Chapter 48: Perspective
She was walking through a great field, and all was quiet. Large wooden pillars stood in rows, supporting some sort of platforms high above. The ground was soft, here. Like grass without the blades, a deep blue in color.
She walked over to one of the pillars, and looked up towards the platform above. She couldn’t see what awaited her at the top, but she had a feeling. She had to know what was up there. It was what she was meant to do. So she began to climb.
It was easy, at first. The lower platform was only slightly higher than she could have reached without climbing. But once atop it, she faced a bigger challenge. The platforms were not connected. There was nothing to climb. No way across the gap. She considered giving up, and making her way back down.
But the urge returned. She simply needed to know what was up there. Nothing else mattered. She could make the jump, she thought. She must have jumped greater distances in the past. This was no different. Her goal was so close, all she had to do was…
… jump.
She opened her eyes as she landed softly atop the highest platform. She made it. And it was well worth the risk. The view seemed to go on forever. To her left, she saw a great flame, burning endlessly below a floating city. To her right, a majestic golden palace. Just a few steps ahead, there was more of the soft blue ground, and all around her, beautiful translucent cylinders. It was everything she’d imagined and more. It was wondrous.
She approached one of the cylinders, ever curious, and reached out to touch it. It was smooth, and cold to the touch; and to her surprise, it was remarkably unsteady. The lightest touch threatened to tip the whole thing. From as close as she was, she was able to see an opening in the top. If she could only get it on its side, she could look inside, she thought. And so she pushed.
As expected, the object fell. And then it began to roll. She tried to stop it, but it was too fast. It rolled on and on, beyond the blue ground and out onto the wood. And there, it only gained speed. It rolled to the edge of the platform, and disappeared over the side.
No sooner did she hear the crashing of the cylinder on the ground than did the giant arrive. A hideous, mostly-hairless creature, dozens of times taller than she. It had four extremities, but only two reached the ground.
She’d encountered others of its kind before, but none ever as ugly as this one. “You are small and soft, but not for eating,” it said, as it reached down and lifted her by her midsection, “You should not be here.”
June 2414
Kilometers away, a woman woke with a start. She was quiet as a mouse, but her sudden movement was enough to rouse her bed’s other occupant.
“Kirina, what’s wrong?”
She spoke softly as she slid out of the bed and began dressing to leave, “Nothing’s wrong, Ahnar, go back to sleep.”
The man’s worry was only partially mitigated by her reply, “Where could you be going, at this hour? … Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m always okay. I’ll be back soon.”