Nest Among The Stars

The Universe and Everything Else - Part 15

"I am glad to see you have suffered no ill effects. I trust all is well. Please have some wine, it will help restore you."

The words come as a half open door. Michael blinks in confusion across a food laden table at the older man addressing him. He blinks again and then closes his eyes, searching for security in the semi-darkness behind his eyelids. 'The mind needs to be disciplined', he recalls, 'confusion has to be reigned in'. Flaming wood is heard 'snap-crackling' unseen close to him, its image floating in a fragile reddish-gray realm. 'I have been here before'. A few minutes passes before he again opens his eyes.

"Michael?" the uniformed man queries in a tone suggesting he is asking after someone's health, and not after their identity.

Michael does not answer. He remains sitting in silence, taking everything in, unsure of what to do — unsure of himself. He stays motionless, exercising his senses, putting them to work in sorting out the confusion. 'Immediate action is only required once a threat is determined'. 'Blend in'.

There is nothing else thought, and nothing else is said. Untracked, time passes. The other man waits without requiring patience in doing so. Patience is something he has never needed to have, for only those who are mastered by time are concerned by its loss. Michael is learning, trying to understand ...trying to accept. He knows the other man. He has spoken to him before. They talked about things important ...about life ...the universe ...time and God. 'Yes, about God ...and time ...and purpose. We spoke about purpose'. Michael struggles with his understanding. 'And we spoke about loss. I have suffered loss — loss of meaning, loss of purpose. I was important and I was insignificant. I had everything and I held onto nothing. I lost any reason for existing. I lost everything ...I lost someone ...I lost ...I lost ...her.'

Suddenly a gate opens in his mind and infinity pushes through. He is back.

Cautiously, Michael opens his mouth, feeling his tongue as it moves into place, feeling the breath gently rising from his lungs — hearing his thoughts as they are made into words.

"Is this where it ends? Is it finally finished?" Michael asks weakly, his head drooping wearily but his eyes fixed tightly on the other man, on Nathaniel.

"Yes Michael, it is finished, there is nothing more to be done for now. All this has been arranged for you," Nathaniel replies, arms sweeping outward from his chest, stretching to each side as if to indicate the display of food on the table. Michael takes careful note of the double meaning hidden within the words and action. He must know more.

"I must know ...will you now tell me? Will all my questions be answered?" he asks with the gentle politeness of someone who has borne too much.

"Most already have been. Some questions however, can only be answered once you accept the truth about your existence. Whether or not you accept the answers given to you — whether you even recognize the answers given you — is a choice for you to make. One way or another all your questions will now be answered. As far as my role is cast, I can only assist."

Michael raises his head ever so slightly. He is not the man he once was. "Double talk, more double talk. Your words are meaningless to me," he responds with a quiet anger rising in his voice.

Ever so gently, Nathaniel answers back, "No one means all he says, and yet very few say all they mean, for words are slippery and thought itself is viscous. I quote one of your own - sort of. Of course words are without meaning to anyone incapable of understanding their underlying intent. Often, only experience can give meaning — only experience can reveal truth. The truth in words is easily ignored, the truth gained through experience not so easily."