Intrinsic Dialect

“Where do we come from?” asked him.

“From emptiness” answered her.

“And where are we going?”

“Wherever destiny takes us.” She answered.

“And what is destiny” asked him.

“You and I” she answered.

He was always inquisitive about every topic, and she was always succinct with her answers. She was so precise and incisive that she could condense the entire meaning of a book into a single sentence, or at least that’s the way he saw her through his eyes.

The sun was at its lowest point when they first crossed glances. They’d met when – almost as if by a fortuitous strike of fate – they both got lost from their tribes. He’d been scoping and searching for prey with a group of members of his tribe when they were approached by a ferocious creature who’d delved into the night with the same purpose of finding nourishment. The group split up in desperation to survive the attack and he ran as fast and as far as he could. As he ran through the bushes and vines, he finally emerged into a field with plains and meadows. He continued moving at a brisk gait until a shape caught his attention from a distance, it appeared to be a hominin-like creature, a curious being as he was, he decided to approach stealthily to assess whether such creature could be a prey that could serve as nourishment for himself and the tribe. He proceeded with his close encounter with circumspection, as he got closer not only did he realize this was an inoffensive creature, but it held such beauty as he’d never seen from his lineage. This creature seemed to be a female from a different species, she had less hair in her body than the females in his tribe, she was slender, had dark and wavy hair, and possessed a skin tone that reminded him of the golden-brown leaves the trees shed during autumn, her nose was small with a slight curve at the end, giving it a subtle and ravishing structure. Her beauty mesmerized him, though a sagacious being as he was, he couldn’t resist such beauty and in a brief lapse of negligence and courage he decided to engage in closer proximity, he maintained his stealth but had little success, she caught him with her peripheral view, immediately turned to him and released a tremulous yet caressing and ethereal smile. Almost as she didn’t understand the threats and precarious circumstances that represented being alone and subjecting oneself to the mercy of other predatory creatures one may encounter when venturing unarmed and unbothered into the wild. But that’s who she was, someone who was willing to live in the moment without the loftiness that came with the uncertainties of the future. As he felt her smile, his soul was punctured by it, and it gave him the feeling that he was in a propitious situation, he could get closer and inquire about her condition, he could offer help if she was lost, help her look for whatever she was searching for, or any other excuse he could think of just so he could seize her attention and make contact. He drew nearer to her and asked if she was lost, with a tenuous and sweet smile she said, “It appears to be so,” his heart was racing, just like it did whenever they’d go out and hunt a prey. He asked her if she needed help getting back to her tribe and she replied “You know, it’s getting darker, the stars are about to come out. I’m going to stay out here for a while, you’re welcome to join me.”

He was enthralled by her answer, the fact that she didn’t see this encounter as pernicious, the purity in her intentions to simply trust him to be kind and assume no malice struck him like a herd of ravaging bulls. He embraced her invitation and followed-her in silence to a nearby hill, once they reached the top, she lied down on the grass and simply asked him, “Are you joining me?,” He was not used to letting his guard down, and lying on the grass next to her to gaze at the stars represented an abandonment of his hunter principles, as he had to lose awareness of his surroundings and time in order to get lost in the moment. But her beauty was magnetizing, so before she could ask him again he put his spear and other paraphernalia aside and laid next to her.

They remained silent for a while, he started to wonder what was going through her head, he experienced thousands of thoughts per minute, suddenly, his survival instincts kicked-in and became hyper-aware of everything, the speed of the wind, the sounds in the grass, he kept his ears active just in case he could hear any menacing footsteps in the distance, he was so focused on what could go wrong that he failed to recognize what could go right. As he reached the cusp of his alertness and disquiet, she broke the silence to murmur the following words:

“Do you ever wonder where the stars come from and what they’re made of?”

“I don’t think so,” he answered.

Since he was a little kid he was always trained to be alert, at night he was taught to always keep an eye out for predators, during the day he was out with the other men in the tribe learning how to hunt or gathering other supplies to feed his crew. He had little to no time to think about the small things of his existence such as the beauty of nature, the brightness of the stars, or the ability to cherish moments with the people from his tribe. His entire existence revolved around surviving, killing, and protecting his peers. All he knew was violence, all she knew was peace. The juxtaposition of two diametrically opposed philosophies residing next to each other, about to look in the eyes to coalesce through their similarities and to be strengthened by their differences.  

“Where do they come from?” He asked.

“I can’t tell you with the highest degree of certainty. I have a couple of theories of my own, I’d like to think that when we die the energy that resides in our bodies – call it the soul – migrates to the skies to become the light that will make up a star to guide the future generations of our tribes. So, every time I look at the stars, I like to think it’s our ancestors shining down upon us, to make sure they keep giving us the light that will keep us from darkness.”

As the conversation carried on, everything vanished, time, the surroundings, fear, uncertainty, existence itself became irrelevant. There were only three things left: him, her, and the stars.

“Do stars ever die?” He asked.

“That’s a great question, I’ve been spending a lot of my time watching the night sky, and I’ve noticed sometimes stars fall out of place, I call them ‘fallen stars’ I think this signifies a soul making a return journey to our physical world. Where they once again inhabit a body and start a new life cycle.”

“So, we’re made out of stars?” He inquired.

“Precisely.” She answered.

“How can you be so certain?”

“I simply know.” She replied convincingly.

“And do stars undergo this cycle indefinitely? Do they ever stop and simply stay in the sky? I don’t think you answered my question; do they ever die?”

“Your questions are beyond my metaphysical comprehension, but now that I have company and an extra set of eyes to make more abstruse observations, we can perhaps answer these questions together; however, we’re going to need to witness a lot more nights before we can fully commit to a cohesive explanation of these patterns – what do you think? Shall we meet again here tomorrow?”

Speechless, not anticipating such an invitation, with a nod and a smile that could cross the equator he committed to another encounter. They agreed to meet at the same spot the following day before sunset, he headed back to find his way to his tribe while memorizing the trail he was following ensuring his return the following day would be a certainty and not a chance of fate. As he walked back he reflected on what he just experienced, this was new to him – listening to his internal voice – he was used to simply existing and surviving, without raising questions nor attempting to gain any metaphysical depth of his surroundings. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop thinking about the female he’d just shared a magical evening with. All his biological needs ceased while he was with her, his alertness disappeared, and a feeling of belonging invaded his conscience. He pondered on the odds of having found her midst of nowhere, defenseless, alone, void of any contact, yet she was full of life. She wasn’t simply alive, she was living, he’d never met anyone who would question anything past what the next meal was going to be, or when the next attack by a predator was going to happen. She was the gate to a new life he had yet to experience. Upon returning to his tribe, people were ecstatic to see him, they thought he was lost, he was welcomed like a prodigal son. However, he had no desire to speak to anyone; he just wanted to find his resting place so he could relive what he’d just experienced – he could not concede to his fatigue, he was exhausted, but the illusion of his earlier encounter was much stronger, he slept very little that night, but it didn’t matter. Nothing he could dream of could compare or even come close to match the bliss that ran through his veins while he gazed at the stars and explored the mind of the unknown muse.

The wait until the next evening was agonizing, he headed to the same spot hours before sunset, he’d like to anticipate the vicissitudes of life, so he always tried to be present before any unfortunate events could occur. He sat on top of the hill observing the forest from a distance, he observed the birds and tried to identify the different types of chirps they made, and he found them beautiful, things he was taking for granted before were now more alive and fuller of purpose. The sun was about to set and there was no trace of his muse, but he wasn’t bothered, he could wait a lifetime for her and if she didn’t show up at the end of the wait, he’d have no regrets, he’d get another lifetime to keep waiting or at least that’s what she’d taught him the night prior when she explained the life-cycle of stars. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait a lifetime, as the sun was setting she made her majestic appearance.

“I didn’t think you’d make it!” She exclaimed.

“I’d killed any ravenous beast that crossed my path to see you.” He said with a smile.

“In that case, let’s enjoy the show!”

She sat next to him to observe the sunset; silence prevailed until the stars and the full moon started to become increasingly visible.

“There they are.” Said she.

“Indeed.” He replied.

“So, what do you think we’re doing here?” she asked.

“I thought we came to see the stars.” He replied.

“That’s not what I meant, what are we doing here? What’s our purpose on this land? Why were we born? What are we supposed to take with us when we part and become a star in the sky?”

“That’s hefty, to be honest I came here as a student not as a master, but I’ll entertain your questions. I think we’re here to compete with other species for resources, so we can survive, create offspring, and teach them how to do the same, so our species can carry on and continue to survive. We were born with the purpose of becoming better hunters to ensure the preservation of our kind.”

“That’s a very pragmatic definition of our existence.” She replied.

“Ok, what would your answer be?”

“What are we doing here? Oh, I can only guess. But I think we’re here to learn, first about our senses, then about our environment, and eventually about ourselves. The things you speak about, survival, competition, offspring, are necessary to preserve the innate desire to escalate the ladder of knowledge, but it’s not the sole purpose of our existence, they’re the means to our end – to achieve a higher understanding of who we are. It is only by understanding who we really are that we can find the hidden meaning behind it all. What’s our purpose? Our purpose is to reconcile every part that lies within our brain to unlock the meaning of our consciousness which to me is yet to be known. We were born to develop in these conscious beings, as a manifestation of consciousness that makes up existence. We’re the ocean, the plants, the animals, the planet, we’re the universe itself coming to the realization that it exists, this manifestation of existence is perceived through the thread of consciousness. Consciousness is what makes us understand that we exist as singularity in a specific time and space in the vastness of everything there is, and we’re all connected in this web of frequencies. Consciousness will continue to wonder and explore itself until it unlocks all the power hidden in the knowledge that lies deep within us. That same innate knowledge that led me to the conclusion about the stars.”

“And how do you access this knowledge?”

“Through silence, this is the medium through which consciousness broadcasts itself and allows for higher realizations. Silence will lead to a meditative state that will allow you to tune into the frequencies where all the esoteric secrets of existence lie. Once you’ve tuned into this frequency, you’ll feel all the information in the universe being downloaded to your conscious brain, the answers you were looking for become obvious and abundant. Everything around you are part of you, and you are part of it, you are me as much as I am you. We are all a fragment of consciousness that once reconciled into one a deity is born. You and I coming together makes for a stronger reception of these frequencies and we can advance each other’s consciousness by entertaining the conversation with the questions we continue to formulate. Does this elucidate your question?”

“Hence, the purpose of us meeting was to hear these frequencies?”

“That’s part of it; we met to experience the universe together. We met not as a coincidence, but rather as part of our journey that will take us to the higher realization that I was speaking about. You arrived at the right time, you got here at pivoting point where I was running out of answers, you came with your inquisitiveness and desire to learn more, and it is through your questioning that I’m able to reflect on my soul and attempt to give you answers. You came to help me expand my consciousness while I can in tandem expand yours.”

His eyes shone brighter than the most luminous star that night. Every word she spoke became a brick for the foundation of the love that was being born inside of him. Every word she found to elaborate her thoughts made him lose himself even more as she spoke it, her eyes had the light of a thousand suns, her smile had the beauty that spring exposed on the fields once all the snow had melted, and her mind – her mind was as immense as the universe itself.

“I think that’s enough for today.” She whispered.

“It’s getting late, and I feel accomplished with everything we discussed today. Thank you for keeping me company.”

He paused for a moment expecting another invitation for the following day, but she was done speaking. Once he realized the invitation wasn’t coming, he took a stance.

“Will I see you again?”

“If everything that we’ve experienced these last two days means anything to you, then yes, I think you’ll see me again. You can find me in any recondite memory that we’ve created together and replay it in your brain, so you can see me any time!”

She gave him a frivolous smile once she concluded her sentence, she liked to play mind games and tease those around her, that was the way she could understand people’s motives and intentions.

Her statement, nonetheless, led him astray. He didn’t understand if she didn’t want to see him again as she’d obtained the introspection she was looking for and therefore she no longer needed to interact with him, or maybe her statement was an invitation for him to take the next step and summon her to another sunset, he chose to be sanguine and formulated the question adroitly,

“You know, the sun will rise tomorrow, it will eventually set as well, the stars will come out once the sun parts ways. And once they come out, there is a high probability that they’ll be poignant to discover that we won’t be here to witness their beauty like we were these last two days. I don’t want to be the one to create such disillusionment to the stars and I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to be the cause of their disappointment either. So, what do you say we meet again tomorrow to gaze at their beauty? However, let me warn you that though I’ll be exercising my will to focus solely on the stars, if you accept my invitation, there will be a greater beauty lying next to me that will inhibit me from contemplating the stars to their fullest.”

“I will say, I cannot refuse such proposal – sounds like I’ll be seeing you tomorrow at the same time and not just as a figment of my imagination.”

They concluded the night with a firm hug and a long stare at each other’s eyes until they reached their souls. They went their separate ways and returned to their tribes. The folks on his tribe started noticing a pattern, he was gone for a few hours every day without notifying anyone, he had become a less prominent hunter, he went from being a top producer to a barely average hunter, the members of his tribe started raising questions about his behavior and the elders decided to designate another member of the tribe to follow him in the long evening walks he’d take as he dissipated into the twilight.

He managed to sleep a little more that night, though all he could see when he closed his eyes was her beautiful smile and her perspicuous speech. He finally reconciled sleep by imagining her lying by his side caressing his chest as he swayed his hand up and down her back. This comforting scenario led him to fall in a deep state of sleep. When he woke up the sun was setting, he immediately got up, picked up his arms and took off running, he was desperate, despaired, and an immense forlorn shook his body. When he got to the meeting point dusk had taken over the landscape and she wasn’t there. A profound sadness invaded his soul, “What if she showed up and left because I wasn’t here? What if something happened to her? What if I don’t see her again? Should I try again tomorrow? Should I wait a bit more to see if she shows up?”

He had so many questions that he wouldn’t even allow himself any time for an answer, he kept walking in circles as thousands of scenarios crossed his head, as he continued to pace back and forth, he tripped over rock, lost balance and rolled down the hill he stood on. As he rolled to the bottom of the hill and came to a halt, he heard a voice,

“Are you okay?”

As he raised his head and his sight traveled continuously upwards he caught a glimpse of a pair of feet, then legs, and ultimately a familiar face. It was the angelic set of eyes he’d be waiting to see, without any hesitation he replied,

“I’m exactly where I want to be, I’m at the threshold of your feet.”

She gave them an immaculate smile and replied,

“Then I can say we’re both exactly where we wish to be.”

She extended her arm and helped him up, they walked up the hill and by the time they got to the top the day was covered in darkness. They sat together and he rested his hand on hers, she had very delicate hands, they were always cold, and his were always tepid and when they rested on each other a perfect thermal equilibrium was reached. She was awfully silent that night and he grew antsy, so he inquired about her silence,

“You’re awfully quiet today, everything okay?”

“Oh absolutely, I’m wonderful!”

“It appears you forgot to bring your inquisitiveness with you today.”

“I figured it’d be your turn to lead the way this time. You ask unique questions, and I’d love to further my understanding of your mind.”

“That’s fair.” He replied.

They sat in silence observing the night sky, she whispered under her lips feeling cold, he engaged in closer proximity and covered her with his skin. He could hear her heartbeat, and she could hear his. Both synced at the same pace, pumping blood through their veins, but it wasn’t the pumping of their blood what helped them feel alive, it was the touch of their skin.

“Last time we were here, you talked about consciousness and existence. You mentioned our purpose as being a reconciliation of every part of our brain that will lead us to become more conscious beings who can then become aware of existence or manifest themselves into existence. So, in essence, if I’m aware of my consciousness, then I exist. But if I’m not aware of my consciousness, does that mean I don’t exist? What if someone else is conscious and can therefore determine their existence, they can consequently be aware that I exist as well. But if I’m not conscious, does that mean I only exist in their mind? To put it simply, does consciousness precedes existence?”

She was impressed by his questioning, when they first met, he couldn’t even think past what his next meal was going to be and now here he was having a profound metaphysical conversation with her. She was now starting to look at him the way he looked at her the first night, with admiration, attraction, and a strange desire to draw him near her.

“I’d argue that’s the case, consciousness precedes existence. For an individual to understand he/she exists in a time and place he must first recognize who he is, as I mentioned before, we start by recognizing our environment, then our senses and ultimately ourselves. Beings who don’t recognize who they are, and they simply know their environment and senses, you can argue they live in a constant state of stupor, almost dream-like.”

“Is that what happens when we become stars? We lose our ability to connect with consciousness and therefore cannot identify our existence? Is this why we can’t remember anything when we’re in the stars?”

“That’s a probability.” She replied.

“And how about before we became stars, were we in a dormant state of consciousness and therefore we couldn’t manifest ourselves into existence?”

“Perhaps.”

“Where do we come from?” asked him intrigued.

“From emptiness” she answered.

“And where are we going?” asked him.

“Wherever destiny takes us.” She answered.

“And what is destiny?” asked him.

“You and I” she answered.

“And who are we?” asked him.

“We’re two singularities in the universe who decided to tap into the thread of consciousness to become aware of their own existence. Now that I’m aware that I exist and you’re aware that you exist, we can finally fall into each other’s arms and form a connection so we can seize to become two separate entities and become one. And through this unification, we’ll be able to get closer to comprehending our purpose in the universe. Since the day I met you I could sense a being inside of you burning to wake up from the dream of mundane errands, the moment our eyes met I felt your soul, and I know you felt mine. It was a timeless connection and ancient encounter of our souls, who were once together at the beginning of it all and have now coincided again and can continue to fabricate the love they once felt at the moment of creation. And through this introspection of each other’s minds, we’ll continue to find ourselves and as we find ourselves, we’ll expand each other to depths unforeseen before, our encounter was not a chance, it was not a strike of luck, it was destiny, it was fate, it was the reconciliation of what has been waiting to take place for ages.”

He grabbed her by the hand and drew near her – just like she’d been wanting to – and caressed her lips, a kiss that had been waiting for ages to remerge, was now finally taking place. After all those thorough cross-examination of their psyches, after all the dialectical methodologies deployed in the search for higher wisdom. Their destiny had been met when their lips touched. Neither of them made it back to their tribes that night, they slept on a bed of dry leaves, he used his intuition as a guide and his hands as the deft tool that would help him travel and conquer her curves, by sunrise, he was a new man, and she was no longer the same woman. Neither of them wanted to leave their side, but they knew they had to leave. They didn’t want their tribes to search for them and find two unfamiliar faces co-mingling in the middle of nowhere; it could potentially be seen as a sign of betrayal.

Back in his tribe, information had already been delivered that he’d been seeing a strange female hominin from an extraneous tribe. For his surprise, by the time he got back he wasn’t faced with hostility but rather with a warm welcome. The chief of his tribe addressed them deferentially and acknowledged their awareness of his secret encounters with his love-interest. The chief explained how his hunting dexterity was showing a steady decline and that they were worried he’d become a burden rather than an aid for the tribe, therefore, they’d decided to ask him to bring his love interest to the tribe so they could perform an initiation ritual. They wanted her to be part of their clan so he could focus back on being the prolific hunter that he’d always been. They thought having his love affair take place within their realm would make things resume normality. With copious enthusiasm he did not hesitate to embrace the opportunity.

He failed to realize the chief was a devious creature, he had to protect the tribe, and he was not willing to compromise the safety and decrease the probabilities of survival of his people. To the chief secretly seeing a female from a different tribe represented a tremendous risk as the tribe she belonged to could be more technologically advanced and willing to crush anything they found in their path to outcompete them for resources, survival of the strongest, that was the law in this primitive land. The plan was simple, it was customary that in the initiation ceremony the entire tribe – including children – would toast with a drink prepared by the spiritual shaman, the drink was known for raising euphoria and a bit of drowsiness when consumed abundantly, once the toast and a speech by the chief was finalized, the entire tribe would proceed to eat and dance for the rest of the night until the sun came out. On this instance, the drink given to the unknown muse would be poisoned and he wasn’t willing to take any chances, so he instructed the shaman to put enough poison to kill an entire herd of mammoths, this would guarantee her death.

It took a few sunsets and sunrises until the ceremony could take place, they had to gather all the ingredients for the ceremonial drink, the poison, and gather an unusual amount of food for the feast. When the day came, he arrived with her at dusk, it was a cold night, the air felt heavy, the grass was sharp, the sky was cloudy, so the stars were barely visible and there was a new moon. The chief welcomed them upon their arrival and preparations were almost finished for the initiation ceremony, she was introduced to the most important people of the tribe, the hunters, the shaman, and the elders. When the ceremony was about start, he asked the chief if he could serve the initiation drink to everybody, as a show of gratitude for embracing his love-interest. He wanted to be the one who poured everyone the drink and served the food to the tribe, the chief agreed but told him to wait for the Shaman to give the authorization to proceed once everything was concocted.

She continued to greet the tribe, and he went to gather a few things before the ceremony started. When he made his return, he found her playing with some children, smiling and looking free, just like she did the first time he saw her. She saw him approaching and excused herself with the children, ran towards him, hugged him and kissed him.

“Let’s sit and slow down for a moment, before we get started. Because once we do we won’t stop until the sun comes up!” He exclaimed.

“I’ll follow your lead.” She said.

They sat down in isolation from the rest of the tribe, but close enough so they could still hear the commotion taking place.

“You really seem to enjoy the company of the young ones.” He stated.

“There’s so much beauty in them, they’re pure, honest, caring, and they understand what it means to live!”

“Do you ever think of having any of your own?” He inquired.

“All the time, I’d like to have at least two, a boy and hopefully a girl.”

“Do you ever think of having them with me?”

“I wouldn’t imagine it any other way.” She smiled and kissed him.

“You know, I really wish all my days were as beautiful as they are when I’m with you. I hope I can find you in my next life, and then the next life, and I can relive an infinite loop where I get to perpetually find you and get to know you all over again. I think the most pulchritudinous realization of being a conscious being is not the fact that I became aware of my existence, but rather that I became aware of yours. You entering my field of consciousness has represented the most significant event of my life, I can no longer picture myself without you by my side. I really hope you remember these words, we say a lot of things to each other and some words are forgotten, some phrases are buried, but I want you to remember that if I leave this world before you do, I’ll be amongst the stars waiting for you, I won’t enter another life until I see you return to the skies and we can make our reinstatement to the physical world and continue our ancient encounter. On this cold, poignant night, I want you to remember that the purpose of my stay in the physical world is not to achieve a higher state of consciousness to advance my psyche. The purpose of my existence is to use consciousness to give you all the love that you helped me find within myself, because it belongs to you as much as it belongs to me, because like you said, I am you and you are me.”

They heard steps approaching, one of the children from the tribe was sent to fetch them, the ceremony was about to start. She looked at him one more time, she once again had those innocent eyes that could burst into tears any minute, those eyes that he could kiss until he faded into unconsciousness, he gave her a long kiss, held her hand and walked back to the ceremony.

When they entered the crowd again, there were drums playing a ceremonial tune, the folks from the tribe had stood to make a hallway for their entrance. At the center was the chief and the shaman, the drinks had already been poured, he’d taken care of them when he stepped away and she stayed behind playing with the children. They passed the drinks around so everyone could toast together, the drums stopped, and the chief started his speech, he gave some welcoming words and recited an ancient story about the origins of the tribe. Once he concluded, he raised his cup and gave the signal for everyone to drink. All the multitude gulped their drink in a coordinated move, once they finished she looked at him with her shining eyes and innocent smile and felt a sting in her womb that made her fall to her knees. She looked up at him, but everything was blurry, she could hear people rushing towards her and she could feel him holding her in his arms, but it was useless, she slowly faded out of consciousness, the world turned black, and silence reigned in the unconscious world she had just entered.

At sunrise, the daylight hit her face, and she woke up. She felt a heavy arm wrapping her waist and it was him! His body was not warm as it usually was, it was cold and much heavier, she looked around and saw the rest of the tribe also resting on the floor. She tried to wake him up, she kissed him, and shook his body relentlessly, but he was in a deep state of sleep. When she noticed the rest of the tribe on the floor weren’t moving, she came to the realization that her man was no longer breathing, and neither were the rest of the tribe. In an act of desperation, she tried to continuously wake him up in hopes that he was just in a deep state of sleep, and she failed to realize that she was just beginning to enter the 5 stages of grief due to the loss she’d just experienced but had yet to process.

He had forged the plan the day the chief spoke to him about bringing his muse to the tribe for initiation. He was once one of the most prolific hunters in the tribe and understood the laws of survival better than anybody. He knew that seeing a female from a different tribe represented an invitation for war, when two different species encounter each other, they’ll enter a tumultuous conflict where the victor will crush and annihilate the weaker side. In the fight for survival crushing your opposition rids any competition for resources which directly translates to more abundance for your people. Therefore, he knew bringing her to the tribe was a decoy to rid of her, at this point the tribe she belonged to have the slightest idea of her surreptitious encounters, therefore the opposition – herself – had to be eradicated before the other tribe found out of the existence of their own. He diligently investigated the chief’s intentions until he uncovered the plan by going through the inventory of supplies gathered for the feast. As a hunter and gatherer, he had a vast knowledge of herbs, fruits, roots, and animals, it was simple for him to conclude what the Shaman was preparing for the feast. Before the ceremony started and he separated from her to gather a few things, he’d gone into the Shaman’s hut were the drink was being concocted, he’d poured out a cup before the poison was added which became the one his muse ended drinking from. He added the poison to the boiling pot and replaced the container in the poison with a mix of innocuous herbs that the Shaman later added to the cup where the only survivor enjoyed her drink.

The sun had now completed 5 revolutions and had once again returned to its lowest point – like it was when they first met. She sat on top of the same hill and the sting she felt the last night he saw him had now a beating heart, a mind, and a soul. An extension of his consciousness was growing in her womb the day she saw him part this world, this little piece of heaven was now her company in the intrinsic journeys she carried ritually every night. And under the stars she would tell her little creature that the brightest of them all was the light who gave her life and one day both she and her would join that brightest star and they will all shine together in the night sky.