Another Farewell

Four billion years have passed since I first created Earth 2.0. Since then, I have perfected the art of creation. Life now covers most of the planet. However, it wasn’t always perfect. Sometimes life would go in a direction I did not want it to. I simply had to destroy it and try again. This happened four or five times, but it always hurt my heart when I had to end my creations’ lives. But now, things were looking promising. Humans will emerge soon I just know it! I press the button on my watch and teleport to the planet’s surface.

I am standing in meadow surrounded by pine trees. The wind is cool and the sun shines warmly on the land around me. I hear birds singing their songs to each other in the trees. Bees and butterflies fly around my head looking for flowers.

In front of me, a massive creature emerges from the forest. It walks up to me and stares. It still needs some time to evolve, but one day this creature will turn into a grizzly bear. Without a word I wrap my arms around the creature to hug it. It hugs me back with one of its massive paws. The creatures on this planet know who I am. Over time I have grown close to every single one of them. They love me, and I love them. The creature takes a step back, looks at me in the eye one last time, and heads back towards the forest. I take one last look at the planet I had worked so hard on and smile as I press the “to office” button on my watch.

Once back at the office I sit down on my chair and let out a deep sigh. I did it.

Suddenly there is a knock on the door.

“Knock knock! Anyone home?” a booming voice comes from the other side of the door.

I jolt up as God walks into my office.

“God!” I yell and run to him to give him a hug. “I did it! I created it all!” Tears fall from my eyes. I was so happy!

“Hey there! Good to see you, son. It’s been a while!” God hugs me back. During the entire time I had been creating and shaping life, God had not visited, so I missed him very much at this point. “I heard that you created life! I’m so proud of you.” God smiles and walks towards the main computer. He types something that I cannot see. “Hey! It looks like intelligent life has already formed. Let’s check it out!”

God snaps his finger and we’re both suddenly in a forest on the other side of the planet. The moon was full, so we could easily see the surrounding area. Through the trees we could see a faint light.

God nods in that direction. “That’s where we’ll find it. Follow me.”

I follow God as we make our way through the thick brush. Soon, we get to a small clearing where I can make out where the light is coming from. Before I can go any further, God puts his arm in front of me. “Do you see that?” he points in front of us.

There is a small campfire. Around it are these human-like creatures, about ten. Some are communicating with each other, others are sleeping. I wonder what they’re saying.

“These are the first humans of this universe.” God told me. “They look magnificent! Just like in the last universe.”

“Does this mean it’s time for me to live amongst them?” I ask nervously.

God smiles. “Not quite yet, we have one more stop.”

Suddenly we’re back in the office. God walks out of the door. “Keep up, little one!”

I quickly follow him and step outside the door. I’m met with the endless field of grass waving in the breeze. Above me the Tree of Life reaches for the heavens. I haven’t been out here since I first put my hand on the Tree. It was just as amazing as I remembered. God is standing in front of me.

“You’ve grown so much since you were last here.” He smiles. “And now it’s time for you to say goodbye once more.”

“I’m nervous,” I told God. “What if I messed up?”

“Then you’ll try again,” God laughs. “Just like all the times before. But don’t worry, I have a good feeling about this one.”

I suddenly feel sad. “What if it’s never good enough? What if I have to do this over and over forever?”

God walks up to me and hugs me. “Don’t worry about that, you’re far better at this than I was!”

“What?” My eyes open wide. “You did this too?”

“Of course,” God smiles again. “You are my son after all. Long ago I was in your shoes, creating universe after universe. One day you’ll be where I am today, teaching others how to create universes.”

I smile at God, tears welling up in my eyes.

“Now,” God says, “it is time.” He reaches his arm forward and places it on my head as I close my eyes. “Go, live amongst your children.”

Wait, children? I begin to realize what that means. Before I can say anything, my mind goes blank. Everything I had experienced here is forgotten.

I wake up suddenly and am breathing heavily. I look down at my hands. Who am I? Where am I? I get up and see others like me huddled around a light that keeps grasping for the sky. When I walk over to them, they look at me and smile. Who are they? My stomach growls loudly.

One of the others gets up, a large, pointed stick in hand. “Come. We hunt.”

They give me the stick and I follow them down a path through a forest. I look up to see a sky full of thousands and thousands of little lights. I can’t help but smile.

I know what I must do... I must survive.