THE LOSS OF PERFECTION:

The Nature Of The Divine, As Described By The Talented Hetanshi:

After all this time of witnessing the perpetual déjà vu he finally took notice. The sign read, “All I need is your kindness.” How odd, he thought. He expected a generic “Please donate food or money” sign, but this was just puzzling. For the first time in over a year of just walking past in a self-absorbed state, he stopped to look, really look.

The man was wearing a black cap, a black jacket with holes here and there, and black pants in the same condition. Everything he wore was black, he thought, also odd. Everything was black, except for the man’s shoes. They were white, a white so pure that they seemed to burn his eyes when he looked at.

“This is the first time you’ve ever stopped,” said the man. “Why after all this time would you stop now?”

“I just read your sign,” he replied foolishly.

“What’s your name?”

“Rydan,” he couldn’t pull his eyes away from the man, “What’s yours?”

“I don’t believe in names, Rydan. Other people give you names, everyone should give themselves a name.” His eyes burned into Rydan’s, but Rydan couldn’t figure out what colour they were; they almost seemed to be changing constantly.

“You look confused, why?” asked the man.

“I don’t understand your sign.”

“Then it seems I’ve proven my point.”

“What?” Rydan responded even more confused.

“This world is losing its humanity.”

“But there are plenty of people everywhere.”

“I didn’t say it was losing its people, I said humanity. What makes us human?

“Our intellects,” Rydan answered immediately, the answer was drilled into him from the moment he was able to understand it.

“Well, if that were true then by definition some people would be more human than others.”

“I’m lost again.”

“Some people are clearly smarter than others,” he didn’t even wait for Rydan to nod with understanding, “therefore, by your definition, some people are more human.”

“But -- then -- I don’t get it -- what makes a human?”

“Emotions -- every person has a range of emotions, and that’s what makes them human.”

“I still don’t get your sign.”

“All I ever needed in this life was to have someone come to me, to tell me that they care: that they care that people have no homes, that they care that people die of worthless causes everyday, and that they care about people other than themselves. But it’s never happened; not once. You’ve been seeing me here everyday for more than a year now, and in all that time no one has ever told me they care. I don’t even think people read the sign. Why do you think it took you such a long time to notice me, to actually read my sign?”

All the things this man was saying flooded into Rydan’s mind. Was it possible to be sane and insane at the same time he wondered, not knowing where the thought came from.

“Why, do you think that I’m sane and insane at once together,” the man asked. Rydan stared up in surprise.

“Did I say that out loud?”

“No.” The man lifted himself off the pavement and stepped toward Rydan, his black coat flowing behind him. With each step he took Rydan felt a weight pounding on his head, yet at the same time he felt light enough to float. The man put his had on Rydan’s shoulder, and the world became dark around him -- his world disappeared.

He opened his eyes to see the man standing over him.

“You were out for longer than I thought.” He stretched out his hand for Rydan to take. As Rydan grabbed for the hand he realized he was lying on a bed.

“Whose bed is this? Where am I?”

“In my world.”

“What?”

“Come with me.” Rydan followed the man out onto a balcony, and when he looked down he saw a field filled with people, all looking up and smiling.

“Where am I?” He cried on the verge of fainting.

“This is my world, here -- I am God.”

“What?” He looked at the man still wearing his black ripped clothes and white shoes.

“Can I not be a God because I have ripped clothes? Appearance does not matter, it is only in the mind. This is what is lost from your world.”

“But -- NO!” He had nothing to say.

“Why should God need money, or expensive things? Or beautiful things? I brought you here because you saw, and now you must see further.”

Rydan stayed with the man, the God of a mysterious world; and with him, he learned incredible things, saw colours that did not exist, and witnessed acts of selflessness thought to be impossible.

He was enlightened.

“He’s opening his eyes!”

“Everyone look. Rydan, it’s us, we’re all here for you.” He opened his eyes to see his entire family looking down at him.

“What happened?” He cried.

“You were in a car accident. You’ve been in a coma for over a month.” His eyes wouldn’t focus on the speaker.

“When was I in a car accident?”

“You were walking to university -- a homeless man pushed you in front of a car! Don’t worry, the police apprehended him; now he’s serving his sentence in a psychiatric ward; he won’t ever hurt anyone again.”

Rydan felt a single tear slide down his cheek, “But, all I want” he shuddered softly, “is to go back.”