The Edge.

Waves crashed vigorously onto the deck of our voyage “Destiny”, scattering around madly, seeping through the holes in the wooden planks. I was struggling to hold onto the slippery railings, trying to bring the sails down, feeling empowered in the middle of this chaotic tempest. It was excitement fueled with fear for my survival. For the survival of my crew. It was as if I was wrestling with the enraged beast of the ocean. The rain pierced our faces, like tiny needles. Wind roared and slammed into our bodies. Waves craned Destiny sideways and the firmness of the ship disappeared from under my feet; ocean merged with sky and I felt the crippling coldness of water drag me deep, towards the darkness of the unknown.

I was sinking, unable to fight for breath as last drops of strength became salt. I closed my eyes, letting the ocean, to which I devoted my heart and soul, determine my destiny. Silent prayer. Suddenly, my body started falling. It felt as if I was slowly carried down a waterfall. My eyes sprung open - the edge glistened. I gasped for air and felt life immerse me.

My crew and I were floating in thick darkness, for there was no gravity to restrain our bodies nor our minds. It was filled with nothing but ominous fragile silence, ringing with a million of particles colliding together. It was an iridescent pool infused with emerald, indigo and azure colours. We were incorporeal, dragged amidst the glistening serenade of silence, emanating of nothing, but the pool of boundless space. Our minds, adjusting to the change, slowly began to comprehend the surroundings. The fathomless pool of space, embroidered with diamonds of thousand of moons scattered through limitless universes ahead, and thousands of dreams that have no barriers of imagination, weaved through the cosmic blanket, shone from within.

The space was like DNA, a spiral, outstretched to fill the entirety of space beyond, coiling about itself, creating perfect patterns, coordinating the creation of new stars, planets and life. There were some lose strings, like cosmic threads, carefully pulled out of the shimmering pool. As we watched it uncoil, grow, we knew we were witnesses to the symphony of creation of new destinies, new lives, new beginnings. The loose strings perhaps were parallel universes, never able to cross over, but belonging together, interdependent on each other, always longing to coalesce.

The strings shimmered with nacreous glow, as if they were veins, supplying the universe with divinity and complexity of life. However, some strings were dark, lifeless, slowly fading into the abyss. These were death and stagnation. When they caressed other strings, they annihilated, creating shock waves which roared through the entirety of cosmos. In their place, a new coil beginning to form. It was a poignant stroke of the universe, representing the inevitability and fragility of the cycle of life. As we flowed through them, one string brushed my shoulder and knowledge worth billions of years exploded in me with an array of colors. Death, joy, birth, desire, euphoria… People made choices which led them to be where they are today. I saw opportunities lost to insecurities, words left unspoken in fear of rejection - I saw myself. And I saw myself during the countless battles with nature forces, - brave, knowledgeable, fearless, tackling every wave. Memories shook my whole presence, as I realized - life is limitless; we must dream for stars, for the impossible, and with courage we can achieve them.

After what felt like several years, we saw an edge appear in front of us. We were slowly dragged towards it by an invisible current. The ocean became a waterfall, water changing into glistening stardust as it fell off. We were raised above the edge, our ship rocking on calming waves. A million pearl like stars reflected in the obsidian depth of the ocean.

We stood in silence. After embracing the knowledge of vastness of freedom and infinite potential, our ship, even the Earth itself, felt like a rustic market full of dispersed stalls, inhaling the soaring dust and compressing clusters of people, engulfed in a cacophony of insignificant noise and dissonance. Our understanding of reality was tweaked. Through decayed endings, sprouted new beginnings. All of us knew that from this moment onwards, we will not be simply carried by a current of life but we will create our future, sprouting strings of endless possibilities. We became dreamers.

The sky flared with cleansing auburn on the horizon; dancing fireflies of water specks from the ocean blushed with the warmth of tangerine. We sailed through the gentle waves towards our new beginnings.