Waking an indeterminate amount of time later, Kyle craned his head and there were millions of stars, space-time artifacts of past realities. He picked his way down the rocky slope, lost in a thicket of dehydration, following his own movements as if through a long tunnel. The life force weak and diminishing, the chances of finding replenishment almost nil. And yet…
An unexpected groove, ancient water channel––Kyle welcomed the slide down smooth rock at first, then grasped out at side rocks as he experienced dizzying acceleration. The channel took a steep drop and there was a sensation of flying without gravity, of being lifted by spirits. Nothing to fixate on but stars, there was nothing––pure numbness, a jolt of eternity wrapped in a shroud….
Waves of meaning not tied to a specific sense emanated from a very deep bottom. Kyle didn’t know how long he had been there. He laid back and his eyes were the only thing moving––for brief moments he caught sight of stars and then there was warm, thick blackness… eternities later, another tug of the now. Second reemergence into consciousness. A remembrance of his body crushed against something harder than hard. His arms and legs streaking with an infinite pain… it was coming back and then it was too much and his body shut down again. Only this time he did not stop seeing––his existence had metamorphosed into pure vision. This must be what they meant by seeing God––no movement, no awareness of the body. His reality as stark and laid out as the gradations of rock and sky. He lay aching on the rock, nestled against sun-flecked stone, his skin a part of this new reality––preparing to become a part of that which in essence was only matter.