A Shattered World

When I opened my eyes, I was there.

An ethereally blue sky, flanked by delightfully verdant branches, floated above a sea of clouds. The free-floating, marshmallow-like clouds, in turn, casted their lazy shade on the grassy ground. Piercing through this comfortable shade were rays of pure white, the warm but overbright glare of the silent sun. Still half asleep and never a fan of intense sunlight, I turned my head to the side, seeking refuge in my own shadow.

Then I noticed it: among the yellowish-green stalks so prevalent in my sight, there was a grey flower --- no, a fluffy white ball in my sight. It was something familiar.

“A… dandelion clock?” I reached my hand at the fragile plant, trying to ascertain its existence.

As if to answer my question, a howling gale blew, scattering the dandelion’s seeds into the blue, unreachable skies. Unsatisfied with just the dandelion’s seeds alone, the howling gale gently lifted my body off the emerald land and threw me no-so-gently towards the skies of Uranian blue. Slowly realising my predicament, I grasped at the air in futility; the verdant branches had long drifted into the distance. I looked at my feet; I could see the land’s end rapidly approaching as I fell further and further into the limitless blue. A single thought dominated my mind.

Death.

I gathered my thoughts. I did not understand why I was going to die. How I was going to die. And perhaps that I did not want to die. But I did not hate my descend into the boundless void. The freedom of drifting in the wind, the sight of distant drifting clouds, and the certainty of your death… it was… familiar; almost comforting. I had been in this situation before.

I closed my eyes and, without expecting an answer, prayed to the gods known and unknown, my right hand still grasping at something in the air.

The gods answered. Suddenly, the howling gales ceased; my body, still somehow floating in the air, came to an abrupt stop in a way that would make a physicist scream blasphemy. I opened my eyes; my body was already half-way beyond the mysterious black walls that marked the land’s edge. Had I drifted any further, I would have certainly fell --- into the sweet, releasing embrace of the azure sky.

I looked up again and noticed something --- someone had gripped my hand. A slender, delicate hand of a young lady, a hand that would’ve had no hope of dragging a man out of such a violent stream. Yet with ease, the hand yanked me out of my awkward, horizontal position into the arms of its master, into an equally awkward and horizontal position commonly known as “princess carrying”. In her arms, as if I was some princess from fairy tales, I heard the voice of my “prince” --- my saviour.

“Young man. You sure know how to land yourself in trouble.” The mysterious woman spoke, and for a moment her voice felt as gentle as a mother’s. “Showing up on my lawn unannounced, napping under the Sacred Tree, and almost getting swept up by a drifting current. If I didn’t feel charitable and save you, you would be dead.”

“Well, at least I can say I can’t thank you enough for saving my life, madam.” But I have no idea what else you are talking about, I thought to myself, as I replied to her question with a polite smile.

The woman caught the hint, but she was not in a charitable mood anymore. “Don’t look at me like that. You still owe me an explanation for your trespassing.”

“I am sorry for that, madam. You might not believe me, but I just happened to wake up in your garden with no memories of how I got here.” I blurted out something that sounded like an excuse. “Admittedly, your garden was perfect for napping…”

The woman interrupted me with her intense stare. “And you think that’s a reasonable excuse?”

“I don’t even know where I am.”

The woman’s stare intensified.

“Or why there was such a cliff at the edge of your wonderful garden…”

The women’s stare intensified further.

“…I couldn’t even see the bottom of it. How many metres, no, kilometres deep must it be? For it to be deep enough to have it obstructed by clouds, it must be far deeper than even the Grand Canyon…”

“What are you even talking about?” The woman finally ran out of her patience.

“I am just saying that I absolutely had no intention to intrude. But I am sorry…”

“Not your trespassing. As much as that is unforgiveable, I can tell it wasn’t your fault.” She interrupted me again. “The ‘Grand Canyon’ and ‘kilo-mitah’ and whatnot, I’ve never heard of it. But that aside, you were asking how deep a land’s end is. Are you doing fine? Did you got hit in your head or something?”

“---I understand that was a weird question. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked about all those details of your property---”

“There’s no end if you fall off a land’s end, young man. The land ends here; there is nothing beyond it. Asking about the depth is meaningless.”

“You are joking, right? Surely any canyon must have a bottom. No matter how deep you dig, you will hit the crust and the mantle eventually---”

“Looks like you will have to see for yourself.” The mysterious woman sighed. “Hold on tight.”

Without giving me a chance to protest, the mysterious woman leapt into the air. Just like the cannonball out of a barrel, we plunged into and rapidly penetrated through layers of clouds. Between frozen droplets and gravity’s crushing force, pain cruised through my body. What have I done to deserve this? I wanted to shout out loud, but my voice was lost in the relentless wind. And all this black silk in my face just to add insult to injury.

Black silk?

The sun’s scorching light penetrated the screen of black silk as we rose above the sea of clouds. Under the sun, I realised the shining, graceful, beautiful black silk was in fact the woman’s long, free-flowing hair. Topped by a pure white hat, her hair danced in front of her jewel-like eyes, which were of an azure colour that imitated the clear skies. Complemented by pink lips, smooth skin and other delicate features, the woman resembled more of young woman in an oil painting, an artist’s ideal image, than a real person. But she was, without a doubt, real; her arms were still holding me tight and, embarrassingly, carrying me as if I was a princess.

“See with your own eyes, young man.” The raven-haired woman spoke before I had the chance to. “Just look at my garden. You understand the futility to ask the depth of a land’s end now, right?”

“What are you talkin-” I tried to protest, but a strong gale blew by, shattering the thick layers of clouds and shoving dandelions’ seeds into my mouth. Out of survival instincts, I wrapped my arms around the mysterious woman and hugged her tightly. The woman, however, seemingly did not notice. She silently pointed below, and my eyes followed.

Beyond the hole we tore through the sea of clouds was the woman’s garden, now reduced to just a small circle surrounded by nothingness --- aside from the hundreds, if not thousands of floating landmasses cruising above a warmly glowing, bottomless haze. In various shapes, at various altitudes and of various sizes, the floating islands were all brimming with life, as evidenced by the lush plants and the rivers and lakes they carried. Some of the larger islands even appeared to have roads, fields, towns and cities. I raised my head and gazed towards the horizon; and what awaited there was two enormous islands --- continents, perhaps --- floating above the subtle boundary between the blue sky and the warm haze.

I looked at the mysterious woman, seeking to some clues about the sight in front of my eyes. With a smile as brilliant as the shining sun, she answered with words I would never forget:

“Do you understand now? In this shattered world --- in Earthtear, the endless heavens begin where the land ends.”