators. Those who lived in each village taught their youth the messages they thought were important, messages they learned from their Creators. Despite these Hominids each belonging to a different village, they still understood the need for community, for unity.  They still had questions with no answers: "Who am I? Why am I here? What happens when I die?" The Hominids tried to help each other. They offered different perspectives to each other, pooling their knowledge in hopes of understanding the world and themselves better.

II

The Hominids lived simple lives, they hunted with sharp sticks and gathered fruit in their woven baskets. They walked everywhere and woke up each day to a bright shining Sun. And after a period of time, their sun and planet started to change, just as they were.  Terra's closest light source erupted, shooting energy into the planet. Volcanoes erupted, the seas boiled and the land shook. As the land masses drifted apart, weather patterns changed, storms formed and their planet would never be the same. Each village was built upon a fault, and when the land broke apart, the villages became separated. The world as they knew it had ended. 

Each village became isolated from the rest, drifting out into an endless see alone. Storms above their heads kept the light from reaching them and their anxiety grew. They couldn't explain or understand why their world shook, why the seas boiled, and why they were separated from the rest of their community. And because they didn't know the answers to these questions, they Created answers.

Only, instead of pooling the knowledge of 4 communities with 4 perspectives, they pooled the knowledge of one community with one perspective. Focusing simply on one Creator and one focus in life, the Hominids decided the other perspectives were not worth thinking about. Each village stopped believing in the other Creators and the Hominids only believed in their one Creator that mirrored the values they already held. 

Time went on and although the Hominids were still isolated from each other, they continued to evolve separately.  They began to express themselves through Creation. They Created dances, songs, drawings, architecture. They were able to Create ships and travel over the water. They began to slowly re-populate the planet and intermingle.

Problems soon arose. In the time they spent apart, they each Created their own version of why they had become separate and what the focus on life should be. 

Seeing that each village had it's own set of values, they each Created their own customs and rituals that they viewed as normal. And so when they came upon a Hominid who had a different set of customs and rituals, they viewed the differences as wrong. Not different, but wrong.

For as intellectual as they were, time had moved on so much that they had no memory of when they were one, of when each different perspective only added to the whole, and wasn't the whole itself. They argued over who was right and who was wrong. Who’s Creator was real and who’s Creator was made up.

They Created labels to keep them separate: camel-Jockey, nigger, whitey, fundamentalist, war monger, tree-lover, health nut, hippie, fag, socialist, bible-thumper, asshole, dreamer, hater. It only took a few generations before all the Hominids thought that the labels were real and accurate ways to categorize each other.

The divisions between them grew and they began Creating wars. Creating weapons to destroy each other more effectively. They Created bombs strong enough to Create holes in the planet.

These were turbulent times for the Hominids, they had to address their lives. The elders in each society continued to teach the Hominids what should be important to them. What they should value. What they should believe and what they should judge. They had a set of standards. The Hominids Created paper that meant more to them than the things they could trade it for. They collected it because they were told it would make them happy. They were told to ignore their feelings and emotions, to not think for themselves but to listen to others.

The rules were strict and caused the Hominids much pain. While these rules helped to guide their exterior lives, they soon became miserable on the inside. They were trying to avoid exterior conflict and instead were faced with internal ones. They began to look at their lives, they felt as if they weren’t living up to the Creators and felt guilty for being less than perfect. They felt guilty for being Hominids and not Creators. All of the rules and judgments they had to live and abide by kept them from simply being themselves. Kept them from Creating, kept them from asking questions, and kept them from following their hearts and just being who they were meant to be, themselves

III

And then one day someone asked "Why?" Many would be surprised that this Hominid was not a philosopher. Not a preacher or scientist, but a child. The youth began to question the rules that had stood for so long to separate the Hominids.

Hominids all over the planet began to change, and as they changed, so did the traits of their Creators. Soon those who believed in the Passion Creator were divided over how He would react to those who didn't believe in him. The Hominids who believed in Forgiveness argued that the Passion Creator would want them to love openly and not judge, while the Hominids who still held onto their hate argued that the Passion Creator would want the disbelievers dead. Similar debates began to crop up within each of the major followings. 

The Hominids were going through amazing changes, they were understanding how unique they were, not just as a community, but as individuals. They were starting to see that the their Creators were nothing more than mirror images of who they were.  And as more and more Hominids realized that their Creators were just extensions of who they were, the Creators began to disappear, and in their place, the Hominids took control of their lives and their destiny.

And so they began to listen to each other again. They stopped trying to convert and instead wanted to learn.  Despite the Hominids intelligence, they were finally smart enough to know that they did not know everything, and these unknowns were what united them once again. In a world with different Creators, each rewarding it's followers with paradise, there was no consequence to dieing. But living in a world where no one knew what happened when they died, is what allowed the Hominids to come together and work as one. To stop killing each other and to build a better world.

They were getting back to the basic truths, forgetting the things that the Elders had told them in exchange for a more realistic view of the world they had Created for themselves. They were beginning to understand that the different colors that had once served to separate them were all coming from the same light source. That while they appeared to be different and separate, the space between them was simply an illusion and always had been. That the differences only helped to create a whole.

And this evolution came at an interesting time for the Hominids, because their sun and planet were going through changes again. They had only a short window in which to act, to come together once again to face the unknown. To remember who they were and where they had come from.

To remember that they had always been the Creators

The Logos

In the beginning there was a boat called Earth. It sailed on the Logos, the only sea to ever exist.

The Logos was special, it was energy. It traveled through the ocean and was the ocean. Rolling on the tides and through them.

The Earth was empty at first, but the Logos kept the ship on course and after some time, life could inhabit the mighty vessel. As if it had simply POP-ed into existence, a speck of life sat on Earth. It had limited senses and no mobility, a single-celled organism. It sat patiently for a long time, before hearing a soft whisper on the wind, "You will be rewarded for your patience and trust."

And suddenly another speck of life popped into existence. It was very similar to the first creature, with only slightly more advanced senses. It too sat patiently and after some time, heard the soft whisper on the wind, "You will be rewarded for your patience and trust."

Suddenly a third speck of life popped into existence. This was more advanced and had more senses than the previous life forms but was still quite simple.

For billions of years this process continued to take place. And after billions of years, the life on Earth had become quite diverse. Each of the different creatures had found a place aboard Earth where they would not rock the boat, they had a balance with one another and  an understanding with the Logos. They let it steer their lives and their faith had been rewarded each time with a new shipmate to share their experience with.

One day, after having sat in it's place for a long time, the wind carried a message to the great Ape, "You will be rewarded for your patience and trust." And the first Human being came into existence.

The human opened his eyes and studied the creatures around him, as they studied him. He noticed that no one was steering their ship and thought he heard a voice tell him to go take the wheel. And so he stood on his feet and walked toward the ship's wheel, something no other creature had ever done.

The animals watched the man, unsure of his intentions and fearful of what he might do. Every creature had sat in it's place and let the Logos do the steering, seeing this new creature break the rules they had followed made them very anxious and they went to attack the him.

The human was superior to the animals and was able to subdue them by force, killing some and locking the rest in cages.

With the animals locked away, the human walked up to the wheel of the ship. As he gripped it, he felt a surge of energy coarse through him, like a jolt of electricity flowing through is body. After a moment he became used to the power and set a course straight into the sun.

Slowly but steadily, the waves got rougher and the weather became stormy. The human's change of course brought the Earth into some dangerous areas, one wave hit the Earth so strongly that a few animals were knocked off, falling back into the Logos to never be seen or heard of on Earth again. And through all of this, the human stood stubbornly at the wheel, trying for his life to steer the ship through the rough waters. 

Thunderous clouds and lightning flashes, pouring rain hitting his face- the human was being drained of his energy when suddenly he heard a familiar voice whisper to him, "You will be rewarded for your patience and trust."

And the human suddenly found himself a new mate. It was another human, but of the female variety. She looked identical to the man but held herself differently, as if she wasn't affected by the severe weather around them. The rain pelting her face, a smile creeping in from the sides of her lips.

She had an heir of confidence about her, as if everything was perfect exactly as it was. She was born with intuition the man did not possess. She could see the patterns, she could understand them. She looked at all the animals around her and could see her place amongst them. She knew that each animal on Earth was just another form for the Logos to inhabit, simply another vessel by which to travel. 

The rain continued to pour down on them, the woman was soaked but looked beautiful to the Man. She took his hand and led him away from the wheel. He tried to speak to her but only sounds would come out. She looked at him, looked at the animals in the cages. He followed her gaze and looked at the animals. Suddenly his awareness shifted, as if he'd never seen the animals before....a heavy weight began to grow on his chest.

The man looked up at the ship, seeing the torn sails and broken bows. He thought back to a time when everything was bright and shiny, a cool breeze in the air, animals co-existing peacefully. He looked back to the cages and worn ship. He looked down at his hands, the tools responsible for the damage he'd done.

The woman held his hands in hers, "These are responsible for much, but look where you brought us. Do you think anyone else here could have steered Earth? You were chosen."

The man looked up, seeing the Earth travel underneath a giant rainbow towards a majestic island full of trees and rolling hills.

She spoke to him again as she let the animals out of their cages, "We all have a part to play. This was your role, your part to play....  Don't fight it."

Those Damn Tool Hoarders

I had a dream...

I was living in a world where everyone shared all of their tools. In every country, state, city and small town, no citizen owned any of their own hammers, screwdrivers or nails. There were countless shops conveniently located everywhere, which supplied the citizens with all the tools they would need to complete any project, big or small.

Because everyone shared all of their tools, they adopted a mentality of "treat the tool in the way you'd like others to treat it" and this made everyone want to take care of what they collectively shared.  Each tool store had a simple check-in/check-out procedure that was based more on the honor system than anything. No governments agencies had to monitor this because the people trusted one another.

But then one day, a man named Stan realized that after he was done with the power-saw, he may end up needing it again in a week, so he kept it. Afterwards, he realized how good he felt knowing he had his own collection of tools, just waiting for him, so he decided he wanted to hold onto all the tools he rented, and no longer return them when he was finished. He currently had no use for any of the tools, but he felt better thinking they belonged to him and were being saved somewhere just for his use.

And slowly this mentality was adopted by many, many citizens around the world. No one was willing to share and everyone began to hoard all the tools they could. No one was thinking about whether or not they needed the tool, but they felt safer thinking it belonged to them.

Generations came and went that it was now normal to be a tool hoarder. Friends would be walking down the street talking to one another, when they'd spot a drill-bit sitting on the pavement and race to pick it up first.

"Look what I found, I just found it sitting on the ground!"
"Yeah, I feel bad for whoever lost that, cause it's ours now!"

A great divide began to form between the tool hoarders and those who had no tools. And as time moved on, the divide only became wider. The families that had been hoarding tools for many generations now had so many tools they did not know what to do with all of them and let them sit in a bank where they could be protected and accumulate value. Other families who had not been collecting for as long had much less, sometimes no tools at all.

With this imbalance of tools, their entire economy started to suffer. Those who had no tools claimed it was not fair that the rich had more. And the rich claimed it was not fair that they were forced to share tools, because they had "earned" their tools them selves. The rich loved the idea of hoarding the tools as much as the poor did, but neither side seemed to be able to recognize this.

Neither side was willing to budge, but every citizen felt the same way: That they would be happier and their lives easier if they just had more tools. They NEEDED to have more tools.

They got so wrapped up in fighting over the tools that the tool it self became more important than what the tool could be used for. The people forgot that the tools were simply inanimate objects that could do nothing without the creative power of the individual wielding it. 

So much time had passed that no one could remember when they shared their tools...tools which were never meant to be collected, stored or hoarded, sitting in a bank vault somewhere doing nothing, but rather always in movement, always being passed along to someone who was ready to put them to good use.

Part II: The Time They Met in Heaven

Greg was an old man. He was on his death bed, ready to go. 

His skin no longer seemed to fit his body, his mind couldn't keep up with the world and he felt out of place. He was ready to be done with this life- all he had left were scattered memories, mostly bad. He didn't have very good relationships with his kids, neither of whom were at his death bed. 

His eyes lids felt heavy.... He thought back to his sons. He loved them dearly, but had cast his eldest, Anthony, out of the house over religious differences when Anthony was 17. Greg had never spoken to him again and he regretted it. He felt so much pain in his stomach, he couldn't swallow the feelings anymore.

And without warning, he felt his heart pump it's last beat. Hands at his sides, he clenched the bed sheets with his brittle fingers and let go. All life was gone from him forever.

He opened his eyes. He was alive. He was somewhere he'd never been before....

It looked like an Apple store. It was very white and clean. There were a lot of people and yet no one was yelling. 

There were video screens everywhere, showing past and future lives. There were time tables that stretched stories high, alerting people of who was coming in and who was about to be depart.  Giant maps outlined the universe and all the planets in it. 

Greg found himself walking into the heart of this place. It seemed to be inside, but he couldn't see any walls. 

He looked at all the people there, so many faces. So many young faces. He looked down at his arms. He was shocked to see he was young again.

'Must be in my 20's,' he figured. He looked around, it seemed as if everyone was in their "prime." Greg stopped to watch the video on the monitors, watching other people's lives play out in the past, present, and what appeared to be a future. It was all very deja vu to Greg, he had to take a step back-

He accidentally bumped into someone. He turned around, ready to apologize, when he saw it was one of his sons, Anthony.

"Oh my god. Anthony."

Greg turned pale, color washing from his face while his son looked as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"Hey dad," He said nonchalantly. 

"I...what...I-" Greg was very flustered.

"It's okay dad. It is."

Greg lunged forward, embracing his son.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so...sorry."

Anthony hugged him back, giving out a slight laugh.

"Ha, dad, it's okay. Really. It is. I forgave you a long time ago."

Greg took in his son, who looked more like his brother now that they were both in their 20's.

"What is this place?" Greg asked.

"It's Heaven."

"Really?!"

"Well....It's the closest thing to what we'd call Heaven. It's the place we go when we die before going back to live."

"Going back? But what about the bible? And the preachers? All those people on Earth, they don't know...I- I didn't know. I'm so sorry Anthony." 

"Greg, it's fine, seriously. It wasn't just Christianity, there were A LOT of religions on Earth, so trust me, a lot of people didn't know. Besides, could anyone have predicted THIS? Any of those people alive on Earth, do you really think anyone of them is imagining this when they talk about the afterlife?"

"No, I suppose not. Looking back it seems so stupid. I never should've let a book get in the way of our love. I was a lousy father-"

"This isn't why I came to see you, you need to stop blaming and judging yourself. Just accept that it's in the past, it happened."

"I just want to go back and fix my mistakes- Wait, you said you came to see me, here?"

"Yeah, well, we've had about 400 lives together. In MOST of them I've been your father, but now we've switched and you're now my father. That's pretty normal, so don't worry. But... we just keep going in a similar pattern. I just wanted to come see you to say that the past is in the past, and it's okay. You talk about wanting to go back and fix mistakes, well that's the beauty of life, Greg, it just keeps moving forward, so if you want that chance, you'll get it. I wanted to tell you to just stop being a procrastinator. The relationships and things you want in Heaven...don't wait to die before allowing yourself to have them next time. Make them for yourself in THIS life. Don't keep pushing it off. You've used Heaven as an excuse before and guess what happens, we never get there. I just want to have a good relationship with you while we're alive."

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything, when you feel like you're ready, we'll both know."

Greg reached out and hugged Anthony again. Without any notice, they both vanished.

the Dream of Living

Blackness. He opened his eyes slowly, his eyelids felt heavy. Extreme white blinded him. As his eyes focused he made out a few faces, people standing over him. They looked sad with tears running down their face. He took one last breath before closing his eyes. The last thing he was aware of was the sound of a Pop.

Blackness. His eyes couldn't seem to open but he felt an extraordinary amount of pain. It passed quickly though and he noticed there was a hint of light far off in the distance. He realized that his eyes were open and that it was just dark here, the light was all that seemed to exist. It felt warm and comforting. He noticed he was floating. A thought that seemed a million miles away passed through him, "is this space?" He couldn't remember what space was but this did feel familiar. He realized he couldn't remember where he had been before he was here.

The light was growing brighter, it was a point moving towards him, but not in a straight line. It seemed to meander towards him, taking it's time. As it neared he felt anxious. He no longer felt safe and wanted to get away from the approaching light, but he was unable to move. All he could do was float there as he watched meandering it way towards him.

Soon he saw it, a terrible monster gliding towards him with it's mouth open. Sharp, jagged teeth were illuminated by the light, which was a bulb floating off the creatures head. Before he knew what was happening, the creature had him in it's mouth.

Blackness. He felt a lot of pain. Then the pain stopped and he was able to look around. He saw a light far away coming towards him. He felt no fear or anxiousness, he simply watched as the light came closer. He had no memory of anything previous to this. He was a blank canvas soaking in information.

The light was getting closer, it was illuminating everything around it. He could see tiny particles floating where the light touched.

He watched as the light, attached to creature, approached him. Without warning he disappeared inside it's mouth.

Blackness. She felt a lot of pain as she realized she'd fallen asleep on her arm. She slowly opened her eyes, massaging blood back into her limb. She sat up in her bed, looking around past all the movie posters, expecting to see something. But it was just her empty room. She could vaguely remember something. She saw images in her mind and felt something, it felt like a memory. Or maybe it was the memory of a dream she'd had long ago.

She laid her head back down on the pillow. In her mind, she began thinking about flying through outer space as she slowly drifted off into the ethos. Blackness.