Mutually Assured Destruction

Beyond time, reason, and reality, there exists a place, InBetween. Where death is life, and life death re-imagined. Two young souls are talking there, talking about where existence may take them next.

"I hope I'm an ant," said the first soul.

"Oh! What a great thing to be an ant!" said the second soul.

"But I've also thought about being dirt, the earth which all beings are grounded in, which all life comes from and eventually returns in death, as flesh and bone where life will wiggle through me to find, consume, to live inside, a body's final gift back to the world, and I would be its beautiful wrapping... Can you imagine what it would be like life moving through you? Coursing through you like blood through veins, and continuously growing?"

"Hmm," the second soul thought, "That does sound nice but I've always wondered about being a part of the sun, a part of that light which shines so brightly across the galaxy, pulsing, radiating in unison with the other souls as we perpetually sink into the life on Earth, Venus, and Mars, until one day I have no more left to give, and another soul comes to take my place as I return back to space."

At that moment, an older, wiser soul appeared, listening intently to the young ones' aspirations.

"Why not be a hundred suns? A thousand stars? Why not the whole damn universe, and be everything, all at once?" interrupted the old soul.

"Well, that would be amazing! Is it possible to be a part of something so large?" asked the first soul.

The old soul laughed, turned about and left the two young ones to their thoughts. Eventually, they both left InBetween, seeking life on Earth as a Seed, and as a Worker Bee. When they returned to InBetween, they spoke of their adventures to one another, and the exciting walks of life which came their way. They both rejoiced with one another when they each mentioned the sky, the clouds, the sun, thunder, rain, grass, the dew in the morning which made everything glitter like a thousand stars, just as what they hoped life would be, and how it was so much more beautiful when it was real.

Eager to learn more, they both parted from InBetween once more and arrived on Earth as a Sea Turtle and a Lionfish. And again, when they returned, they dreamily recounted their memories of the ocean, the swirl of blue which engulfed them and the current in which they drew breath, guiding them through life beneath land, the coral which glowed, and the coral which died, the way the world above them looked like a glassy globe, and shimmered in the light of Day. Life, it seemed, was more complicated than just existing.

Again, they left for Earth. This time, as People. One, a baby girl born to a family of five in New York City, 1981. The other, a boy born in Tehran to a family of three in the year 1975.

The New York child grew to be an artist. She started by drawing animals on the corners of her textbooks, until she learned all about space. She started to paint detailed galaxies within the afros of her characters, sewing plastic stars into her box braids, and made a name for herself as The Woman Who Sparkles, and eventually made commission as a muralist for local businesses. She loved to dance, usually when she painted so that her art looked more like a composition, or a performance. She never married, but lived making art until her last day on earth at 67 years old.

Before the New York child, there was the boy born in Tehran who grew to be an amazing story teller. He would tell his family stories he would make up in his head that day, entertaining them after dinner as everyone ate Saffron ice cream. His parents loved his stories, and would even write them down for him since he couldn't. All of his school friends went to the Mosque, but his family only worshiped the man who was pinned above Baba's seat at the dinner table. He grew to be compassionate, loving, and was always the light in the room. He also liked to dance while he thought up stories in his bedroom, until he was too tired to stand and dreamt of them instead. One day at church, he started to have a very bad headache, his head hurt and his heart was racing. Truth be told, that was his first bad day, the last one he had on Earth at 6 years old.