I sat up in the sand, looking over the cove once again. Life crept out of every crevice, filled every patch of land, and basked in the radiant sun. I felt something different than before. I was connected with this place, no longer isolated in my own mind. I was bridged with everything around me. I could sense all, yet we could not speak. I could feel yet not know. Words were not the medium of communication, it was emotion.
Waves crashed against the shore, which was starkly different from the calm, glass-like water that I initially observed before my journey through the void. As I watched the dance of the waves, a dolphin lept out from the sea, soaring into the sky and arching back down with a splash. The trail behind the dolphin seemed to glow teal. It was as if everything it passed danced with the light of the soul. What was this creature? It seemed to beckon me.
It rode a wave onto the sand, trapping itself on land. I felt it calling to me, trusting me to push him, or her, back into the cove. I stood up and made my way down to the creature. It was quite large, much lengthier than the height of a man. Calmly, I reached out my hand and touched it.
From all around, animals emerged to greet me. Seabirds flew down and landed in the sand, turtles waddled out of the surf, hares hopped from the inland hills, and lizards came down from the rocks. It was as if they were waiting for something, watching me stand before the dolphin. I did not know what I was to do, to say. Was it the emotion I now emitted that drew them? I felt reverence for life that I never had before, an understanding of chaotic yet divine order.
A warm feeling deep within my chest burned with like the passion felt towards another human. Yet, here it burned for all around. I could feel them, each and every life around me. I looked back at the majestic dolphin, staring into its dark eye. I sensed its name was Dah, and it was a female. She relayed, via this new intuition, that I must relay something to the creatures that came to see me.
How do I talk with them? I pondered, yet I knew the answer.
I turned, taking my hand from the side of the dolphin and crouched down. Closing my eyes, I felt intense care and respect. The animals seemed to nod in recognition, and I could feel their favor towards me. Within the void I learned a lesson that cannot be had in the world of light. The void showed that the soul is the real source of all light, and that light is all that truly exists. Connecting with other souls was the true purpose of existence; not connecting in traditional human love, but a deeper connection with all life around. It was a transient, permeating attachment to all, living and dead.
I now understood the purpose of my journey and the fight with my shadow. I was shaded from the pure light of my soul by the shadow within me. By setting it free and sending it away, I allowed the light in the shadow to be birthed. My shadow now searched for the shade that it never had, for it took the brunt of the light, protecting me from that which I was not prepared to accept. To see the light when your heart is still trapped in your body, would be for naught. One must break down the walls of their existence and feel the world around them.
Once this was achieved in me, the shadow left. It was never my enemy, but my ally. Together, we danced and fought to get to his moment, where we both reached harmony. It was a dance of coevolution that allowed a soul to emerge from a material body. It was not that the soul was never there, but it was just never born. It is a danger for a soul to ignite before it is ready. Just like a young animal, it is vulnerable to the predators of the world. It is at risk of being consumed by the soul-eaters.
They are those who, instead of finding the light within, consume the light from without. The soul-eaters did not understand the way. Only pure selfishness could destroy the dwindling fire of the soul. Their fire had turned to embers and became ash in a lifeless pit of dirt. It could never be rekindled without the total destruction of the self. Soul-eaters could be redeemed, but it was an excruciating process. To ignite the flame is to embrace sacrifice and selflessness, to allow yourself to be burned away in a destructive ignition.
Where were these thoughts coming from? I could feel it emanating from the dolphin, the hares, the birds, and the lizards. They were trying to support me, trying to save me from the death march of my race. Mankind was at risk of consuming all souls, a genocide more vile and malicious than the holocaust — a genocide of souls.
As these creatures bestowed me with the secret of life, I began to weep. I realized that I had been a soul-eater in my life, yet I did not know. I wasn’t aware of my true nature, the nature of pre-awakened man. These animals seemed to be “soulless” to us because we didn’t understand what the soul was yet. These beautiful beings had given up themselves to exist in harmony. And now, they came together to fuel my waning flame and ignite a new purpose in life. There was hope that I could atone for my previous misgivings — for my role in the harvest of souls. How could I have known?
I am so sorry. I was young in my understanding. Forgive my fellow man. Forgive me.
The creatures came closer, encircling the dolphin and me. They were trying to calm my regrets. I could feel the forgiveness, the sense of veneration. I knew what I must now do. My race still had time to come around. We could stop the cannibalization of our souls and rekindle the weak embers.
As I stood before the gathering, I nodded to them in understanding. They began to make their way back from where they came. I turned back to Dah, seeing from her eyes that she wished me to swim with her. I pushed her into the surf and grasped my hand firmly on her fin. She swam to the opening of the cove, pulling me along. As I journeyed forth into the endless sea, I realized that the color of the water was entirely teal. The cove was the point of transition, for I now passed into the sea of souls.
