Η ΚΑΤΑΡΑ ΤΟΥ ΤΙΓΡΗ - COLLEEN HOUCK

Together they spun in the whirlwind of time. Seconds passed. Eons passed. And they had no more control of the places they touched than they did of their own bodies. Molecules shifted and stirred. They were molded, shaped into something resembling human, then just as quickly their cores were ripped asunder and they floated like cosmic dust, unable to maintain thought long enough to wonder what had become of them.

Then, a light pierced the darkness. The dust gathered as he used his great mind to shape himself into the man he used to be. As he sought and found every part of himself, he also called to her. Using his mind, he showed her a pattern, a guide she could follow to knit herself back into being. How long this process would take, he didn’t know, but somehow he realized that it didn’t matter. He watched over her, leaving a piece of himself behind, and explored the spinning world below as he waited for her to join him.

Through trial and error, he learned to skip through the years. If he ran too fast, he entered an unknown future. If he stepped back in haste, the world ceased to exist. Time required a delicate hand, an exacting touch. At first he bounced roughly through millennia, like a smooth stone skipping on a lake. But soon he settled. He moved in a dance with the cosmos, practicing the steps that would take him to the places he wanted to see. As he circled, he gained wisdom and became truly more than he’d been.

He scanned the centuries as if they were books in his library. Reverently, his fingers brushed across the years until he found the volume he’d been searching for. As an outsider, he plunged into the pages, flipping through them until he found the period he’d been seeking, then he sat and relished the experience. His mind absorbed new information at a phenomenal rate.

Sliding the year back onto the celestial shelf, he selected another, and another. He only paused in his study of the universe to check on his companion. He now knew that each soul, though they had equal access to all the wisdom of the ages, needed to develop at their own speed. Patiently, he waited for her to coalesce and continued his studies.

By the time he felt her hand take his, he was prepared. He knew his place in the universe and he knew how he could best serve those he loved. He smiled and squeezed her hand. With his mind, he asked if she was ready and though she could not as yet respond back as clearly, he sensed she was. He gathered her close and shifted between the stars, moving the two of them with the power of his mind to the time and place that would be the beginning of the end and the end that would lead to a beginning.