It was the first day of spring, and Eric was off on his daily run around the park. On this day, he was particularly pleased with himself, and everything else. The sun shone down, as if finally a friend, after a long and inconsiderate winter. After a long run, he arrived a little breathless to his favorite place- a walkway full of artisans, who sold jewelry, paintings and pottery- the sort of things he pictured himself owning. Today the walkway was full of people sitting on benches, enjoying the sun, chatting and watching the children run about. He stopped, wiped his forehead with his sleeve and rested for a moment in the hazy satisfaction that comes in the warmth of the spring sun ...

As if pulled from a dream, he realized he’d been watching something glittering and changing shape in one of the Jeweler’s hands- something that seemed oddly out of time and place. He was irresistibly drawn towards it and stepped nearer.

“I have something for you!”.

Startled, Eric looked up. For an instant, the sparkling object blended with the stranger’s face. A man with the bearing of a magician, tanned and tailored, and altogether too precise for an afternoon as casual as this one, was standing at attention behind a table. His commanding statement turned the heads of several people on the walkway. To Eric’s slight discomfort, the Jeweler was speaking directly to him.

“What is it?" blurted Eric, trying to hide his amazement, and at the same time sound appropriately scientific. The object, as if half solid and half liquid, changed shape in unison with the words of the Jeweler.

“Mysteries... A treasure from the ancient past. It is called The Orb” said the Jeweler.

A soft wind blew across the walkway. The Orb, or whatever it was, flattened on one side and then bounced out like a water drop, as if reflecting the most minute atmospheric force. “Some say it is older than the Pyramids. Its description appears in the oldest Indian texts. Others relate it to astrology, and call its shapes by the names of the planets. Still others use it as a tool to reveal mythical stories hidden inside each of us, which tell of the events that gave rise to all that is, and all that will be.”

Eric had always enjoyed the bustling activity of the walkway and its irregular rhythms, but now everything except the Orb receded to a background drone. He had never seen any object so unusual, and on his walks around the park, had never ever seen this unusual man. He looked, wondering, from the Jeweler’s face back to the Orb. Light focused through its glass beads like so many tiny magnifying glasses, and then diminished for a moment as a cloud passed over the park.

“In a distant land where I was born, a special story is told with the Orb. I will tell it to you if you wish.”

“Please do” said Eric, who by this time was hanging on every word the Jeweler said. The Jeweler, moving the Orb with his words, spoke in a soft and deep voice...

Long ago, the universe was a dreary place, asleep, cold all the way to infinity. The wind was a separate thing, not part of the cold, but a lost, unloved soul, screaming and moaning and rushing about for a place to rest and reckon up its woes. The creator of everything, seeing the emptiness of time itself, and for other reasons we may never know, breathed compassion into the cold and created the stars. Then the endless night- as it could only be before the beginning- was filled with thousands of glittering points of light, and the wind sought refuge in their company.

For the first time, or one of the first times, the universe was whole, and the wind blew the stars in joyful swirling dances. Soon, everything found its rightful place- the stars found their orbits, and the wind whisked them along.

But the creator could not stop there- otherwise, we would not be here to tell, and re-tell this story. The creator decided to make people, but first a home- a place they could call earth- was needed.

The creator decided to have a conference with all the stars, and asked them for volunteers to help make the earth. One modest star called Sun flared in joyous response and with a mighty force, split itself in half.

Thus the earth was born, and bathed in the loving warmth of the Sun, grew flowers and oceans with islands and trees and all the things that people would need to be happy.

Then, everything was ready. At that point, some say the Creator turned people from clay on the potter’s wheel. Others say people rose out of the oceans. Whatever the case may have been, in a blink of an eye, the earth was filled with all shapes and sizes of men, women and children.” Eric suddenly realized that he was holding the Orb. The Jeweler smiled.

Eric was curious to know if the Orb would work for him. Some pushing and prodding of its rings made it change a few times. Then the shapes began to flow. Thoughts and images came to him as the Orb’s magic unfolded in his hands. The transforming of shapes and patterns drew in everything around him. The chirping of birds, the laughter of children, the inquisitive meanderings of the shoppers, the light of the sun through the afternoon trees dancing on the Jeweler’s table- a symphony of form and movement. The Orb became for a moment the conductor of this orchestra.
He found himself whispering to the Orb, not knowing where the words came from...

Oh, Orb, Tell me a story of distant pasts and tales of glory....

“This one is yours.” said the Jeweler. "Take it with you where ever you go. It will always be your companion."

Eric was delighted but didn’t feel it was right to accept gifts from complete strangers and reached into his pocket for his money. Fishing out some crumpled bills and change, he looked towards the Jeweler. He was gone. Not only the Jeweler, but the table as well! Had his long run combined with the hot sun made him imagine it all?

He looked at his other hand.

The Orb sparkled in the sunlight.