The Dying Trees [open source interactive story] continued
What is this: https://steemit.com/writing/@improv/new-project-announcement-open-source-interactive-story
Start the story here: https://steemit.com/thedyingtrees/@improv/the-dying-trees-open-source-interactive-story-start-here
Previous entry: https://steemit.com/thedyingtrees/@improv/3tduzc-the-dying-trees-open-source-interactive-story-continued
"Hello?"
You call into the dark tunnel. You step carefully towards the hole, and peer inside. You can see nothing, but getting on hands and knees, you crawl inside. A few meters into the tunnel, as the sunlight from the entry is subsumed by the darkness of the cool cave, your eyes adjust and notice another source of light. Bioluminescent mushrooms grow on roots along the tunnel.
You crawl forward on hands and knees for what feels like hours until you see the dryad sprite thing standing in your path. Behind it is a tangle of roots, and on the tangle of roots, glowing fungi show an outline of a quaking aspen. As you gaze at the fungi growing on the roots, the parts of them that glow begin to move. You notice that the fungi are growing on the entire wall of roots, but only parts of them glow. The glowing fungus shows you the aspen's root system which connects it to each other aspen in the grove, then it shows you the animals that live in the grove, and that they bring seeds to the forest from elsewhere, and that they take the seeds elsewhere. It shows you rain falling on the world, and it shows you dust being swept from the deserts to craggy mountain peaks.
And then all at once, the green of the phosphorescence becomes a bare grey white. You watch as this color sweeps into each tree. You watch as the roots push through earth covered by asphalt and as healthy young saplings are burnt away.
"I can't change all of humanity by myself!" you cry out.
The images slow and dissolve into darkness. Then one point of green shines. The grey edges in at the corners of the green, but it shines and pushes them back, growing bigger. Abruptly, the green disappears, but a moment later, another green point, slightly fainter appears elsewhere. As the grey pushes against it, the color deepens then brightens. It remains small, but persistent. It becomes briefly grey, but then returns to green. A grey slash appears in its midst, but then the divided green connects itself again. It does not grow bigger, but it persists.
"Do you understand?" asks the dryad.
"I don't know," you say "what is this?"
"You are speaking with everything and one thing. They will help you, guide you, but they cannot find themselves. You are one of many, but they are many and one, and so they cannot find the one special thing that will let them thrive."
"No, I don't think I understand."
The creature sighs. "Tell me what you do understand."
And so you decide to tell the Dryad that which you understand, but not before asking one question for yourself:
"WHY do you have to approach us in such[...]"
Excellent!
meep
Are you going to contribute a chapter, meep?
meep
It could be that. But you gotta post a link to it here.
meep
It's best if you follow the instructions here: https://steemit.com/writing/@improv/new-project-announcement-open-source-interactive-story
Excellent. I follow you.
Glad to hear! Have you read the whole story? Do you plan to contribute a chapter?
"There are some things that I do understand, but before I tell you that, answer a question of mine.
WHY do you have to approach us in such weird ways, or through such weird beings, experiences and circumstances?" The young man asks.
"It seems weird to you because your Mind has grown an materialistic view point of the whole World. You think that Physicality is the generative aspect of Existence only because you can't see the Fine Spiritual World which gives birth to every physical thing out here."
"Yet, you seem to think you understand something. What's that?" Asks the Dryad curious about what the young adventurer is about to say.
"It is true that I do not yet see the Finer Spiritual World." The adventurer confesses.
"And it is also true that I do tend to think that the world is entire Physical in nature. But I also have moments of Spiritual insights where I can understand that God, being ALL that there is, had fragmented into this Infinite number of individualities so that it may Know Itself. And I can see that I am One, yet I resemble the Whole, in a fractalized manner." Says the young adventurer, with a glimmering spark in his eyes.
"Yet", he continues, " I have to understand why these strange ideas have to be interesting only for green Dryads and glowing mushrooms." Shaking his head.
"No sane man has listened to these ideas of mine without bursting into laughter at me. Those were the kind ones. Some religious folk would even threaten you with violence for just contemplating such 'blasphemous thoughts"."
Surprised by what has been said, the Dryad replies "You have a somewhat True Idea of what's going on." says smiling. "But it is only and Idea to you right now. You have to Live and have your own Experience regarding to what you have said, so that you may Know beyond any shadow of doubt the Truth of those Words. Until then, you will still look at it as a possible explanation."
This is excellent! Can you do this as a post and use the instructions at the link below to link it, so we can continue with your story branch?
https://steemit.com/writing/@improv/new-project-announcement-open-source-interactive-story
Hei @Improv. Sure, I just did: > here it is <
The thing is that I didn't understand how this whole Open Source Interactive Story thing worked, so my initial comment that transformed into a story branch was only meant for this continuation of yours, without knowledge of prior part of the story. So, sorry about that. Next time I will know so I will be able to create a more in depth story branch. :D
Thanks for the opportunity! It was a lot of fun creating it.