Chapter 1

     The darkness seemed stifling at first, although it was far easier to breathe than it had been previously.  The Being had seen darkness before, but this darkness was altogether different.  Previous darkness had never been completely void of light, as if a lamp was always placed somewhere in the distance allowing for just a hint of its gleam to break the absoluteness of it.  But this darkness was far-reaching.  This darkness had a depth that seemed to carry despair with it.  As The Being lay in the darkness, the worry of this despair began to give birth to the contemplation that there may be no others.  The need to know of others overtook every thought of The Being driving the necessity to search them out. 

      Hurriedly The Being sat upright.  The quickness of this movement revealed an obvious tenderness at each joint, as if the skin had been punctured and drawn loosely together by sutures; though no such procedure was visible.  The tenderness was of no large concern, except to make The Being wonder what had caused it.  It was surely not enough to detract from the task of finding another.  While The Being examined the darkness, as if from nowhere, a speck of light no bigger than a pinhole, appeared in the distance. 

      At first the Being was unsure of what the light could be.  The thought occurred that it might be an insect, such like a lighting-bug, but it did not move like a bug should.  There was a recognizable directness in the light’s movement; rather than the randomness that an insect possesses.  Surely not an insect, but maybe the light of a far off candle or lantern was likely the source.  Probable as a lantern might be, the light lacked the normal flicker that a flame produces with its light.  Instead there was a steadiness present in the light; not unlike that steadiness of the sun.  It quickly became obvious to the Being that the light was moving toward where the Being sat.  As the Being watched the light approach, it began to take form.  Soon the light was close enough to allow the Being to discern that it shared the same shape as a human, though it surely could not be, for it shone with such brightness.

      While the light drew continually closer, the Being came to realize there was a similar light already present where it sat.  Though it seemed impossible, the same steady and direct light was surely radiating from the Being.  The Being tried to remember if this light had always been present.  The Being concluded that this light, brighter than ever seen before �" though not unlike looking directly into the sun, was surely a new thing.  In searching for the answer to this new light, The Being failed to realize that the other spot of light, once only resembling a human form, but now undoubtedly so, was upon its very location.  Surely a human, but some how different than any other The Being had ever encountered, though there was a vague familiarity to it, The Other now stood at the foot of The Being’s bed.

      “Welcome, I’ve been expecting you.  Rather, we’ve been expecting you.”  The Other corrected his speech.  While it were difficult to tell at first, The Other spoke with such virility it was doubtful he be anything other than male.

      The Being opened its mouth to speak, but words didn’t come, as if stolen right from the lips.

      “Take your time.” The Other advised, “It’s been a long trip.  Surely not an easy one either.”

      The Being tried again.  With the feeblest of voices The Being asked, “Where is this place?”

      The Other seemed to delight at the question, almost as if it were a silly one to ask.  “The same world from which you departed.”  His reply seemed complete nonsense.  The Being tried to consume The Other’s answer, but the difficulty was not unlike trying to swallow a saltine without first chewing it.

      “Surely this cannot be the same world.  Except our immediate vicinity, it is only complete darkness.  There was light from where I departed.”  As The Being voiced its disbelief, the feebleness evaporated into certainty.

      Only after The Other spoke did The Being realize it had not been certain at all.  “It really is the same.  Only you see the truth of it now.  The light you saw before this day was not real.” Unquestionable certainty rested in The Other’s tone.

      Panicked, The Being railed, “Of course it was real!  I had seen it with my own eyes; how could it not be?”

      “It was only real by your assumption; you needed it to be real, so you believed it to be.”  A preposterous idea if The Being had ever heard one. Needed it to be real? Only by assumption did light exist?  It was clearly preposterous.   The Other continued, “To truly discover it as not real, before this day, would have created inescapable despair.”  Calmness seemed to be The Other’s theme… or perhaps gentleness.

      “But it was seen.  What was it if not real?”  As calmness was The Other’s theme, confusion was The Being’s theme.

      “It was something synthetic.  Really, it was only a reflection of the first light that The Creator placed into creation.” 

      The Other could see The Being attempt to calculate the heft of the notion of a synthetic light that filled an entire world.  “Then this darkness is good for us?” The Being’s question seemed only to serve as a means to provide a degree of relief from intensity of the dark.

      The Other corrected The Being’s error, “Darkness is never good and this darkness is the farthest from good.  In fact, this darkness has shrouded all that was ever truly good.”