Light

“How do I start this one?”

“What? I’m sorry. I was not really paying attention.”

“I was saying, how do I start on this one?”

“Start what? What are you talking about?”

“This. Everything that I talked about with you. How do I get started on it?”

“Oh…that again. Well, you need a new plan. Something that you can follow through on without screwing up too much. Always start that way and you won’t get lost.”

“Yes, yes. This is a big one, so I need some sort of guideline or map…”

“Or just a regular plan. Don’t get too stuck in the details.”

“Right…well, first, it should be big; really big, like truly infinite.”

“Of course. After you described it to me, and after all of the other ones, I knew it would be big. But how big?”

“Infinite! Universal!”

“Uni-what? I need more.”

“Universal. Just a word I came up with. And infinite…like, all over.”

“Of course. Right. That makes it all clear. What else do I need to know?”

“There will be at least one special place where I get to play around with some ideas I’ve had and…”

“Wait, wait, wait… You want it all to be infinite, but you also want one special place that you can ‘play around’ with your ideas? Is that right?”

“No, look, just hear me out on this. There will be one special spot where I can experiment and test some ideas I have about creating and making things.”

“But why just one place where you can do that if it is going to be…infinite and…what was the other word?”

“Universal. And the reason why I am doing this is to make the ones there feel like they are at the centre of it all. Also, if I screw up, it will only be in one small spot and I can start again later. Just have to clean up and not mention it again.”

“Be careful. You are beginning to scare me with this whole clean up idea.”

“Nothing scary about it. I am going to let them make their own choices, but watch them so closely that I can learn if it is all worth repeating. I may take this to other places if it works out well.”

“Hmm. I see. Well, I cannot believe that I am going to say this, but that could actually work. Observe and study and grow…”

“And learn from my mistakes.”

“Mistakes?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“You make mistakes?”

“Of course. They won’t think so because they will be too busy wondering how they got there, why they are there, and what they are supposed to do while they are there.”

“Ah, that makes some sense.”

“They will tell stories about me.”

“Sure.”

“They may even…worship me.”

“Again, you are scaring me. Worship?”

“I know, I know. But I am just thinking about some of my other experiments.”

“Eew! Don’t talk about…those!”

“Have to. I made a lot of errors with the others. But I think that I am going to add something here that I didn’t think about with them.”

“What’s that?”

“Choice.”

“You already talked about that.”

“But this is going to be different. They will make choices…and then have to face the consequences of those choices.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“But that’s never been tried before…”

“And that is why I’m using it now. They deserve to have that much, at least.”

“Well, if you think that will work…”

“I have to try. Besides, how bad could it really get? I will be watching over them the whole time.”

“Right. But you said they have to face their choices. Does that mean you are not going to…play a role?”

“Oh. Well, I did not really think of that.”

“You are giving them choices…and consequences.”

“Right. And so…”

“And so, you cannot really step in if they do something you don’t like; something that interferes with whatever plan you have for them.”

“Right. That does make sense. Glad I’m talking about this with you before I do something too concrete.”

“Con-crete?”

“Just a word they’re going to have some day.  Just like the sound of it.”

“Right, well…When do we begin?”

“We?”

“Yes, ‘We.’ You did not think you were going to do this all by yourself.”

“Of course I did. I always do. I worked on the others alone, remember?”

“And look at how they turned out. True disasters, every one.”

“Point taken. But let me lead on this one. I want to see how it looks from my side of things.”

“Fine, fine… But just this one time with me around. And if you screw up too much, I am definitely stepping in.”

“Deal.”

“Good. Now…let’s get started.”

“Okay...LET THERE BE LIGHT!”

“Oh, wow! Wow. That was really…wow!”

“I know, right. I was just playing around with it and I thought that I would try it here. Never really used it with any of the others.”

“Probably why they all failed.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Yeah…fine. But keep going. This is great. You should really get some great results this time. What else can you put in the mix here?”

“’Put in the mix?’”

“I like the sound of that one, too. Really, what else can you do with this?”

“Ha, ha. Try this.”

“Ouch. At least we can tell where the light is coming from now. Very warm, too.”

“Not too much?”

“No, keep it coming.”

“I will.”

“Oh, and one other thing. How long do you think it will take you to finish this time?”

“Time… I like that word.”

“Good. But that one is mine.”

“Okay. Well, I think with this time thing, it will take me maybe six or seven…days?”

“A good word for it.”

“Yeah, another one. They just keep coming now, don’t they?”

“Yeah, like we are just adding more and more every time we talk.”

“Strange. I think that this one is going to work.”

“Maybe…”

“Yeah, you are on a roll…”

“I am feeling pretty creative.”

“You are surprising me. Just make sure that you do take a break when you are done. This all looks promising, but it is possible to go too far.”

“Yeah, you’re right. That seventh day thing seems about enough. But stand back. There is a lot more to get done…”