Back Pocket

The vine-like creature held its green hands away from the young boy, not much older than seven. His small round face was illuminated in an emerald light, peeking through the branch fingertips of the creature. The eyes of the child were wide and his mouth slightly open, allowing his breath to speed up just a bit as the creature moved in front of him. Although to some this soul of nature would be a monster, one that chases them down in nightmares and lurks in the shadowy underbelly of a mattress, the boy was only filled with wonderment.

Within the creature's palms was a gem. This gem was said to have held the secrets of life, the mystery of cell organization and the manipulation of time.

This gem was not the judgmental, flawed God the boy had learned from his parents and from his neighbors. This God was everything. It was powerful. It was moving. It did not differentiate between good and evil. This God was Nature, and it was its daughters: Evolution and Chaos. This God was the karma and the balance, the seemingly random events that collided to create this single, unique moment in time. A moment too quick to realize, but one with so much information that one could not possibly analyze.

Green light continued to pour into the world from the vine creature's hands, and she was not holding it back as carefully as before, recognizing the innocence in the boy's mannerisms. The secret would do no harm to a boy yet would drive a man mad. The wise would see everything they needed to see, yet they could not possibly understand it without the wisdom of a child.

Finally, the vines unraveled and the organic fingertips revealed the gem to the boy, now kneeling in front of Nature. The gem was but a rock, lightly chipped and with little history to be seen. It had rough edges, yet with one clear side.

Within this side, the boy saw something.

In this side, the boy saw himself.