Number Twelve

Sa and Atee awoke at the same moment. The suns were rising, the trees began breathing, the critters on the floor awoke from their own dreams.

Sa and Atee blinked their eyes but did not move. They both felt a prayer move through them, the whole forest was awaking to this same praying.

The boundary between object and subject vanished as the tremendous energy embraced all of this hemisphere with a loving hug. As its arms released, Sa and Atee's wings began to flutter. They were gently nudged out of the tree and glided softly into the open sky. The whole sky was theirs to explore. All of the world had now awakened and

Number Ten

Sa and Atee both smiled thinking of the rainbow hanging over them.

Their food was cooking in the boiling water, held in a shell they found high in the branches. The wood was dry enough to burn once the first spark was made.

The humid heaven beneath them was waiting for the two to come down. Some of the bugs wanted to feed on them, some of the flowers wanted to share their their scent with something new. Somehow, even the ground was enticing them to walk on it, it wanted to feel their feet massaged into it.

Unfortunately, neither Sa nor Atee were able to know these things, They were sad and frightened when they considered climbing down. Each night Sa prayed a miracle would rescue them or provide them with the courage so they may rescue themselves.

And Atee fell asleep each night praying the branch wouldn't break or bend under the tremendous pressure of maintaining two lives. Each morning they smiled in their hearts, in each others direction, knowing they must have been listened to.

Number Nine

Sa and Atee landed in a tree, thousands of feet higher than the worms and primates on the ground. Luckily, one ancient wooden branch was strong enough for them to balance on.

They knew that they should climb down but the view was so gorgeous that they waited six days watching the sun rise and set. After the first couple of days, their stomachs stopped growling, their eyes stopped watering and their hearts stopped aching.

They were hundreds of feet above where even the next leaf grew. The humidity distorted the light like a flame, growing stronger the closer one came to the muddy ground. Up above, where they sat it was crisp and fair. The branch the dry. The sky was a pleasant, pale green.

Even higher were other trees and their canopies obstructed the flooding flow of star lights. Some of the pink stars still shone between the twigs at the top layer of the canopy.

Sa and Atee both remembered their first feelings and thoughts, as they fell they both believed that they were falling onto a pebbly ground. The dense canopy looked like dead earth from the sky. The sky was orange with streaks of deep violish-blue, they felt an unnatural force guiding them softly onto this branch. It seemed to disrupt the principles of reality. Nevertheless, they were here now.

Atee was curious why the tree wouldn;t sway despite when the kicked it her hardest way above its center of gravity. It must be well rooted, she thought.

Sa was curious why a piece of bark he tossed off fell sharply at first, and then floated down like a deather once it reached where the leaves grew.

The tree was curious why Sa didn't just try jumping off itself, surely he too would float down.

A small bird flew over the canopy, nobody saw it, and a feather left its body. The feather dove nose first towards the worms and primates. The bird flew on, alone.

Number Seven

Sa told Atee to hold onto the kite they built. They both squeezed tight and jumped off the edge of their world. They couldn't see the bottom, they had no idea where it was. But it didn't matter, they had full trust in life.

The kite functioned as a glider, sailing them across the waves of wind through low-laying clouds of some unknown world which has discovered them.

Sometimes the wind would push them backwards and neither of them could see where they were headed. The air became heavier as they descended, but they were still miles above the ground.

Massive glaciers floated atop seas of lava. Icebergs jutted out like horns.

The lava faded into sand and the sand rose in mammoth pyramids and dunes almost sweeping against their own feet. Atee's shoe fell off and landed softly upon the gentle, virgin surface of a sand dune.

The invisible wings of existence propelled them onward into the womb of the unknown. The once sand dunes now had been washed into the ocean by foamy waves.

Atee's foot was now illuminating light, her whole body began radiating light and her voice was almost silent.

The waves fell into a hallow pore of the planet. Sa was witnessing innumerable spores of fungus populate what used to be underwater mountains. The peeks jutted out making buttes and plateaus, in between the valleys sunk low into the crust of the planet. Once the water had left, fungus began claiming the whole territory.

Somehow Atee and Sa were carried upwards by a powerful force and the fog of the clouds hid all of the splendor of their new playground.

Once the clouds passes by, they met sweet angels passing by in the opposite direction. Neither Sa nor Atee were able to say goodbye or hello, but full eye contact and smiles were shared. Afterwards, they felt like angels were still them, althought at that first moment, Sa had no idea that it was an angel. It was only once it smiled that Sa could tell.

Gigantic structures made of sand and crystals, emeralds and diamonds towered marvelously over the land beneath their feet. Beings made of diamonds and emeralds moved about on their legs, kissed with their own lips and talked with their own lungs. Each one reflected the rays of the many stars uniquely. Each one could see that they al had their own reflection, their own light and their own crystallic eyes.

Their kingdom never seemed to end. Just as they flew over the castles, small villages and trees and rivers made of gems and amethyst sprouted from the shroud.

Atee's own inner light caused trillions of beams to be refracted back in other directions. The crystal beings acted as prisms, bending and shaping the light. Some of the beings looked up and prayed to them, but most continued meditating under the stars, swimming in the rivers and bathing in the pools of paint.

Sa said a prayer for all of them. He prayed that their king beise and compassionate, that their rivers be pure and loving, that their stars be lucky and forever bright, that their trees be whole and rooted, that their soil be healthy and tender and that their peace may last as long as their is a sky above their heads.

The energy shifted and Atee and Sa were pushed into another direction. Sa prayed to the planet that their kite may guide them to safety.

Number Six

Sa woke up early and heard Atee singing, dangling her feet over the edge. Sa didn't want to interrupt her so he lied down pretending to sleep. He appreciated the music she made with just her voice.

Atee sang about people leaving and dying and never coming back. She sang about guardian angels who looked over the creatures of the planet, and she sang about those angels among the living who would sacrifice everything they have if it could save somebody else. She sang about the vastness of her life, about how young she was and how long she would live. She sang about what a perfect place this world was and how wonderfully happy she was to be able to share it with so many others. She sang as loud as she could, but never did it strike Sa as too loud.

Sa peeked open on eye as she sat down and painted on a large leaf. Sa wondered how long she had been awake and how long she would wait if he stayed asleep all day. A dream tried washing over Sa but he pushed it away and sat up.

Atee somehow noticed he had gotten up and somehow Sa knew she was smling.

Atee walked back to the edge and let the leaf go. It took off like a feather into the wind, which was always gentle and soft.

They decided to go back to sleep. Sa waited for the dream to overwhelm him and he fell asleep wondering what she was dreaming about.

Number Five

Sa spent plenty of time with Atee. They would tell each other their dreams and ideas on everything. Atee didn't have a family, she said families didn't exist on her planet. Sa didn't have one either so they spent time together and would get lost in the strangest places.

They never had anywhere to go or anything to do for anybody but themselves. Anywhere they would go they were entirely free. There wasn't ever harsh weather and so they could fall sleep after hours of travelling.

Atee said that she had always lived in the crater because it was comfortable and safe. Everybody she knew had always lived there.

Sa learned that the rest of the planet seemed empty of creatures, it was such a mystery since the land was so beautiful.

One day they would roll somersaults down into a chalky valley and the next day they would venture into a dark, unwelcoming cave. They always felt invincible when they were together, they felt like they could solve anything.

Number Four

Sa walked around the crater with Atee, which was the name of the lovely creature he met. Sa hadn't even noticed before but a new darkness shrouded the distance. Atee told him that it took some time before his eyes would adjust and the entire landscape could be seen.

Atee explained that what Sa called moon was actually a much larger place than where Sa had come from. Where Sa lived, she said, was actually the satellite of her home planet which he had just landed on, not the other way around.

Sa asked why Atee hadn't spoken in his language when they first met and she said that he looked different than the other creatures from the moon. Sa admitted that he was an outcast and never fit in with the others who dreamed on the beach.

Sa explained that his whole existence was always like a dream and that's why he didn't fit in with the evening dreamers on the beach.

Atee nodded agreeingly and to Sa's fortune seemed to understand.

Number Two

Through Sa's fingers a metallic, liquid slime dripped and sludged its way to the bottom of the river.

Sa was back to where the bubbles popped at the surface. Once a bubble had lifted him above the surface before disintegrating. The bubbles released waves of heat, which was trapped within them.

Those on the beach watched as another departed, hypnotized by the ominous attraction of the clouds. Those close to shore laid on their bellies, like ancient turtles, and built sand villages. Every once and a while a sinkhole would consume a stone and purified sand would be projected into the air. Sun beams reflected off the crystallic, sand diamonds glittering over the villages.

Sa rolled over onto his chest and stared deep into the water below. Sometimes, a movement would cause swirling, warped colors to ripple. Sa's gaze would wander and would get itself lost.

Sa rolled back over on his back to be comforted by the sky. Rain would fall and the winds would raise in velocity. The suns would vanish and the moons would blanket the atmosphere. Sa would lie still on the warm water. The bubbles ceased to rise as the surface temperature lowered throughout the night.

A small fire disintegrated a bush into simpler elements. Sa meant to look over but the warm lake was was so kind to him, that he didn't bother.

One could never be sure when the next day revolved around, strange objects often pierced through the visible universe with drifting, colored light and bolts. Two perfectly similar objects descended towards this paradise. Sa couldn't actually determine if it was it his own sleepy eyes which duplicated the image or if they were clones.

Either way, Sa fell asleep too soon to know.

Number One

Number One

Sa floated upon the surface of the water. The water filled a deep, violent gash in the earth. Lush gardens grew along the coasts.

Time morphed the sky, permutating it with new colors.

Rising benign hills towered over this face of the planet.

Heat from the stars sanctioned Sa's body, he was mesmerized. Sa's nerves wouldn't allow him to move away.

When half of the stars lowered beneath the hills, Sa would swim to the shore. He would climb the hills, eventually reaching a position where the other half of the universe could be seen.

Sa believed in the endless shallow water ocean, where they all could stand and bathe in the light and their feet would relax and submit. For miles they would walk from dry ground to wet ground. The sandy water would create a paste between their toes near the beach and would form a mixture of many sand crystals to a few for even miles out at sea.

The clouds were very low towards the horizon and over the ocean. This was attractive to some, they would walk and walk towards the clouds. Some never came back, others only returned to see the stars once again. They all said it was perpetually dark beneath the clouds.

Sa continued to float along the oily river, rich in paint colors. Depending on its mood, the river would change color. Sometimes Sa imagined a giant leaf dripping with colors. Then Sa would close his eyes and a wave would sweep over him. Sa would sink deeper and deeper, but never reaching the bottom. The pressure would rise, Sa's skin would squeeze tight and Sa would let go. His hearing would leave and he was overwhelmed with a smell fresh and flowery. His eyes would see silver, blooming night beings, crawling along the walls of water bubbles which consistently rose towards the surface but inevitably disappeared somewhere along the way.

An explosion of air propelled Sa high above the water. A great splash violated the dominant silence. Sa landed back in the water, noticing that the bubbles were reaching the surface but dissipating thereafter. Sa was unharmed and allowed the river to float him downstream to an unfamiliar territory to all but the trees.

It took days for him to arrive in this place. The trees were taller than boulders, a phenomenon new to Sa.

Sa drifted along effortlessly through the forest. A lovely cloud was skimming among the tops of the highest trees. The cloud's joy sprayed down upon the forest life. Sa felt very vulnerable in the forest. And it wasn't long before a natural small dryfire scared him off.

The beach waters splashed at each other. The children played with their wooden woodwind instruments, they had a particular talent for music. The older ones would relax and dream to the sounds which miraculously painted the air. From afar, flying creatures could see the beatitude and bliss captured with sound-imagery.

Luck was the whale and the dolphin who gave rides across the endless ocean sea to distant tropical, exotic and sometimes paradoxical places. Not all places were islands for sometimes lands would connect which never ever touched water.

The moons lowered smoothly in their usual pattern. A fountain of cold water awakened the curiosity and youthful energy and life within Sa. Sa stood on his hands but gravity wouldn't help keep both his feet in the air. Slowly, the grass cushioned his landing.

As Sa slipped into a dream, a mirror in the sky reflected him to whole world.

Sleeping in the Meadows 96

What had happened to their world, Sa thought. When Atee was gone, he couldn't see anything at all. And it was as if Sa was sensitivity itself, when the remainder was greater than he and the part behind him shrunk.

Sa wasn't always beneath a low ceiling, in fact, his face tightened with limitation. Sa was, in the corner of his mind, before the meaning and beside the train, beside the journey and the walk and the time. The passion sometimes came before and Sa was looking for footprints in the air, and but, he never really walked alone, and the passion wasn't really leaving him behind. He had to realize that from his perspective, invisible things he had manifested into living fiction. And there would come a time, or maybe not, when Sa would see things differently or maybe as a whole, and he could organize his distant fractional worries with a warm salty ocean breeze tingling his nose.

Atee whipped their opinions into a bowl. She had heard what they thought but she wanted to look at them all at oncean and more clearly. She hadn't always a clue, but she knew that neither did anything beatiful, because clues were stressful because clues concentrated the division of curiosity and in life, curiosity was the ubiquitious clarity that allowed for all the changes witnessed, all the thrills and astonishment, and all of the untranslateable jolts that will suddenly arise without permission from any authority, once again, because when it comes to life, authority isn't authentic, at all.

Number Eighty-Three

Sa and Atee were sitting on the rocky edge of the cliffside. A million birds were diving into the water, hopping on floating stones and hovering, floating about.

The birds had migrated from halfway across the world, just to fish here. And soon they would leave for another journey.

The sun was rising in front of them. The water reflected a hue of persian rose. The whole sky was warm this day. This day, when the sun rose, it wouldn't stop. It wouldn't set and come back again, this was the last sunrise. The world was being pushed out of orbit.

This moment, the sun was as large as it would ever be. Every second it moved farther away. Atee had trouble comprehending what it meant to say goodbye to the sun. It had always been there, since the formation of the planet, and then it give it life.

Atee and Sa sat this day, watching the sun rise for the final time, they both considered the million birds who had no clue.

It was only a few minutes until Sa and Atee had the spontaneous dream of travelling with the sun. To move away from this planet, away from their home.

They dreamed of living on the star itself. However, the sun, as large as they imagined it to be, was not as interesting as this world now. And with the sun removed, this world would again change.

Somewhere, another star must have a world it is protecting. Sa and Atee, if they could only fly and breathe through space to see another populated world and if they only could say goodbye to here and move there.

And when Sa and Atee think of this, they are missing the last moments they have here on this world. As much as they love these birds, they realize they should share some time with everything else.

Invisible Number Eighty Four

Atee was always swimming whenever she had the oppurtunity, swimming in a deep spring in the mountains, in a desert oasis or in a clam, lazy river.

She changed forms while floating on water, at one time she may be a thought of wonder or curiosity and next she was gone altogether only to reappear as a bubble of creative imagination.

And when she was beneath the water, she just melted.

Her friends would be back when she went looking for them. The moon would be back if she just waited.

And she would never forget to buy back her share with love and persistence. She had a knack for persistence because when an oppurtunity passed by she would chase it, and never give up.

She had in her hand another hand.

She wished everything could feel the music she did. And she knew music never died and it touched something uncomprehensible. And she felt things she simply couldn't know. Everywhere in her life, something she never could know was clear to her.

She decided to take a chance on a walk once. She walked down an unknown path. It stretched to the lower side o

Number Seventy Eight

Sa would never forget where he began.
He remembered being born and he remembered every morning when he awoke.

He remembered that lovely day when he lay flat on his back floating on the surface of the water. He remembered the empty bubbles rising from beneath him.

He remembered watching the sky change colors and the stars rotate. Every change in motion that day he could feel intimately, even now. And even now he felt he was still there.

Just a moment ago he ascended in a bubble to the planet, from a moon. Just a second ago he saw Atee and her family swimming in a full crater. It was just yesterday when they awoke and glided over the world with their kite. And they saw the angels pass them by and then they flew over the diamond beings' kingdom.

It felt like just a few days ago that he had been up so high in the canopy of the rain forest and prayed with Atee that they wouldn't fall.

He hadn't been so far away this whole time. He was just a heartbeat and a memory away from the Heaven in his past.

He couldn't dream himself into the present. And Sa was always weeping if he imagined a life of not exploring existence with Atee. And when they were apart he could only stay awake and she could only sleep. And apart from each other every adventure was lesser and every storm was gentler.

It didn't seem but a minute away that he was asleep and dreaming in the center of the storm.

And when he blinked he was another blink past all his memories. He was used to being dreamed and when no one was around to imagine he had nowhere to be.

And just like in water or space Sa's soul couldn't breathe without creating. He exhaled more than he inhaled. And when his brain turned off a new world was being born and when he awoke he could smile at the sight of it. And its face was identical with his face. And just one breath was between this side and that. Where one bridge and one way led to every treasure and all hope and every friend was awaiting along the way.

Sa could handle noisiness and nonsense. And he knew Atee knew where to find peace when the monsters were close. Sa only prayed that his eyes wouldn't disappear or that his skin would slip off. All he wanted was blood to relay this love to every cell and all he wanted was his bones to carry this music and all he wanted were muscles to keep his balance in the current. And he only wanted oxygen so he could float and a mind so that he could appreciate change.

He couldn't remember never having hands and if he tried too hard, he thought he might wish them away. He would never know if he had wished away his own wings in a life passed. Maybe he once had a second chance and he had already used it up before he was so careful. Maybe he had killed another being before he had known better.

And just that thought left him infinitely apologetic and grateful. And who was he to have this life. Maybe he had accidentally been blessed. It doesn't take but a small error for the most tremendous consequences.

He couldn't do anything else but devote his whole being and aspire to the highest ideal.

In his dreams he learned more about the world than when he was awake.

His imagination was a reality far sincere than the outside.

And water in his dreams had a quality absent from the rivers and streams outside of him. On the inside, light was inside everything, and love wasn't a luxury but the very air.

Sa touched the grass with his toes and he touched the sky with his eyes, he touched the stars with his wonder, he touched the flowers with his compassion, he touched the past with his reverence.

In his life, he still knew where Atee was when she was somewhere else. When he spoke aloud to her, he could hear her speaking back. And silently, she could always hear him too.

Sa remembered when the sky had fallen. It was the first time he saw strangers holding hands and crying. And it was the first time that he saw tears form twisters in the air and carry lovers away.