Long ago, when the very idea of time hadn’t been discovered yet, there was a young girl who everyday wandered through the endless meadows of the world. Her tiny, bare feet brushed against the dewy grass that never seemed to cease to dry when daylight came about. The young girl’s name was Elaina, and she lived in a place where the sun and moon danced in the sky, neither willing to surrender to each other. The days weren’t long or short, and the nights were neither dark nor foggy. Everything simply was, and she was simply content with that. But Elaina was different from those in her small village.
While the villagers went about their lives in a rhythm that seemed to be a gentle stream, Elaina felt a restlessness in her heart, a pull towards something that she couldn’t yet comprehend. She would often climb to the top of the tallest hill, where the wind blew towards her, whispering secrets, and stare out at the horizon, wondering what lay beyond the endless fields and the shimmering, bright sky. One day, as she sat on the hill fiddling with a piece of grass, the wind blew fiercer, carrying with it a ferocious hum. It was a sound that she’d never heard before — not the sound of the birds chirping or the rustling of leaves. It was something deeper, something older that she couldn’t yet comprehend.
Brimming with curiosity, Elaina followed the sound, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and dread. The wind led her to a misty grove, where the trees grew so tall their tops seemed to touch the heavens. In the center of the grove stood a stone archway, covered in moss and carved with unfamiliar symbols that glowed in the darkness between the archways. Elaina hesitated. She had never seen anything like this before. The archway seemed to have the same hum as the wind did, and as she stepped closer, she felt an unsettling warmth radiating from it. Without thinking, she reached out and touched one of the mysterious, glowing symbols. The moment her fingers came into contact with the symbols, the world around her shifted. The endless meadows shifted, replaced by a vast starry expanse. She found herself standing on a path made out of radiating light, stretching into the unlimited space.
Above her, the sky pulsed with a variety of colors that she could have never imagined, and below her the path shimmered with the faint shade of gold. She realized, with a start, that she was in a world that she had never seen before. As she walked along the mysterious path, she began to notice strange shapes forming in the distance — shadows that twisted and turned, forming images of clocks, hourglasses, and sundials. They were unfamiliar to her, but they stirred something deep within her memory, as if she had known them in a previous life. The closer she got, the stronger the restlessness became, until it was almost unbearable. There, she reached the end of the path, where a figure stood waiting for her. It was neither man nor woman, but something in between, its form shifting like the stars above. Its voice echoed in her mind, timeless and ancient.
“Elaina,” it said, “you have always felt the thin threads of time, though it has not gained a meaning in your world. You are the first to hear its call, the first to seek its meaning.”
Elaina frowned. “Time? What is time?”
While the villagers went about their lives in a rhythm that seemed to be a gentle stream, Elaina felt a restlessness in her heart, a pull towards something that she couldn’t yet comprehend. She would often climb to the top of the tallest hill, where the wind blew towards her, whispering secrets, and stare out at the horizon, wondering what lay beyond the endless fields and the shimmering, bright sky. One day, as she sat on the hill fiddling with a piece of grass, the wind blew fiercer, carrying with it a ferocious hum. It was a sound that she’d never heard before — not the sound of the birds chirping or the rustling of leaves. It was something deeper, something older that she couldn’t yet comprehend.
Brimming with curiosity, Elaina followed the sound, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and dread. The wind led her to a misty grove, where the trees grew so tall their tops seemed to touch the heavens. In the center of the grove stood a stone archway, covered in moss and carved with unfamiliar symbols that glowed in the darkness between the archways. Elaina hesitated. She had never seen anything like this before. The archway seemed to have the same hum as the wind did, and as she stepped closer, she felt an unsettling warmth radiating from it. Without thinking, she reached out and touched one of the mysterious, glowing symbols. The moment her fingers came into contact with the symbols, the world around her shifted. The endless meadows shifted, replaced by a vast starry expanse. She found herself standing on a path made out of radiating light, stretching into the unlimited space.
Above her, the sky pulsed with a variety of colors that she could have never imagined, and below her the path shimmered with the faint shade of gold. She realized, with a start, that she was in a world that she had never seen before. As she walked along the mysterious path, she began to notice strange shapes forming in the distance — shadows that twisted and turned, forming images of clocks, hourglasses, and sundials. They were unfamiliar to her, but they stirred something deep within her memory, as if she had known them in a previous life. The closer she got, the stronger the restlessness became, until it was almost unbearable. There, she reached the end of the path, where a figure stood waiting for her. It was neither man nor woman, but something in between, its form shifting like the stars above. Its voice echoed in her mind, timeless and ancient.
“Elaina,” it said, “you have always felt the thin threads of time, though it has not gained a meaning in your world. You are the first to hear its call, the first to seek its meaning.”
Elaina frowned. “Time? What is time?”