TIME WARPED
The clock on the wall stopped ticking, and the house was very still. I was in a dreamlike state and could not remember where I was. Overtaken by an odd weightlessness, I felt my mind flying away. Someone was calling my name –
“Sofía….”
Was that my name? The voice spoke to me without making a sound. It was like a song without the lyrics — intimate and familiar.
I looked around, and found that I was no longer inside the house, but outdoors. The sun looked like a great ball of fire, blazing in the sky. Even though it was shining on my face, I could not feel its heat.
“How odd.”
Its brightness didn’t hurt my eyes. I turned around and found myself surrounded by a sea of sand. It was bizarre, like being trapped inside an hourglass! A thought entered my head –
“Time waits for no man….”
There was surprise in her voice when she said –
“Sofía, do you remember that quote?”
I wasn’t sure — perhaps. I asked her who she was.
“My name is Jules, and I’m here to help you.”
She told me a fascinating story. I had once lived under the power of time and space, but in a moment of exhaustion I allowed my consciousness to wander away, fracturing myself from the confines of time, thus transferring my essence to an alternative reality.
“How come I can see myself, but I cannot see you?”
Jules was different from me. Although I had severed myself from time’s constrains, I remained in space. However, she existed beyond both.
“But how can I hear your voice inside my head?”
Telepathy! I was beginning to understand….
The sand disappeared, and I was now in an open field, with colorful flowers all around. There was something unnatural about them, they were uncharacteristically still.
“Is there no wind here?”
Although they were beautiful, their stillness made their beauty seem dispassionate. I tried to sniff the air, but I could not detect any fragrance coming from them.
“How peculiar. How come I can’t smell the flowers?”
Jules explained that such experiences required time, and my timelessness had disrupted my sensory perception of reality.
I blinked and found myself on a riverbank. The surface of the water sparkled like diamonds. There was a majestic waterfall, cascading from a mountain top. Yet, I couldn’t hear the sound of its rushing water. In fact, I could not even hear my own breathing.
“Am I no longer alive?”
Jules responded with a question –
“What does it mean to be alive? Even within time and space, an existence can present itself in many forms. Imagine the possibilities for those like us, who are not under such limitations.”
This was comforting to me. I turned my head, and the river was gone. I stood before an avenue, hedged by tress so tall, their trunks disappeared among the clouds. There was a light mist in the air, its droplets glittered under the sunshine, like an army of fireflies. I stretched out my hand, but I could not feel the mist.
Abruptly, I found myself elsewhere!
“How am I moving from place to place?”
I asked. Her explanation made a lot of sense.
“Regularly, traversing space slows down time, because bodies move through time, not space. Without time you cannot move, therefore, you transfer from place to place.”
Basically, I was teleporting — cool! I asked Jules if the places I had visited were real, or if they existed only within my consciousness. She sounded puzzled, as she answered –
“What makes something real? A body’s essence is perceived through the senses, which exist through a consciousness. Can spatial extension exist without the mind? Sensations, thoughts, feelings, and so on, become real in the consciousness. If your mind perceives it as real, does it matter if it occupies dimensional space?”
Jules challenged my understanding at every turn.
Our interactions were very pleasant. I was curious about so many things.
“Why are you helping me?”
My new timeless state required guidance, especially since I was still bound by space. Her purpose was to help me comprehend its possibilities, as well as its limitations. She told me to look up — and I was instantly gratified. The great expanse above me was alive with stars, darting from place to place in continuous motion. I was hypnotized by their light.
“It’s so beautiful!”
The moon was like a dented pearl, shimmering in the sky. It looked so huge and so close — I reached out to touch it — but it was way further than it looked.
I felt inconvenienced by my impaired perception! I could comprehend so much, but experience so little of it! I asked her –
“Jules, why did I fracture myself from time?”
The time-bound Sofía felt like there were not enough hours in a day to accomplish all that she wanted. In her mind, severing herself from time would create a restful pause. She most likely did not anticipate the effects of a timeless existence.
“Such as?”
She was referring to the absence of a linear progression — no past or future — only present. Simple experiences, such as, enjoying a cup of coffee, embracing a loved one, or listening to the waves of the ocean…. I interrupted her –
“Are you my loved one?”
No. Love is a feeling that requires time to develop. We are timeless, and therefore, above feelings.
I was now standing on a beach, looking over a vast and beautiful ocean. Its waters were a brilliant turquoise.
“Dazzling!”
The rising tide made the sand wet and pliable under my feet, but I could not feel it. My mind craved something it could not describe. I asked Jules which existence she thought best. She replied –
“One is not better than the other. They are simply different. In a timeless existence, you have no past to regret or anxiety over an unknown future. While a time-bound existence offers opportunity for relationships that may lead to joy or grief, and experiences that may result in failure or success.”
She concluded with –
“It all depends on what you value more, I suppose.”
I found myself at the top of a mountain, looking down on the world below. The clouds were barely above my head — I felt like I could fly. Yet, my mind was on fire — and Jules could sense it. I began to speak –
“Take the concept of perfection, for instance. A time-bound entity may reach perfection by acquiring the highest degree of skill. Yet, I am perfect by virtue of my inactivity!”
She asked what my point was. So, I continued….
“Time-bound Sofía desired to accomplish more. But, when she departed from time, she prevented the timeless me to accomplish anything at all.”
Jules detected the direction of my thoughts. She asked what I really wanted to know.
“Can a timeless existence be described as the absence of one?”
Even as I said it, I understood myself better. It was ironic that a desire to change had led to the impossibility to do so. At that point, Jules said something unexpected –
“Perhaps, you would like to reach your own conclusion on the matter? I can open the door for you — if you like. All you have to do is — jump.”
The moment I jumped everything began to change. My weightlessness gave way to extreme heaviness, probably due to the force of my fall. As my body rushed down, I could hear the wind, whipping around me — It was such a rush! All my senses were alive! When I began to approach the ground, a sudden thought overtook me –
“Am I going to die?”
Fear! The oppressing emotion that tortures all time-bound creatures! This confirmed it — I had re-entered the dominion of time!
