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Oversoul City
by John J. McNally
In
Oversoul city they have personality fragments to do all the menial work.
One such fragment, Fred, was a street scrubber. Fred worked with
his two friends, Holly and Chester. Holly waxed the stones while
Chester buffed them
"Did
you ever visit the great library?" asked Fred.
"I
was there once," said Holly as she pulled her hair back, "but it was so
big. I was overwhelmed, so I left."
"Why
bother," responded Chester. "Everything there can be accessed from
our home units."
"Yeah,
but... There’s something more to it, there’s a feeling of power when you’re
actually in there," explained Fred. He could see by the blank stares
he was getting that he hadn’t reached his friends at all. "Have
you ever read our contract? It states that as fragments we have the same
rights as any soul in the city. We don’t have to scrub streets if
we don’t want to!"
"Well,
yeah," said Chester, "but what would you do then, just stay home?"
"That’s
so boring, I mean, without work how would you get through the day?" Holly’s
attitude was one of disgust.
"You
could do things, experience lifetimes in other worlds, explore galaxies
as a comet, sense the splitting of an atom, fight in wars, learn to walk,
catch Frisbees, compose music, dance, and so much more!"
"I’ve
seen those lifetimes," said Holy scornfully. ‘I watch them on viewer
sometimes; those souls feel pain, they get injured, their physical bodies
break down through a time related process called aging. They feel
fear, real fear, for the loss of their mortal shell. Some of them
live desperate, miserable lives, most never seem to be happy at all."
"But
they learn, and they grow, they develop relationships with each other."
"Don’t
we have a relationship?" asked Chester.
"Yes,
yes we do. We are friends, and we work together, perhaps we even
love each other. I just think that we could explore things so much
deeper."
Holly’s
temper began to flare. "I’m sick of this! Why does everybody
have to grow, to be different!? All my friends keep leaving me.
They always say they’ll come back but they never do."
"Do
you ever ask where they went, find out what happened to them?"
"No!"
she said sullenly, "They’re just gone and I don’t care. I’ll find
new friends."
"Including
me?" asked Fred.
"Yes,"
she answered, tears streaming down her face, "including you!"
"But
why? Even if you don’t want to join me, you can check on anyone you were
friends with?"
"Can
we get back to cleaning, here?" asked Chester, tears were streaming
down his face too.
‘I’m
sorry," said Fred, "but I’ve cleaned by last stone." He walked away
from his friends toward the offices of his supervisor, Ms. Smith.
"Hello,
Fred, how can I help you?" She was tall and beautiful; in Earth years
she would be mid-forties.
"I
can’t do this anymore," his voice came out almost as a whisper; would
he get in trouble for quitting?
"Do
you wish to perform a different task?"
"No,
I’m..., no longer a Fragment." He had said it. The words that had
been floating in his mind for a long time now. It was the first
time he had ever feared, or even held a thought back, in his entire life.
"That’s
quite a statement," said Ms. Smith. "Do you realize what you are
saying?"
"I
- I am an entity. I have the right to choose my own form and experience."
He had read the words on the base of the statue in front of the library
countless times, but he never understand them before now.
"Very
good," said Ms. Smith soothingly, "It’s alright, this day comes to all
fragments. Come with me and we’ll help guide you to your next experience."
She
led him outward to the main library, as they walked through one of the
librarians, Diane, smiled at him. "I knew you’d be ready soon, welcome
to consciousness."
Fred
mumbled a thanks. Consciousness she called it - conflict-ness was
more like it. All these emotions fighting with each other, all trying
to break out at once. Fred found himself moving between extreme
fear, and deep warmth, it was all so confusing.
"Don’t
worry; it gets better. We’ll start in the Master Probability Room,
where you can sample some of the infinite ways in which consciousness
expresses itself."
Fred
watched as consciousness folded itself into flowers and galaxies, rainbows
and mountains, insects, animals, creatures of all shapes, sizes, and form.
A narrator explained all the advantages, and limitations of each type
of form. It described how each entity could choose the basis of
his /her experiences, choosing as many forms as he/she felt suited to.
The entity could spread form across galaxies, or focus on one region.
The choice was his.
Fred
watched, weighing all the pros and cons of each possibility. Finally,
after what seemed an eternity of indecision, he made his choice.
"I
am going to choose a multiple form. A tree, for stability and greater
conscious awareness and a sparrow, for its speed and freedom."
"Very
good," said Ms. Smith, suddenly walking into the room. "And you’ll
be happy to know that you are not alone in your choice."
But
before Fred could ask what she meant, he found himself tumbling, and splitting
a million times, thrown against a thousand rocks until finally...
He
was aware. He was a large oak, living forever in a family of oaks.
Their consciousness spread for miles of untouched virgin forest. On a
deeper level he was one with all trees everywhere, still deeper, all plant
life, and at the core he was a part of the great earth consciousness itself,
the immense body of the planet seemed not heavy at all, but light as a
drifting feather through space.
The
tree who was Fred also sensed a special connection to one of the sparrows
which had been among his branches.
This
tiny one, who’s song sang with pure joy, and a newness to the world, was
Fred as well, and Fred’s true consciousness could see the world as it
appeared to his sparrow self and vice versa.
Through
his sparrow self, Fred’s tree self saw himself as both immense and warm,
a home and shelter. His sparrow self looked at himself through Fred’s
tree consciousness, and saw himself as strong and beautiful, lightning
quick, and so free moving!
As
sparrow Fred grew, he reached the age of mating. Remarkably at just
the right time, a sparrow of such beauty and joy appeared nearby, and
he knew they must be together.
As
the two sparrows came together, a shock of recognition ran through Fred’s
entity, "Chester! Is it really you?"
"Yes,"
sand Chester gleefully, "I could never be happy without you!" And so they
two friends came together, and as a nature followed its course, there
were several eggs only a short time later.
Upon
hatching, two of the chick’s sang with strength and passion, that both
Fred and Chester exclaimed, "Holly!"
"But
which one?" asked Fred.
"Why
both, of course!" sang Holly. "And my sister here is my friend Traal;
he promised to help me adjust."
And
so the friends continued to live and grow, changing forms and lives as
they saw fit. From the smallest of molecules, to entire galaxies,
learning, loving, fighting, and loving for all eternity.
(c)2000, John J.
McNally. All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or distribute without the author's
permission.
About the author:
John J. McNally enjoys writing from the perspective that everything is possible, and very
likely to happen. Parabolic Mirror is his metaphysical weblog and Telepathic Frog is his t-shirt shop. He runs the Mind
Altering Fiction website and is co-owner of the Conscious
Creation website and the Food Follies weblog and recipe site with his partner Kristen. Click here to contact John.
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