GAME CHANGER
Read Part II
Part III
Suddenly the world stopped spinning and time stood perfectly still. Cassie's head finally stopped spinning as well. She had no idea what to expect at this point, but, if she was expecting nothing, she had come to the right place.
Everywhere she looked, all she saw was gray, as if enveloped in an impenetrable fog. Even the ground was indistinguishable from the surrounding space. She appeared to be literally in the middle of absolutely nowhere, surrounded by absolutely nothing.
But she realized that she could hear something, like the buzz of electricity in the background, as if a choir of appliances were humming in harmony, changing tones to create an all but inaudible melody.
Cassie started walking. Direction seemed irrelevant, but as she moved, the noise grew stronger, clearer. Gradually sounding more and more like a woman's voice, softly humming incessantly to herself. It continued, growing so distinct that it became too dense for the sphere of sound, and began to take on form.
The gray before her eyes concentrated into visible particles and the particles gathered together, creating a shape that distinguished itself from the surroundings.
After the Alice-in-Wonderland day she had so far, Cassie was only mildly surprised as the particles took on the form of a naked woman, nine months pregnant, softly humming to the treasures safely hidden in her swollen belly.
The woman smiled and, reaching out, took Cassie's hand, pressing it against her side. Through the taught flesh, a rapid heart beat lightly tapped Cassie's left palm. The Mother then took Cassie's other hand and pressed it to her left side where a slower thump, strong and steady, pumped gently beneath the skin. Cassie looked into the Mother's eyes in solemn acknowledgement of the message that She shared; She was carrying twins!
As Cassie continued to gaze into Her eyes, without so much as speaking a word, the Woman explained who She was and who She was expecting, all the while continuing to hum hypnotically.
"I am the Being of all Beingness, the Void, the energy of the Universe in the state of potential, capable of taking any form...though you can just call me Akasha.
I carry in my womb the opposites, Male and Female that became the two worlds."
"Two worlds?" Cassie echoed puzzled.
"Yes, the physical world, of Mother Earth, where your body dwells, and Father Sky's domain, the thought realm, Consciousness, the dwelling place of the mind. They are the entire energy of the Universe divided in half, into the opposites, Beingness and Non-beingness"
"And they too bore twins, a son and a daughter. Their daughter you met already, Power of Water, Chalceitle and their Son is Power of Fire. They are the Four Forces of the Universe that underlie the human existence."
Poor Cassie found she could do nothing but stare blankly into those beautiful grey eyes, as the enormity of wisdom was revealed to her, but Akasha's kind smile reassuring.
"All is well Cassie, even if my words make no sense right now. Understanding will come. Just know that the role played by humanity is important and the key reason why you are here.
When Fire and Water, the Children of Earth and Air, became adults and were Gods in their own right, The Four decided to have a contest to see which of them was the most powerful. First they divided the two worlds into four parts, and each were given influence over one quarter of reality. Then They sent time spinning in a cycle that circled through each of the God's domains in turn. The cycle of time you know as morning, day, evening, night is the four realms of their influence.
They selected your species, of all the animals that roamed the earth, to be cut free from instinct. Each individual would also be divided into four parts, allowing the Gods, not only to manipulate the outer reality, but also to affect perceptions from within.
Each of the Four then tries to engage people's attention by any means they can. In this way the Gods have competed amongst themselves to control the energy of every adult human for the last 2,000 years.
Only gradually, over time and spanning generations, individuals managed to gather bits and pieces of divine energy here and there for themselves, eventually acquiring a conscious will of their own. That's the reason humanity evolved in a way that no other species has."
"So who won?" Cassie asked
"The game is not over. It still goes on."
"Oh...I see. I don't mean to complain," Cassie said apologetically, "The world's a very pretty place, but it's really kind of messed up."
Again Akasha smiled in sympathy, "I do know what you mean, dear. It has created a mess, and it's time for you to change that. Time for you to fulfill your destiny, and that's exactly why you're here. Cassandra, you are THE GAMECHANGER."
"ME?" Cassie squeaked, "What am I sposed to do about it?"
"You must convince the Gods to change the rules of the game."
"But how do I do that?" she asked "Akasha, don't you have someone more qualified than I am? I mean I'm only 18. It sounds like there's a lot riding on this, and I'm really still just a kid..."
Smiling reassuringly, Akasha dropped her eyes, then looked back, but said nothing. There was nothing to say. It had been written in time's cosmic blockchain long ago. There's no point in arguing with Destiny.
"So what happens next?" Cassie was almost afraid to ask.
"You will have to return to the realm of time and space and learn to interact and connect with each of the Gods one by one, starting at the beginning, with the Pasha Mama.
And Cassie, 18 years old is absolutely perfect. You are still connected to your body. As humans move into adulthood, that connection is lost.
You won't have to figure out what to do. In Mother Earth's domain, you'll just need to follow your instincts. It's the same way you operated all through childhood. You will know exactly what to do, just listen to yourself."
Cassie gazed into her eyes, feeling as though she couldn't bear the thought of leaving their gentle warmth. "Will I see you again?" she asked.
Akasha leaned over and kissed Cassie on the forehead saying, "I am always with you. Anytime you need me, take a deep breath and send it spiraling down through Mother Earth. You will find me there at the bottom. I am always the first rung of the spiral.
But for now you must go back. Remember, just listen to yourself. You body knows exactly what to do."
These last words seemed to follow Cassie through the spiral tunnel, back into the realm of time and space.
Thanks so much for reading part III of my story. I will be posting parts IV & V in the next two days. So tune in for part IV tomorrow:)
For details and a quick overview of the series, you can read my intropost here.
All pictures provided by the amazing, magical https://pixabay.com except for Akasha's eyes which is my original photo:)
Read Part IV