Once there was a bacterium.
He
was kind of on his lonesome, which is strange for bacteria are social creatures who
live in constantly growing (and diminishing) colonies.
This
bacterium very much wanted to know the purpose of life, and very much
questioned the answer he was given every time he asked any of the bacteria that
looked like him. He suspected that he might be given a different answer if he
ever asked something else besides his own kind, but he had never seen anything
but another bacterium. He was also terrified to venture out of his usual rounds
in the small, soupy world he lived and swam in.
He
didn’t know much about what else was or could be out there, even though this
made him terrified, he was also desperately curious and wanted to know what was
out there.
One
day, if you could call it a day, maybe it was more a fraction of the many
cycles that dictated our bacterium’s life, as he was wrestling back and forth
between his morbid fear and avid curiosity for the unknown world that lurked
the edges of his lonely routine something much larger than him appeared on the
edges of his consciousness. He thoughtlessly fled, uncaring as to whether the
thing might be possibly friendly or definitely predatory.
He
was heading straight for the edge of all he knew, and would have stopped,
fleeing for his life or not, if he only would have noticed, but he was too busy
fleeing the unknown thing behind him to have any thought for the unknown ahead.
Still
unaware, the bacterium quickly overtook his carefully accepted boundary and
left it far behind, along with his pursuer, who had stopped stock-still,
curiously, at the border of the bacterium’s familiar world.
But
he was once again unaware, numbed by terror, and a little bit oblivious by nature,
he raced onwards still, on and on, everything a blur to his frantic consciousness.
Completely
spent, he finally directed his attention behind, the good news: he was no
longer being chased, and the bad; he had no idea where he was.
If
bacterium could hyperventilate, this one would have at that very moment of
realization. Instead, he swam in rapid circles, faster and faster until instead
of being small and vaguely round, he was rather large and oblong and hollow in
his middle. Eventually, he came to a stop, and returned to his normal size and
shape.
Finally
calming down, he noticed a steady, pulsating glow, as if another bacterium was
trying to get his attention, but the thing emanating this glow seemed nothing
like any bacterium he’d ever encountered, which, granted, hadn’t been very
many.
“Who
are you?” The bacterium cautiously communicated with a dim light from his own
body. He would have fled, as before with the other unknown entity, but he was
too exhausted and intriguingly, this new thing made him feel calm and peaceful,
though he had no idea why.
“I
am” The thing simply emanated, and drew closer to the bacterium.
