Friday 30 May 2008

Ants

There is a young man, young boy, I wonder at what point the difference is made? It's not a distinction that I make, I don't have baby mountains or adult oceans. Anyway, in commonly understood terms a young adult male, who goes by the name Bethuel, speaks to me often. I haven't replied to him, but from his first words to me as child I knew that they were meant directly for me, not for an illusory other god or fictional invention that shares my name. Bethuel had always spoken to me.

As usual Bethuel was telling me about his day, "...and I was walking through the village, watching the birds and the people talking to each other and I sat down to rest. As I sat I watched some ants about me, going about their daily business. The ants were all filing along in a straight line, carrying things on their backs and looking at their neighbours and friends as they did so. As I looked up to watch the people in my own settlement also walking to and fro, carrying things and saying hello to each other and I laughed. I thought of you because I wonder if ants can see us?" He smiled and continued, "We're absolutely massive compared to them and I wonder if we're too big to see. For all I know where I live could be on the end of massive tree trunk and there are even bigger people than me walking underneath."

He didn't need a reply, when he spoke like this he was waiting for an answer, but not from me - not from the 'external' me that is. He was waiting for the answer to rise up inside him, he wanted to solve it himself. The part of me that was him.

"I came back and told father what I'd done that day and he wasn't pleased and warned me not to tell the master what I had told him about feeling like God and that I was wrong. Although, I don't *feel* like you, I was only imagining it." He said.

Bethuel seemed to have absolutely no fear of me, I don't know why he didn't, not that he should but everyone around him spoke of god as someone/thing to be feared and those that dared (in their master's view) to worship other gods also spoke with fear about some or all aspects of their being. Nothing summed up his attitude towards quite like the way he would normally ended his one-way conversation with me, as he did this night.

"Goodnight, speak to you tomorrow." And with that Betuel closed his eyes to drift off to sleep.

Tuesday 27 May 2008

The parting of the ways

The flooding did terrible damage to the development of mankind at this point, the vast majority of people died as many of them lived not far from coastal areas and of course when the waves came they stood no chance of escape. Only those people on higher ground managed to survive and as the population began to climb back up the people went there separate ways, forgot their shared histories and saw each other no longer as part of one whole but as lots of little tribes and groups, developing their own meanings for the world around them and things became, Lost in Translation, to the point that they may as well have been different species.

Saturday 24 May 2008

Family

Rebecca continued to receive her dream visions and although they have become less frequent in her old age she has never forgotten them. She told her children, her nieces and nephews and her grandchildren but of all of them only one thought she wasn't touched by madness, unfortunately, the others often thought the same of him as they thought of their beloved Grandmother. Especially when he went walking around saying that he had been appointed to his role and that he was the servant of God, names that Rebecca had always encouraged. The family despaired when he instructed his young son to start building a boat to avoid the oncoming storm that Rebecca had seen coming all those years before.

Rebecca had succeeded in persuading her family to move ever further north, in hunt of good land and opportunities and when the rock finally slammed into the ocean the resulting malestrom missed Rebecca's family and her great grandson was half way up a mountain in a massive boat, long after the flood water had subsided.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Forewarning

"But I can warn them about it" She said, after I had explained, "Or at least warn their parents and they can warn their parents".

I agreed, "Yes, you can, and that's completely up to you, but you're not going to be able to warn everyone, even if you do nothing else for the rest of your life except warn people you're never going to reach everyone. Does that matter?"

"Of course it matters, but what about my family, I should save them if I can and if YOU want to save everyone else why don't YOU warn them, even if you can't stop the rock!"

"I don't want to save everyone, or anyone, in fact. I don't want them to die. I think it's easier if I just explain that I don't want. Anything. I'm observing, experiencing, understanding, working out, guessing, making it up as I go along. But there are rules I've put in place to make all of this hang together. I CAN DO anything I want to, but once I start fiddling with the basics I met as well not bother. I mean what's the point, if you're just going to cheat?" I only said some of this out loud, I didn't want her thinking I'm capricious, because I'm not but she was in an anxious state and I didn't want to make her feel neglected."

Sunday 18 May 2008

Objects in motion...

From the time I created this experiment there have been bits and bobs literally flying about the place that didn't end up getting used in the final centrepiece design but I liked to think they contributed to the wider ambience of the piece.

Without my noticing one of these pieces was rolling its way towards my experiment, this had happened a few times before and I built a few floating barriers between the crap and my experiment, I even resorted to having one shield directly above the experiment at all times. Though this did funny things to the local water supply and it had an unexpected affect on the people as well.

Anyway, this rolling piece was rolling its way forward and it was too late to do anything about it at this time and I watched it as it got closer and closer.

It was about 99% of its way to its final resting place when I was talking to Rebecca about her dreams.

Thursday 15 May 2008

Dreamweaver

"Explain what you have seen, Rebecca." I said to her.

She took a deep breath before beginning "I've only seen this in my dreams really, only occassionally when I'm awake and then it feels like I'm remembering a dream. There are lots of different dreams and at first I didn't think any of them were related or that there was anything to be worried about, but they've started to change and become more alarming." She said.

Rebecca continued "In one there's a young girl, a bit younger than me and she's surrounded by her family and she's very happy. Then the ground begins to shake and her family don't appear to be worried but the girl is, she seems scared that she won't be able to run away fast enough. At that point a boy she's grown up with runs past her and she seems jealous as she knows that he's always been a fast runner. Then it begins to rain very heavily and it feels like it's going on forever." She took another deep breath, "And then there's screaming, a lot of screaming and people are running towards where she lives but they can't make it and the girl panics as water rushes over them and they drown but it doesn't make it as far as the girl and her village."

I asked "But you say this is connected to other dreams now?"

"Yes" she said, "there are lots like this" at this point she began to cry "but in most of them the people, animals and villages are drowning under massive waves. In some of them they are burning in a big fire that seems to appear from nowhere and no matter what happens I can't run. I can't turn away, I'm forced to keep on watching.

"Why can't I stop this?" She asked.