Just Right.
By: David C. Rogers
The tribe was chanting all around me. High and low tones brought together into a rhythmic harmony. The fire at the center of the masses of bodies burned hotly; so bright. I sat a few yards away from the fire, alone. The tribe’s chanting grew around me and wriggled its way into my head like an earwig. The tribe leader, an elder, slowly approached me and offered me a cup of a dark liquid. His words fell right into rhythm with the chanting, “Drink deep.” I took a long pull until the clay cup was dry and I could feel the liquid finding its way towards my empty stomach.
The chanting soon became muffled, my eyes open, but everything became black, except the fire that burned at the center; so bright.
“Look around yourself.” The voices had called out.
Darkness, alone, all but that fire at the center; so bright.
“Take in this magical force around you.” The voices had called out one last time as I began to drift around the fire at the center; so bright.
The Universe.
Just Right.
The early sun began to raise off the eastern horizon its bright yellow and orange light begins to blanket my bare skin in warmth. Neither is it too hot, nor is it too cold.
A strong wind blows from the Northeast sending dirt and debris to dance in its grasp. Trees sway and creek with gust; every breath of life. When the winds stop for a moment everything is still, but not too still.
Just Right.
Grey clouds roll in from the north, and the midmorning sky begins to darken. The sky looked a fierce beast about to consume the entire town as if it were a small snack. Its mouth opens and long curtains of water start to spill throughout the land. The strong Northeastern winds soon joined forces with the foul beast in the sky. Slowly the creeks became streams then into swollen rivers and not soon after did the roads become flooded.
The trees took the brunt of the attack from the strong winds, twisting, and bending, but never breaking. One of the elder trees whose roots had worn loose from the flooding rains began to moan and suddenly gave way to a few cracks and a loud thump as his body hit the ground. The younger trees stood their ground, their young roots penetrated deep and wide into the earth. A couple of the Tall Trees suffered a few broken limbs from the old Oak falling to his death.
Just Right.
Rain, cold wind, and mud slapped at my face. I thought to myself I must find shelter and quickly. I came upon a forest of trees and sought their protection from the rains beneath their canopy. The wind was beginning to pick up and rushed through trees with a strong force. The ground was soggy wet from all the rain. As I was thinking this spot would be okay I thought when I heard loud cracking sound and as I looked a heavy tree branch was falling at me.
Sometime afterwards the sun broke through the clouds high in the sky drying the land beneath me and once again began to warm my bare skin. I will be dry soon.
Just Right.
Freshly sprouted seedlings stretch their arms towards the universe, absorbing the power of the universe. Everything from the sun, the rains, the strong winds, and all the basic building blocks they need for life to grow strong and bold. This new life spread and sprouting because of older and slowly diminishing life. The stirrings of life are all around.
Just Right.
The sun begins to drift into the west, bright hues of orange, red, and pink scattered across the evening sky like a stained glass window. The sun dips below the curve of the earth and darkness creeps across the land. The day’s warmth taken by a whimsical thief in the night, a crescent moon hangs over like a crooked smile. The stars dot the blanket of darkness, twinkle and shine; so bright. The hoot of an owl is heard in the nearby forest.
Just Right.
A crystal clear night sky opens like a window peering out into the infinite universe. A shooting star burns through the atmosphere; a messenger, so bright. The stars were staring back at me as if they were more than a trillion pairs of eyes. Do the stars judge me? Do they mock me that they are so high and I am so low? Who are they? Who . . . Who am I? All of a sudden frozen I stood there looking up upon the stars; so bright. Their piercing gaze was looking upon me; so bright. Looking deep within me, they are looking at me as if I were their brother or sister, son or daughter.
Suddenly, a connection is felt and I feel touched, warm, and home. A bridge extends from the very essence of the soul towards the universe. A Bridge of Realization that we have never been alone in the universe, that we are a part of the universe, we are the universe, we are the stars, and we help create the universe.
Just Right.
Each day the sun would rise, and each night the sun would fall, and every night someone new was gazing upon the stars; so bright. More and more people soon lived their lives awakened and connected to the universe. Then people began to coexist and live merrily. Soon politicians were working together instead of for themselves. Nations threw down their arms and opened them for greetings instead. Peace on earth had arrived; so bright.
Just Right.
A new dawn begins to rise over the universal horizon. A massive burning ball of gas hangs in solitude, so bright. Its solar rays warming the darkness around it push it away with its solar winds. These universal winds will carry the seeds of evolution, deep and wide.
The seeds soon began to spread all across the universe, reigning over planets atmospheres’ like curtains of rain.
Freshly sprouted seedlings stretch their arms to the universe . . .
Just Right.
Just Right. Is a short story that I wrote on the morning of November 6, 2013.
