The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 0: Omniversia

No one ever inserts a zero chapter into stories. As if things have no beginning. Before something there is always nothing, right? Well, it's the same for me, because I didn't always exist.

There was a long time ago when I did not exist.

The first memory I have of my life is of myself curled up and suspended in an infinite and empty space: when I think about it, I still feel the strange sensation of having a body that can move. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the blackness around me. 

Then, I rubbed them slowly and stretched, because for me it was no different than waking up from a long, deep sleep. I felt the life inside me stirring and vibrating; I felt the taste of tongue in my mouth for the first time; slowly I also moved my fingers, brushing my face and body white as snow; I wrinkled my nose for a scent, but there was no scent in this empty space. 

So, I looked around more closely and saw that I was not alone, as I had thought. A huge purple and red eye with a perfectly white iris was watching me in the dark. I tried to articulate something with my mouth, but I still couldn't speak, so I made a simple question-like sound. The first thing I heard was its space-black laughter.

Hello Gaia. It's funny when you think about it, that your name means 'life'. Such a meaningless concept, said the thing watching me.

I turned around like a sardine to get closer to the voice, but the result was that I found myself on my stomach with my head hanging down. Another laugh reached me, and the eye blinked a dark eyelid. 

You're funny, but one day you're going to cause me a lot of trouble. It's a pity that fate wants it that way, I would have liked to keep you as a pet. But a snake can't have a mouse as a pet, can it?

A hand twice my size, the same color as the Void, came up to me and gently touched my face with a fingertip. I turned once more and he pulled his hand back. His voice boomed in my ears one last time

I wish you a good life, Gaia. One day we will meet again. Just know that I will be watching you.

Then the eye closed and disappeared. I sat up and crossed my legs, still trying to figure out what had happened. Try to imagine how you would have felt in my place after the first thing you saw in your life, a giant eye with a hand, left you alone in an empty and silent room. 

You probably would have been scared, but I wasn't. I didn't get scared at all, on the contrary, I closed my eyes and when I started to breathe, I felt the air filling my lungs. 

With my eyes half closed, I listened to the vibrations of life enveloped in that lonely darkness until they were in tune with my thoughts. And finally the darkness disappeared, showing me the light for the first time.

I can't remember anything else.

That is how my life began.