The Orb

They were such majestic creations. Their slim limbs extended so gracefully, while their movements made almost no sound. They did not walk, they floated.

She was in awe of these creatures and how they all acted in harmony and synchrony. They never uttered a word, yet — they all perfectly understood each other. She wondered what connected them all.

One of the creatures suddenly approached her – extending its arm towards her. The creature opened the three fingers that made a fist and revealed a small purple orb that emitted intense light. She had no time to question anything as the creature’s huge, dark, and almond-shaped eyes urged her to simply accept it, so she did. As soon as the orb touched her skin, it was as if she was teleported into another dimension. The orb put her in some hallucinogenic state, where the light visions started attacking her, inputting information in her tiny brain at an incomprehensible speed. After what could have been either minutes or hours, she was back on the land, staring back into the gift-givers dark eyes. Now she understood them. Now she could communicate with all of them, but she did not need to say a word, as they did not speak any language known to mankind. Their form of communication existed on a vibrational plane, where they all aligned and simply understood each other’s intentions. Intentions were enough to communicate both their thoughts and emotions. But it occurred to her that these creatures’ emotions were nothing like she experienced as a human. It was as if they never knew pain, suffering, or betrayal. Or maybe they knew pain too well and simply chose to not feel it.

She looked over the two standing in front of each other, engaging in what seemed to be their form of conversation. It was still bizarre to her; bizarre how they did not move their lips to make sounds; bizarre how they moved so uniquely, as if all their tiny movements had intentions; bizarre how suddenly, she could somewhat understand them. They were discussing an orb – the one that was just given to her. Surely, the orb had to be a drug of some kind, a strong hallucinogen that simply fed her wild imagination. Yet, she felt that what she was witnessing was real. The dialogue she was so unapologetically eavesdropping on confirmed it: the orb was not a hallucinogen, or magic. The orb was a hub of information. A form of advanced technology that somehow stored all the knowledge of these creatures. The orb was meant to be shared with those unlike them. All these creatures wanted to do was share information – to educate. She was the first to receive such a blessing from them. She wanted to approach all of them individually and thank them, but they had no names; they were a collective.

The tingly feeling inside her prompted that it was time for her to learn more, so she got up and started wandering around. The gift-giver never left her side— always remaining a few steps behind her. She walked on the orange soil that was soft underneath her stomps. It was neither sand nor grass, but she could not exactly tell what it was. The sky looked as if someone took a sharp object and botched it all in different sizes. It looked like an art project that humans would make in 3rd grade. The color on it was indescribable in words. It was a mixture of minty green, azure blue, and touches of scarlet here and there. She walked until the flat ground became an uphill and then stopped to catch her breath. The gift-giver did not mind the long walk, for him, distance did not exist, it was only a human construct.

She soon reached the top of the hill and what she saw left her speechless. The hill overlooked a vast field which was a vibrant turquoise in color. On the field sat around a hundred of these creatures in perfect circles, all touching shoulders. In total, they made three circles, each encircling the smaller one. They moved in the smallest motions, almost unnoticeable to the eye, but still visible that their upper bodies acted in perfect synchrony. If she was among humans, she would assume it was a prayer, but for these creatures, this ritual was even bigger than a prayer. It was a way for them to connect their consciousnesses into one collective, where they exchanged all they have learned since their last ritual. She could almost touch the millions of bits of information that were being transported from one mind to another. She wondered if she would ever learn at least a bit of them.

But none of this information was meant for her. Humans had no capacity to hold all this knowledge in the physical world, or else they would go insane. Hence why she received only a snippet of it in the form of an orb.

She spent the rest of the day walking around the planet, touching everything she could, feeling every texture, hearing every sound, hoping, that she would learn as much as she could. The intense question of how she got here was still branded in the back of her mind, but she tried her best to not think about it- sooner or later, she had to find out who brought her here, and why.

The creatures slept at the roots of what looked like giant trees. Each creature had a corresponding tree, with their roots extending far deep into the soil. The gift-giver guided her to a much smaller tree, and she knew this was her sleeping place. Her tree was much smaller compared to all the other ones, towering over the entire field, covering almost the entire sky. But her tree was beautiful. The leaves snaked around the red branches while the trunk emanated a slight yellowish light. If she was not so rooted in human ways of thinking, she would just assume these trees were as alive as these creatures sleeping next to her. She laid down, expecting the discomfort to keep her away from dreaming the night away, but she was mesmerized to find out that she has never felt more comfortable in her life. She could almost hear the roots think, carry history and information deep underground, and share them wherever they intertwined with others. She could learn so much from them, she just had to listen closely… but she was rudely interrupted by one of the creatures shaking her shoulders. She did not understand what was happening, why was the creature being so aggressive—she never assumed they had the capacity. The creature’s grasp on her shoulders started to hurt and she winced in pain. Before she had any time to utter a protesting word, everything went blurry. She closed her eyes to put everything back in focus, but once she opened them again, the creature was gone. Instead, a man that looked somewhat familiar was shaking her shoulders just the same way. She tried to get away, but she could not move. The heavy white garment on her kept her hands crossed at her stomach, unable to make any movements. Once the man realized she was wide awake, he stepped back and took what looked like a tiny telephone from his pocket.

He did not say anything to her but pressed the button and muttered: “Day 64. The patient still exhibits sign of intense hysteria and delirium. She still cannot tell the difference between the real and the imaginary. She is to remain under constant watch at an indefinite time.”