GENESIS
How old is the universe? It is one half-second old, but that half-second has lasted one quintillion years so far. Who created it? Nobody created it. I created it. It has always been here. It is still forming. It's not ready yet.
I float towards a mollusk, in the quiet embrace of the ocean's depths, where sunlight filters through cerulean waves. I am small, still insignificant. An inconspicuous wanderer. Just another grain of sand among billions.
I ask permission to penetrate the soft mantle of the mollusk. It feels warm. I borrow a bit of matter from nature to form myself. I am aware that this body will be temporary. Whoever lends one day takes back.
In the womb of time, I get covered with nacre, and a dance unfolds unseen. Layer upon layer, I create a sanctuary, a refuge where my mundane existence is transmuted into beauty– a tale spun in the whispers of the sea.
I borrow carbon from the atmosphere, calcium from the rocks, and the liquid essence of the ocean. Thus, my body takes shape, a collaboration with the elements that make up the universe. I am a herald of nature, a temporary being formed from the generous loans of the cosmos.
My body is a masterpiece in construction. I am my own sculptor filling in the designs and contours that were once inaugurated by the cosmos. Each bone, muscle, teeth and organ develops like stones being polished.
Every symphony of growth, a note in the score of creation, until, finally, my human body emerged, a living sculpture with the unique mark of existence. I touch my new fingers. I am made of real skin now.
I attempt to move, but now my body is too large for the womb I am in. The walls of the shell that sheltered me open slowly, revealing the golden light dancing in the waters. The pearl of my existence is born.
So, here I am. A transient creature on this earthly stage, aware that this body is just a borrowed garment. The matter that composes it belongs to nature. A temporary loan that will be returned to the endless cycle of existence. Every beat of my heart, every breath, is a gentle reminder that I am an intruder in this cosmic dance.
I strive to open my newly formed eyes, but I see nothing but a dark blue. Nothing is heard except the tide. The waves whisper stories to me, and when the water touches my mantle, we become a book of memories etched in calcium carbonate. Millions of beings have been here before me. I am not special.
I rose, and the current embraced me in a liquid hug that guided me toward the light. Sunbeams danced as I emerged, revealing the vast blue expanse before my newly opened eyes. The sight was a spectacle of colors and movements. A symphony of beauty that welcomed me into the world.
I took a deep breath for the first time. In and out. The air is salty; the essence of the sea blends with the scent of seaweed, my skin, and my warm blood, still pulsating with the memory of the divine warmth that shaped it. The cold breeze sang me a welcome song. The ancestral melody of the waves filled my ears, whispering the formula of the past that now became my present.
The salty breeze envelops me, kissing my skin as a gentle reminder of the air that now fills my lungs. I breathe again, absorbing the essence of the ocean. I feel alive. I am alive.
Each grain of sand beneath my feet is a touch of solid ground, an experience confirming the sensation of belonging. I walk as if each step were an inaugural dance. A ritual of connection with the earth. I tread on sand and shells, sharp shells. My foot bleeds. I smile because I don't mind the pain: it is the pulse of life coursing through my veins.
I am the enchanted expression of the union between the vast oceanic expanse and the terrestrial solidity, I am now the daughter of the sea, now discovering the charms of human life. How beautiful it is. How scary and glorious existing feels. Each beat of my heart echoes like an ancestral song, a reverberation of the vast ocean that shaped my essence. Every flavor is a note in the symphony of life, a unique expression of the vast ocean that now flows in my veins.
“Look.” I whisper. “That is my face. Listen, that is my voice. Breathe, that is my scent. I am in everything. I eat and I am eaten. No beginning, no ending. No time, no space.”
Me, you, us. All beings in the world only have their bodies in the form of matter because Mother Nature has lent them. It's a pact. And whoever borrows must return one day. I will return this matter that now forms part of my shell just as it was once extracted. My remains will be available for the birth of other beings, plants, and food chains. This is how nature never depletes. Life never ends.
An explosion destroys, but it also creates. Inorganic matter transforms into organic, as in the birth of a star, the universe, everything. Water and minerals. There's no escape. We have no choice.
“What happens after humans die?” I wonder.
“They become water, salt and co2.” I answer.
"When I become water, I will be able to fly. Be free. I can soar so high that I will kiss the clouds, and then I will feel cold. I will condense in the form of rain, fall to the earth, penetrate the roots of a tree, and be transported through its trunk until I reach the leaves. I will be able to feel the sunlight again. Wake up with it and fall asleep with a goodnight hug from the Moon."
I walk to the shore and let the breaking wave kiss my feet. I take a step forward. I keep walking until the water reaches my shins, knees, hips, chest, neck. I dive, and my body dissolves like salt in warm water.
Melissa Luz, 18, Brazil ✯ BACK TO FICTION: OUROBOROS
“Literature student who reads and writes and dances and loves. Melissaluz160@gmail.com. No other media.”