Jessica

Acceptance Part Two

Before life, there was a place where all colours were combined, where there could only ever be one state of matter. The inhabitants were identical, amorphous, genderless and incapable of feeling pain... or love for that matter.

For that reason they were willing to abandon all this and go beyond. Just to gain a body that could allow them to feel a form of love they would stand in line, waiting for their turn at life. Sometimes their excitement was so hard to contain that they would push each other out of the way and although the guardians and the messengers would try to make them calm down, there was little that could be done to control happiness in a world that didn't yet know what was right or wrong.

Sometimes someone would be left behind, shapeless and disappointed, aware that they had to wait for another chance.

"You already took all the bodies." said one of the infinite androgynous voices, "But I wanted to be a person, too."

"Maybe I can help you."

The lonely soul turned to see the source of the voice but the man's eyes were hidden behind black glasses. Still, he was very recognisable thanks to the four silver arms hanging out of his back.

"Who are you?" asked the disembodied voice.

"I'm a scientist but if you prefer you could also call me alchimist, inventor... cosindering my skills, even a magician." replied the man with the forked tongue.

"I'm sorry but I don't know what any of those words mean."

"You will learn once you live and I can help you achieve life."

"You really can?!" inquired the soul, so excited that their light turned brighter.

"Of course I can. The choice is yours now: you can either wait for your turn for an eternity or you can live right now."

"Please, help me! I want to touch! I want to feel joy! I want to live!"

"How enthusiastic! Now, to do this I need some help... say, Parker," said the one, far from all powerful, as he looked at a soul that already received his body, "you don't mind if I take something from you?"

One of the metal tentacles extended itself towards the boy, its claws passed right through his skin and pulled out a floating rib, the owner of which seemed only slightly annoyed.

The claw handed the bone over to the desperate soul who suddenly started taking a shape as the rib's material multiplied and covered them creating a body that seemed like any other but made in an unorthodox way.

Right as the newborn closed her eyes she started seeing from the eyes of someone else, from the top of a tree looking down at an old man she never met but the somehow knew already and she even had a name for the point of view.

"What is this?" she said as she started feeling a migraine, "Who are all these people living in my head?"

"Those are memories, dear daughter."

"Memories? But I was told that my mind would be a clean slate, a white piece of paper. Why is my paper already covered in scribbles?"

"Because that was the condition. You will live with the memories of the person I used to create you. You made a deal, daughter, you got a deal."

"You didn't tell me!"

"Well, if you don't like this you can go back to waiting in line for god knows how long."

She didn't answer because she didn't know how to. Her mind was filled to the brim with memories of people she never met, she loved someone that didn't even know about her, who would reject her if she knew who she was. She told herself that she could force her way into this life, she could ignore all those thoughts and lie to the others by telling them that the memories had faded or something.