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. Fishineweler, but the table as well! Had his long run
combined with the hot sun made him imagine it all? taking
out some crumpled bills and change, he looked towards the Jeweler. He
was gone.
He looked at his other hand.
The Orb sparkled in the sunlight.
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