The Nocturnal Vault of The Heavens

Lucidity dawns and I find myself drifting peacefully, with none for company save the stars and silence, through space. The stars surround me in their magnificent luminosity; these fireflies of the cosmos. The silence is profound and true. My body is not in my control and it appears that I am locked in elliptical orbit as the world moves around me. In the distance I gaze upon chemically-coloured nebulas, blazing comets of ice and rock and irregular galaxies.

A beam of white energy blinks past me. In that instant, I feel the heat of a thousand suns; my being is vaporised to oblivion. The moment passes and I am intact once again. The source of this power looms before me. It is huge. It is so massive that it completely fills my vision…wherever I look it is present. A celestial body that is shades of blood red and flame orange. It spirals within itself as lightning viciously strikes about it. At the centre of this cosmic maelstrom there is an emptiness, a region devoid of light and life. A place in which time ceases to exist and yet, is also born there. Gravity grabs me and seduces me towards nothingness. My body twists and stretches when I enter this void. Darkness is all I know for what seems like an eternity, but is actually a minute.

As I open my eyes I experience a feeling of relief; the quasar has vanished. Searching my vicinity, I notice that these stars appear to be subdued, like a veil of onyx has been thrown across the heavens. Three small, perfectly round asteroids materialise ahead of me. On each of these sits a woman. The first is wrapped in silver silk, tiny planets adorned through her hair and a necklace of moons on her breast. The second, the oldest of the three, has rings of dust and debris orbiting her. Her facial features are a stark contrast to the way she tenderly holds a sun in her hands as if it were a babe. The last wears not a single stitch of cloth or covering of another kind. Her skin radiates warmth and light and she sits spread-eagle on the barren rock regarding it as a gilded throne. Within her eyes swims the universe. A part of me longs for each, however only the last takes half my heart.

Time moves.

Floating at the edge of the universe I behold a colossal oak tree. Its roots are spears into the abyss, the trunk has the width of worlds, the branches spread out twin to the rivers of life and the leaves are spirits of green foliage. This ancient tree is “The Tree”. It has been my destination from the beginning. Landing on The Tree, the laws of nature go awry; I stand up perpendicular to the trunk without falling. Beneath my feet the bark is solid…more real than reality. A few meters before me is an engraving etched into the wood; it reads…

Walk here as you do in life,
for I am Life.
My branches shall be your destiny,
while your Fate is the heavens which I bear.
Forever constant, without end.
The Final Fate of all.

As I read this, flashes of lives that are mine, yet are not, emerge in my mind. In each; different decisions have led me along various paths. I ate numerous things, had diverse careers, loved countless women and died an assortment of deaths. Stepping out of these visions I arrive at the primary split of the trunk. I pause, contemplate, make my choice, and take a step. I walk towards the heavens, towards Fate.


~
The Sandman 

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