The next day we were sitting in the living room.
"Feel a bit better?" She/He asked.
(I had been overdoing work in the yard, carrying heavy loads up the stairs. In the heat. Too fast. Too many. My stomach acted up and I felt dizzy. I was annoyed because I had anticipated having a whole afternoon for writing the next chapter of the story.)
After talking a bit, my physical discomfort decreased. I told Him/Her that I wished these moments with Her/Him would be more frequent. It really is what I would like to have for the rest of my life.
(Would this closeness have been possible earlier in my life? I doubt it. My walls of resistance were thick and high. It would've had me skipping many dead-end streets, though, if I had heeded to the prodding inside that was ubiquitous, as I now recognize.)
"Your story," He/She said, "cramps into the one life-time of Father and Mother the creation of human beings, their six generations and all the changes and mutations that took place. I told you that the whole process took eons, by your reckoning.
First, I had come into being a new species, the human race - your twins. They lived for a great length of time in the original earth realm, enjoying it tremendously, working industriously and refining the mechanisms by which the region of the universe they did dwell in was held together. They embellished it with their inventions. They traveled back and forth to the other dimensions, and shared their excitement about the way they could organize and expand the beautiful setting they lived in."
"May I remind you that nothing negative like death or destruction existed? It was the fifth generation of human beings that came up with that. Being directly endowed with life by Me, they had full access to all the codes and processes by which matter and what you call animated life-forms can come into being.
What the first humans created was pure and positive. It reflected My nature, like they themselves mirrored Me. I cannot emanate anything crummy! So how could they?
With good reason, you can consider these first human beings what you would call androgynous. In this, too, they were creatures in My likeness, male and female in one. Yet it's more precise to first of all envision them as objects of My love who responded in kind.
The love relationship with Me is the color of their identity.
These human beings were beautiful. They still are. They're still around!"
Again, She/He read my mind. (Will I ever learn that He/She dwells within me, and that therefore my thoughts are always known to Her/Him, whether I like it or not?)
"You struggle again with your concept of time, do you? You think, how can those original humans live that long?
Let me repeat for you that in the real reality time does exist. However, it is a measure of progress, a matter of density of what happens. It has nothing to do with marking off days, hours, or light-years for that matter.
The original human beings that are still around are not old by your standards. They are younger than you! And more alive than ever because of their closeness to Me."
He/She smiled. "You never realized that those millions of years it took them to arrange your planet are still accessible for you, do you, depending on your alignment with Me? Real time has no past. It marks a further or closer position to Me. But, please, don't rack your brain trying to comprehend this!"
"Are you ready for the story, the adventures of the first and second generation of human beings?"
I nodded and unceremoniously went to the computer to start recording the following chapter.
The twins had a great time. With the materials shipped there over the years, and with the helpers that accompanied them, it was not difficult to immediately establish comfortable living quarters. What they had learned by watching their older siblings, and from the specific instructions of their parents, proved to be very effective. They were surprised how fast their world took shape.
It was a rush of productivity. Projects were set up, buildings erected, gardens planted and food and water supplies regulated.
Like their homeland, nature provided an abundance of food. Very soon they could focus their attention on exploring unfamiliar aspects in their environment, positioned as it was at the edge of the then-known world.
They experimented with plants and animals, with solid matter and chemicals. Every time they made progress in creating something beautiful and useful, they made it a point to celebrate.
Besides work, their personal lives blossomed as well. They formed a happy community. All participated in the meals, the singing and dancing together. Storytelling was a favorite past time.
Every other year, they went back to visit their family. Their enthusiasm became their trademark. In great detail they reported the wonders of their new world, the achievements in becoming self-supportive, and the results of their experiments.
The twins marveled at their being special. They were trusted! It gave them boundless energy. Their parents had offered them the chance to be independent. They had chosen to accept the challenge. And now they were living separated from the rest of the family, they learned that, evidently, life can be wonderful anywhere.
They couldn't agree more with their smart brother when, during one of their contacts, he remarked that, indeed, they were a breed apart, a universe by themselves: a happy one!
It made them proud. "You know what?" they often said to each other. "If Mom and Dad hadn't presented us with this opportunity, we should have come up with the idea of living away from them ourselves!"
Of course, there was the distance, but in spirit they felt connected with everybody. They all operated on the same wavelength.
Every day arrived as a new promise.
Every promise created its own new day.
One day, after dinner, having left their spouses and children at home, Twinhe and Twinshe were sitting outside, watching the sun lower itself. She said: "I've been thinking...." "How clever!" he responded. "Once in a while I do it myself."
"Ah, stop it! This is serious." He looked at her but sensed nothing disturbing.
"Look at us," she continued. "What do you see?" Like a little child following orders, he stretched his neck to observe himself. "Silly!, I mean, look at both of us. We're almost interchangeable. Same height, same hair, same clothes. OK, you try to be a man and I'm a female, but in our appearance, our talking and even our thinking most of the time, we're alike. We act as a unit. We could as well be one person."
His mouth fell open in amazement. "Heaven forbid! I don't care you wanting to be like me. But don't mention the other way around. No way! Come on, girl, what's on your mind? You lost me!"
She looked straight at him. "I want to be away from you; live by myself; build up my own space, think my own thoughts, have my own friends, and, well, just not have you around all the time."
She almost heard his mind racing, checking the implications of her statement. On his face flashed in fast succession all emotional data. Finally, he settled on one reaction. Calmly he said: "We will still appreciate each other, will we?"
It was as simple as that, he often reflected later. The thought of splitting up had crossed his mind, too. He never pursued the idea but why shouldn't she? It made sense. This was one of those things that they were free to explore and experience. It even was the reason for living here, to try new things. If this was something that inspired her, great! "More power to you, sis!"
They talked it over at length and decided that they each would move to opposite coasts, divide the group of helpers and their possessions while keeping their present settlement as meeting place. They would check in with each other on a regular basis so that, for instance, in their research and inventions duplicates could be avoided and new findings promptly shared.
Changing their happy arrangement,
once more becoming adventurers,
travelers to unknown frontier lands.
East, West, each a new person;
both a new generation,
together a new human race
on its way.