Origins

Only planetary bodies and the spaces between them existed. Only the combusting stars and swirling dead planets patrolled the emptiness. The rotation of planets birthed the first two sentient beings, Darkness and Light; shadow and incandescence. They danced during the conception of time and material, and have ever since persisted in their chase, hunt, and play. These two conversed before all others.

"Why do you flee, Darkness?", Light shimmered on the cusp of a mountain peak, inching closer by the slow spin of the vast desolate planet.

"To get away from you, why else? You're too much, Light! Overbearing, and frankly­­—a bit too proud of yourself." Darkness wavered as Light encroached.

"Aww, well, I think I'm pretty swell... You're just a recluse that flees at anything unfamiliar.", she said.

“Oh, I assure you that you’re only too familiar!”, he shot back. She fired a ray across the ridge and pierced the shadows beyond, splitting it apart until it joined the searing warmth of the lightscape.

He recoiled and discovered new ground on the opposite side of the planet. He receded like a lonely tide. "I may flee, I will admit that much, but at least I'm not so intruding and ill-mannered as you!"

"Come now, Darkness, I only tease. I only wish to embrace for the briefest of moments. This place is lonely, you know?" Light’s tendrils reached out and grasped towards him.

"You're too familiar, light, I only wish to be left alone.", he said.

"Come now, am I so bad to be around? I'm warm, I'm happy, I'm giving, I'm -"

"You're too hot, you're overbearing, and you approach when you're not wanted. I am unassuming, passive, and perfectly content on my own!" Darkness stalked the land, swallowing mountain ranges at a time.

She leapt once more at him and his spirit sprang from that spinning rock in an instant to find another, seeking peace and quiet. It bounded faster than the speed of light until it settled on a cold and unfeeling planet full of ice and smoking volcanos. He nestled down in a vast open mouth cave and sighed. He felt himself stretch into the bowels of the planet until the molten rock caverns below kept him at bay with their glow. He enjoyed this space, but knew that before too long...

"Hey, this place seems nice!" Light spoke gleefully as she poured over the surface of this newfound planet. She danced across its face, melting ice wherever she graced.

"Leave. Me. Alone!" his shadows shook the world and volcanos erupted across its surface. The choking smog and gasses quieted her.

"Allow me just the smallest embrace, darkness, and I'll do my best to give you space. It's hard for me to be alone, I admit, but I feel like I need you! I feel that, without you, I simply couldn’t exist…", Light said. Rays broke through the increasing cover of ash and smoke. She felt herself diffused and muffled against him and the angry planet.  

A long time passed while darkness ruminated on the admittance that she needed him. He had to admit himself that he needed her too, but if she weren't so overbearing. He knew, though, that he wasn't the easiest to be around either. The atmosphere on the planet formed while she waited for his response.

"Fine, just one tiny embrace, will that hold you over for a while?" The smog and ash cleared, and clouds formed. The rays created little pools of shadow wherever they floated.

"Yes! Thank you, Darkness!" The surface glowed and warmed while the oceans around the equator swirled. Things moved on Earth more than ever.

They chased each other and spun across the surface. Wherever the darkness resisted the pull to recede, and wherever the light restrained itself from invading, a new life was formed. In the essence of those simple single celled organisms were aspects of both Mother Light and Father Darkness. As they chased, life grew across the globe. Plants emerged, animals evolved, and societies formed.

"Oh no, what have we done!?" Darkness cried, stretching himself from shadow to shadow; he felt the new sentience scurry on the surface where their forms blocked the light and cast shadows of their own.

"We've made something wonderful; don't you think?" She gazed upon their creations with absolute happiness, warming and nourishing all her children. She gave them energy to grow and hunt, to play their games and enjoy the means of sustaining themselves.

"We've made something... that much is clear." The darkness enfolded all beings that had spent their life’s energy; the energy that their joining had granted them. He accepted them fully into his cold and eternal embrace. Their energy never lost but redistributed in cycles of being and non-being.

They both gazed upon the surface of the planet for a while, and for the first time since the beginning of time, felt a shared tenderness. They saw that in each of their children existed aspects of darkness and light; father and mother. Some appeared to be more motherlike and others fatherlike, but still they contained both.

They looked upon the humans who had grown far more advanced than their other children. They saw their behaviors echoed them both in unequal parts. The mother noted that some gave freely and had a warmth all their own; that they nourished those around them. She also saw some of her children be selfish, and invasive.

The father noted that some were soft, thoughtful, and resolute, lending their quiet contemplations towards bettering their society in sustainable ways. He also saw his children be reclusive, warmongering, and cold.

"They really do behave in such strange ways, don't they?" he said.

"I love it." she replied.

"Yes... I suppose I do too.", he said.

On a particularly hot day in July, during the festive summer months, huge swathes of people danced and played. She spoke to her lover and said, “See? Was it so awful for us to join? Look at our children! All the joy that has been made and done with our likeness!"

During winter on a long and lonely night, he felt the call of yet another forgotten soul succumb to the unforgiving cold. He called out to his lover and said, “Only time will tell."