Beyond Time and Space

Beyond Time and Space

Beyond Time and Space

Bazillions of suns away, or thousands of light years away, as the humans call it, there existed a Portal in the Centre of the Universe, upon whose ethereal glory the Creator’s blue eyes were fixated.

The Creator stood in the middle of a colossal white hall, wearing a shimmering robe of muslin.

His long, snowy beard did nothing but add to his godly appearance. Ironically so, seeing that he was the one who created the concept of God in the first place.

His forehead creased as he gazed into the Portal, his thoughts becoming clearer.

His reverie was interrupted by a voice, that said,

“Sire, Wisp requests an audience with you.”

He gave a minuscule nod and the Spacekeeper went away.

Seconds later, a golden-haired woman walked in, and bowed deeply.

“What brings you to me, child?” He asked, still looking through the bright hole.

“Is what I hear true?” Wisp questioned, her voice quivering. “Sire, you cannot do such a thing. It's impact on the Balance will be disastrous. Surely, you know that!”

“Child, I am well aware of the Balance. You need not concern yourself with this matter. It has been taken care of.”

“But why would you want to destroy Earth?! Why would you end the lives of the millions of people that you created yourself?!” Wisp asked, completely distraught.

“You will refrain from speaking to me that way again, child,” his eyes blazed with cold anger. “I've done enough for the people on the Blue Planet. I've given them the greatest gift they could ever receive; the gift of life. They're my mightiest creations, and if I decide that it is time for them to finally perish, then that will happen and no one will persuade me otherwise.”

“But they've done nothing to endure such a punish—“

“Have they not, now?!” The Creator’s voice thundered, as he turned around to face her. “Those humans have forgotten the fact that stronger forces exist and they fear nothing else except their own kind, anymore. They've defiled my gift with greed, hatred and the evil of their own minds. For long have I sat upon this throne and watched them destroy each other, but no more. The fate that awaits them is exactly what those mortals deserve!”

He took a deep breath and gazed at Wisp, intently, his eyes containing the wisdom of eons.

“It is our duty to maintain a Balance in the Universe. That is precisely why we call ourselves Spacekeepers. The humans on the Blue Planet have outlived their luck, and now they will pay for their sins, child,” he continued, his words spilling over her ears like ink on paper.

“Not all of them deserve to die, Sire,” Wisp spoke, softly. “Not all of them have harmed their home. Some are still loyal to your creation and care about it deeply. If only you would give them another chance—“

“There are no more chances to be given,” his smooth voice suddenly turned firm. “Child, the cosmos is a strange place. A few million years more, and there will be another Earth, which will spawn out of a dying star. And, you can have your beloved humans back then. Those people won't have been corrupted and they wouldn't be as ruthless as these monsters.”

“Like I said, there are innocent people on Earth who will be killed mercilessly by the Great Flood you have planned. They do not deserve to be slaughtered in our plans for justice!” Wisp countered, thinking about the small girl on Earth she had been watching over since the last few years.

Her angelic eyes filled with tears.

For a second, her mind reeled a millennia back, to the dark days when she was a mortal.

“Mother! MOTHER! Something's wrong with Albie! Come quick!” an 8 year old, golden-haired girl panted, as she entered a grey hut.

Her mother gave her a sharp glance and hurried outside, with a damp cloth in her hand.

She stopped short at the sight of her son lying on the ground, writhing in pain. A deep gash ran down his chest, and his shirt was smeared with thick blood.

“Albie! Darling, I—“ a sob wracked her body, as she knelt down beside him and watched helplessly as her eldest and the only son lay in the mud, with his sword lying beside him.

The girl watched it all without uttering a single sound, quite unaware of the permanence of death.

Not knowing what any of this meant.

It wasn't until the day that her mother left home for work and never came back, did that girl understand what it meant to go away forever.

The Creator watched all of this with fascination.

And then it was decided that the little girl be brought up to the Centre, for the Creator was smitten with her charm and amazed by her lack concern for mortal life.

She was one of the first people on Earth to wish for immortality.

And she, the Creator decided, would have it.

She would be called the one Earthling in the Centre of the Universe. Like a wisp of air floating into vacuum.

Except that she loved her mother and brother dearly.

And she did care for mortal life.

And no, she wasn't going to let that little girl on Earth lose her life. Or the life of her beloved family.

“We've watched that planet being born, child. We've seen civilisations rise and fall, calamities shatter the hopes of Men, the horrors of war upon innocents, the happiness that their intellect has brought them, and along with it, the thrill of discovering unknown limits to which they could leap—and they've seen it all, too. Yet, they do not fear the wrath of the God that we've lead them to believe, nor do they respect the Nature that brought them up. They have disappointed me to no end. And I cannot let them continue doing so for all eternity,” he said in a final, unquestionable tone.

Wisp hung her head, feeling deeply for all the lives that would be lost, especially the little girl, who did not even comprehend the concept of death.

As if reading her mind, the Creator placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“We are beyond Time and Space, my dear Wisp,” he reminded her. “We will continue to live on when all else perishes. It will not do to form attachments. There are newer galaxies and stars to be created and planets to look after. Soon, the Universe will be a better place without the Blue Planet.”

He drifted back to the Portal, convinced that the conversation was over, and that was when it happened.

For a brief second, Wisp caught a glimpse of the scene playing itself over and over inside the luminous window.

The entire Blue Planet was covered in red water. Dead mortals floated to the surface, in distorted forms. The establishments they had created, the roads they had made, the vehicles they had used, the instruments that they had developed—all lay in ruins, as if destroyed by a mighty storm and then swept away by the gigantic oceans.

Wisp watched in horror as the Blue Planet engulfed itself.

“I wish I could turn back the clock and bring the wheels of time to a stop. I won’t let this happen,” she whispered.

The Creator slowly turned around, his gentle face was a mask of coldness.

“You will do no such thing, child. I will have you Banished from the Centre, where you will live the rest of the eternity all alone in Space, and gradually die as your powers of immortality fade away in my absence,” he spoke in a way that made Wisp shiver in fear.

His surreal self glowed with the light of a thousand moons. His voice was daunting, yet melodious.

“Sire, I will not stand by and watch you take away the life of these mortals. You may do as you please, but I will do as I please,” Wisp declared, looking straight into the electrifying blue eyes of the Creator.

She marched out of the hall, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. Even though her eyes were moist, they carried a fierce determination in them. The kind of determination that no one in the Centre of the Universe had ever seen in anyone's eyes, except those of the Creator.

And that is how, Wisp left the Creator to come and help his Creations. And she never came back.

Days later, the Creator sat upon his throne, waiting for the Spacekeeper he summoned.

“What do you know about her?” He asked, as soon as the soldier entered.

“We located her, sire, on the Blue Planet,” the Spacekeeper spoke carefully.

“And?”

“She has used her powers to bring Balance to the Earth, sire. The storm that was going to hit the planet now cannot be unleashed until,” he took a deep breath, “ another half a century.”

The Creator looked eerily calm.

He walked to the Portal in the middle of the hall again and closed his eyes.

A blue light emerged out of that endless window and images sprang back to life.

The same chaos. Death. Destruction.

He looked at it for what felt like an eternity and then spoke in the same wistful voice,

“What do they think of it? The mortals?”

“They suspect nothing, sire. Their latest NASA report talks about an upcoming world eclipse, and that's about it. Nothing extraordinary.”

“Their future remains the same. Wisp’s sacrifice has merely extended their lives for a few more years. But they will perish soon, and we will still be here to watch the Blue Planet collapse.” The Creator spoke, glancing one last time at the future of humans.

“What about Wisp, sire? She's being held captive, here.”

“Banish her, for all eternity. She will soon perish too. And all of this befalls her just because she wanted to save the monsters who didn't want to be saved.”

“Right away, sire.” The Spacekeeper bowed, and left the hall.

The Creator turned back towards the Portal, and for a second, he saw the image of a golden-haired woman, drifting lifeless across Space.

And then, everything went black.