WHAT’S NEXT?
A little story for you :)
One day there was a fairy story. It was peculiar in that it had no middle and no end; it was just an endless series of beginnings that had nowhere to go. These little beginnings began to grow in number day by day until they grew quite chaotic. They didn’t know what to do or where to go, as there was no next bit to go to. They were restless, unsettled and incomplete.
They rattled around in endless confusion for days and weeks and months and years until there were so many beginnings all crammed into a tiny space they could no longer move. In their restlessness their little selves bubbled on the spot, feeling to explode with possibility and wonder, but there was just no next, so they pondered, helpless and blind, in a never ending soup of now.
When they became so cramped they were sure they’d suffocate under the weight of themselves, they knew they had to find a way out of this soup. They couldn’t bear the suspense of not knowing any longer. But what to do? Who to turn to? Before their beginnings, that nearly always started with ‘Once upon a time…’ there was nothing. No words, no introduction, nothing. So where did they come from? They were perplexed, anxious, and losing hope of ever being part of an actual story.
Until one day one of the little beginnings looked towards the sky and noticed an odd looking creature towering over them. A giant face framed by a messy tuft of dark fur above and a smattering of hair below. It seemed dishevelled and as frustrated as they were.
The little beginning called out to the hairy creature. But he did not hear. He just threw another little beginning into the soup and grunted. The little beginning realised this creature was the maker of them all! It grew excited and it its enthusiasm managed to jump upon some other beginnings to gain some height. It jumped up and down, trying to get the attention of this forlorn looking creature, whose head rested heavily on a big hand.
The sudden motion of the little beginning startled the creature. With a furrowed brow he picked the little beginning from the soup and eyed it curiously. The little beginning was elated at being noticed. It tried to call out but the creature either couldn’t hear or couldn’t understand it. Little beginning wondered what it could do to speak. Then it had an idea! Over the seasons it had seen flowers blossom in the winder, their little buds bursting forth a stunning array of petals before releasing themselves back to the earth. That is what the beginning wanted. A middle and an end.
It curled itself up into a tight little ball, just like a little bud. Then fold by fold, it unfurled itself like a rose before the creatures awe struck eyes, then fell out of form like a spent flower. ‘Please finish me’ little beginning whispered, with all its might.
A tear trickled from the corner of the creatures eye, the sides of his mouth flickered and his hardened cheeks began to crease with a smile that had not graced his face for a long time. He picked up the little beginning and began to read what he had written so many seasons ago. Creature had spent all his time on beginnings with no ends in sight, and it had drained the energy from his body and spirit.
Now with this little beginning wanting completion, he smoothed its white paper, with a few paragraphs typed upon it. His shaking fingers carefully slid the paper back into the type writer, and the heavy click clack of a tale unfolding rand out from his desk.
This was the first beginning that actually belonged to something more. It was the beginning of an end. And it was wonderful. The end….
Written by Tjoni Johansen