The Space Sieve

by David Smith

  Part of the reason for this lack of awareness was that they were very happy. There was no need to eat, or to sleep, or to wash their clothes or their bodies, or to seek shelter, or to take care of any of the other needs that so preoccupy your existences, although they could do any of these things had they wanted to. They simply went – and did – whatever struck their fancy.

  And what a great deal there was to do! For this world was filled with creatures of all shapes and sizes. And while many of these animals were powerful, they were all harmless both to the girls and to each other. Using this base form of communication – your language – with which I producing this account, it is impossible to convey even a minute fraction of the diversity and wonder of the life forms in this place. Therefore, for the most part I will refrain from doing so except where necessary.

  One case where I need to describe a particular creature is in the case of the ones that Diane named the “communication beetles.” These were insects that looked like large “June Bugs,” except they were a dull brown color. That is, they were brown except when facilitating communication between the other creatures, as required. Whenever a creature in this world wished to speak to another creature, it would emit sounds, or pulsating colors, or in some cases, odors.

  So for instance, when the “chameleons” would speak, the communication beetles would fly and flash green. When a “pterodactyl” would fly overhead and speak, the beetles would flash alternating green and grey. When the “minnows” would speak, the beetles would flash silver. And as the beetles did so, all the other creatures could understand what the creature speaking was saying. This included the two girls. When the girls would speak, the beetles would not flash a color, as the girls did not emit color when speaking. However, the beetles would make sounds, translating the girls’ speech into sounds the other creatures could understand.

  Some time after Sally and Diane arrived in this world – it would be about 300 years after your manner of reckoning – they succeeded in organizing various animals and gathering various materials of construction, and had built a great castle in the valley of what they named “Shenandoah,” although neither of them had ever been to the Shenandoah Valley on your world – again, they just picked a name they both liked. Framing this valley were two high peaks, that the girls named “The Two Alps.”

  The fact that the girls built this castle 300 years from the time they arrived would seem to you to mean that this event will happen in the future. I suppose that would be true based on the way you understand the past, present, and future. But past, present, and future are all the same to me.

  They named their castle “England Castle.” Thus this castle was rimmed on the sides by the great “Two Alps of New California” standing in the distance to the rear of their great building.

  All of the creatures were welcome in the castle. Indeed, a number of them lived there. The girls’ lives – and those of the creatures – seemed an endless time of discovery and joy.

  One favorite activity for Sally and Diane was flying the “cherubs.” (Diane had initially called them alternatively the “cherubims” or the “seraphims,” inaccurately using a double plural terminology. Later, they used the simplified term “cherub” to refer to one of them, but the still inaccurate term, “cherubs” to refer to both.) The cherubs – or so the girls named them – were two large, blue, feathered creatures considerably larger than the size of your elephants – more along the size of a whale. And yet, the shape of their bodies differed from elephants or whales, as their bodies included large, bird-like chests, tails, and vast, powerful wings.

  The first time the girls saw the cherubs flying overhead, Sally, the more impetuous of the two, had begun to wonder how to saddle the creatures so she could fly on them. Several decades after they arrived, she had succeeded in making a harness and saddle that both she and Diane could use to fly on the female Cherub, which they named “Asherah” (pronounced ASH-er-uh), after a name Diane had heard and remembered from a Bible class. They named the male “El,” which is pronounced the same as the letter, “L.”

  The first time they ever flew on Asherah was a time they both remembered ever after. It is an interesting aspect of this place, that while El and Asherah were perhaps the two most noteworthy animals there – and by far the most intelligent – even more so than the human girls – they were nonetheless very humble and kind. They willingly allowed the girls to hatch their scheme to saddle and fly upon Asherah – indeed their main concern was for the two girls’ safety. The cherubs had agreed to this, and the stronger male cherub had decided he would fly alongside Asherah and the two girls, ready to snatch one or both of the girls in his large jaws in the event that either fell off.

  So the time came for the first attempt to ride Asherah. Tucking a communication beetle into her belt, Sally saddled Asherah, and both girls climbed onto the saddle and strapped themselves down. As the two girls sat on the back of Asherah, holding on to the saddle, Asherah extended her wings. At that moment, Diane realized that she had not noticed before just how long Asherah’s wings were. Asherah paused for a moment with her wings extended, and then she began to gently flap them. As she moved them harder and harder, they thrust the air downward against the grass below. Soon, Asherah began to generate enough down draft that it felt as if she would soon become airborne.

  But then Asherah flashed blue. The cherubs were the only creatures in New California that were an iridescent blue. They were the only creature of any kind for which the communication beetles flashed blue.

  In response to Asherah’s wish to speak to the girls, the communication beetle under Sally’s belt flashed blue, and spoke.

  “I can’t lift off just flapping my wings. I’ll have to jump.”

  Sally, in the front, looked back at Diane, whose eyes were wide.

  A communication beetle conveyed Sally’s affirmative nod to Asherah who tucked her wings to her side and crouched. Both girls screamed, bent low, and held on. Then, Asherah jumped into the air.

  Her wings drove down, and up, down, and up. Just as Diane had not noticed before how long Asherah’s wings were, she had not imagined how powerful they were. Like you sometimes feel when you are on one of your “thrill rides,” Diane felt the fear that comes with finding oneself in a situation where one’s body is being moved strongly in a way that is completely beyond the person’s expectation or control. Both girls felt the powerful lunges forward, the brief pause, and then the powerful lunge again with each wing stroke. It was exhilarating for both girls, feeling Asherah’s strength as she drove them further and further into the sky with her magnificent wings.

  In a few moments, her strokes diminished in intensity and Asherah’s wings became more extended, as they began to soar. About this time both girls realized something else about flying. It was something that David had realized when he first flew: Flying is very windy. In fact, it was so windy that almost all either girl could do was hold on and listen to the rushing of air. If you have ever ridden on of your motorcycles without glasses, a helmet, or a windshield, you know what I am talking about.

  You may remember that in David’s case – when he had the Space Sieve – he took steps to alleviate the problem of the wind in his eyes and ears by creating various energy fields around himself so that the rushing air could not contact him. Thus, his experience with flying was much more pleasant – much more along the lines of what your kind imagines flying would be like. (In other words, when you imagine what flying would be like, you always forget just how much rushing of air there would be if you were to fly.) But since neither of these girls had the means to remove the effects of the rushing air, they just had to put up with it.

  Sally and Diane both put their heads down. The air was whipping by so fast neither one could look forward into the gale. As they looked to the side, they could see the massive and powerful El, attentively flying alongside, watching for any difficulties.

  Suddenly, A
sherah banked. It was actually a very gentle bank, but it seemed hard and sudden to the girls who felt their insides turning as their bodies were forced into the curve, and they momentarily felt themselves being pressed hard into their seats by the forces of flight. Diane bent over and closed her eyes. But based on a great many other experiences with the two cherubs, Sally had decided that she trusted Asherah and El more that she trusted anyone she had ever known, and she had concluded to try to soak up the experience without fear. Looking to the side and down, she could see their England Castle below. And indeed, this was Asherah’s reason for banking – she had wanted to show them their castle from the sky – from the vantage point she herself had seen so often.

  Struggling against both the wind and the g-forces, Sally looked back to Diane, who had her face down and was merely trying to hold on.

  “Look!” she said, pointing at the castle, but Diane didn’t move.

  She caught a glimpse of El who was now circling below, watching for any possible contingency.

  Sally was Chip’s sister, so she too had lost her mother as a child, and had to come to terms with it. But now, with El and Asherah, she felt she had found new parents. Sometimes – when a child has the peace and security that comes with having thoughtful, caring parents – the child seeks more. And Sally wanted more now. She wanted excitement.

  Deciding that what she was doing now wasn’t really flying, Sally decided she would put her new guardians to the test. She didn’t know how it would all work out – she knew she couldn’t fly – but she was confident that no harm could come to her with El, her powerful surrogate father, flying watchfully below.

  And so, while firmly grasping the handle of the saddle she had made, she undid the straps that held her. She raised her legs, and crouched. She hesitated. And then, she let go of the saddle and jumped off Asherah’s back.

  As soon as she came off, she felt the shock of the air in her face pummeling her far worse than it had been before. Unbeknownst to Sally, Asherah had been using some of her forward feathers to act as a wind break for the two girls.

  As Sally felt the full force of the wind, she was thrown backward violently, with Asherah appearing to race away from her. Something else Sally had not appreciated was the skill with which Asherah had been flying. For it is often the case that when creatures that are unskilled in something see a skilled creature performing an action with great ease, the unskilled creature thinks the function is therefore easy. Asherah had made flying look easy. Sally began to tumble in the air like a leaf in a waterfall. She had no control at all now. She closed her eyes, tucked herself into a ball, and plunged downward. Far from experiencing the joy of flying free, what she had instead achieved was only danger and intense fear.

  Then, only a few seconds later, she felt warm all around her, and it became dark.

  Sally realized that she was inside El. He had swallowed her.

  I mentioned earlier that the girls in this place had no need to eat. Naturally, they could eat, but they didn’t have to. In the same manner, they could breathe while in this place if they wanted to, but they didn’t have to do that either.

  Sally felt only a sense of weightlessness, and could hear the sound of the air outside rushing faster and faster. Momentarily, she felt herself pressed hard against the inside of El’s belly, and the sound of rushing stopped. El had landed. He pushed Sally back out.

  For the next few minutes, several other communication beetles hovered around, facilitating communication between Sally and El. Sally told El that everything was all right and El asked Sally what had happened and then chastised her for being so careless. Asherah soon landed as well, and the conversation continued along these same lines with Diane joining El and Asherah in chastising Sally.

  Sally was still trembling, but her fear had turned to excitement, admiration, and affection. What an experience it was to be saved by the might and devotion of El!

  And so the first flying experience ended. There would be many, many other flying experiences. But in these future cases, Sally always obeyed El and Asherah, who made her agree to a list of rules that Sally would rigorously follow. For Diane’s part, she was level headed enough that the two cherubs saw no need for any rules with her when they went flying together. And indeed, there was generally no need for any rules with Diane at all.

  As time passed, their flights often included a host of the other creatures of New California. In some cases they flew under their own power, and in some cases El and Asherah and other flying creatures carried those creatures that could not fly.

  And so, time – all consisting of a single day – passed, filled with the pleasures of exploring this world, discovering its creatures, and concocting all sorts of adventures. The possibilities for excitement, joy, and peace, seemed endless. Indeed, they almost were.

  None of this however, is central to the purpose of this account, and therefore, I will not relate more of those experiences.

  Rather, there are a few other comments about New California that I should make. First, there is something important to mention about the two cherubs, who have an unusual function in this place. While there were many of each type of creature, there were only two cherubs. For reasons that I cannot explain here (it’s hard enough to explain what little I do using your language) the creatures of New California live for a great time, after your manner of reckoning, but they do eventually reproduce during their time, and die. As they do reproduce and multiply, the limits of their reality expands to accommodate the new creatures that are born.

  In the case of the cherubs however, the cycle is different. In their case, all the cherubs die at once, except for two. These two cherubs then live for a time, then conceive and bear all the young that will allow the cherub kind to continue. It was therefore vital that this life cycle be allowed to complete, or there would never be any more cherubs once Asherah and El grew old and died.

  The second point worth mentioning is that while this place appeared very idyllic, it was not by accident. In a previous time in this place, all of the Evil had been identified, captured, and then securely locked in a material I will call “hematite” because of its color and appearance. This hematite was placed in the walls of a vast cave at what was then in the furthest limits of this reality. While most of the creatures didn’t know about this hematite, the cherubs did. Thus, inside the walls of a certain cave in this reality Sally named “New California,” all of the Evil that had once been, lay, locked perfectly in hematite.

  One day, the cherubs mentioned to the girls the story of how the Evil had been locked away, and how the hematite had been placed in the cave. They also told the girls that the only way to break the hematite was with the warm breath of a creature that no longer lived in New California, but which had lived there when the Evil had been totally defeated. These creatures, having paid a very high price to defeat the Evil, then left this world forever to prevent any possibility of the Evil ever being released again.

  Without my having to describe all the details as to why, Sally became obsessed with the possibility that the creatures who had defeated the Evil, and had then left, were humans. She became obsessed with a curiosity of whether her breath could release the Evil that was locked in the hematite.

  What a truly odd characteristic this is – to be in a place of such bliss, and yet to be obsessed with the only thing that could destroy it all. How odd it is that Diane had the capacity to live and be happy in a state of endless joy, but Sally did not. Instead, Sally had to focus on the one thing that could take it all away.

  Yet, isn’t this characteristic of Sally’s common for your kind? Is this feature not the one that destroys and suppresses you more than all other things? Is not your curiosity of evil the final, irrefutable proof of the abject imperfection of your kind?