The Fable of the Father of Time
Richard Shulman
Father Time was feeling a little frantic; He had never felt these feelings before – but when he had misplaced his ring, The Ring of Eternity, he had had a thought that if he didn’t find it right away something terribly wrong could happen.
It was in the Void that Father Time had misplaced the Ring of Eternity. Without the ring, he found himself feeling lost and uncertain in the void. He had witnessed other beings feeling anxious in the void – beings who were slaves to time and had momentarily entered the void. He had seen these beings react uncomfortably in this space with no time. They reacted with confusion and a panic that spoke “I have to get out of here.”
He had found in the void, one Presence that was never affected this way. For indeed the void was she – The Mother of the World. Remembering her and her joyfull creation chaotically birthing within the void from the void into time and space; he called to Her.
She answered from all around and somehow from within him – “Yes dear?”
Before he could express his question, she said “I see you have seemingly lost your Ring of Eternity, of which there is only one. Therefore you must leave the void and be born into Earth Life to find again and for the first time your Ring of Life. After this you will find your Ring of Eternity, so you may enter time and space, and no-time and nowhere, anytime, anywhere.
But listen closely to this advice as you leave the womb of my void. “When the tone rings true will for you, that is the direction to find your eternal ring.” After this her voice seemed to grow fainter and fainter. The last thing he remembered hearing was something about not forgetting his toothbrush.
He found himself spiraling down through many lifetimes and stories. Sometimes in the midst of his travels, births and deaths, he would have a strange comforting remembrance, the meanings fading in and out.
After about 40 lifetimes he had the toothbrush part together, but had a haunting desire to find something true and changeless in the midst of life. As he began his search he noticed a circular pattern in his life, which would land him in similar situations, time after time. Around and around he went, always looking for a memory of something deeper.
One day in the travel section of the local paper, he read about the city of Aswas in the Desert of Time. This was the only city on Earth that had been in existance since before the great flood. He felt an excitement about this and called the travel agent listed at the bottom of the article.
The agent told him that coincidently, he could find out more about Aswas that very night, as there would be a lecture at the library on the Desert Continent by the Wizard of Asis .
During the lecture, Timey(that was his name in this lifetime) learned about the three sister cities of the Desert Continent: Aswas, Asis, and the futuristic Willbemaybe. After the lecture Timey asked the old wizard for some advice about his search. The old wizard told him that to find his goal he must go to each of the three cities and find one of the three sisters who would each grant him one wish. He then gave him his card with an invitation to visit him in Asis when his journey nears completion.
The next day Timey quit his job at Rolex, and within a week he had arrived at Aswas, the ancient capital of the Desert Continent. After visiting the old tower with its ever popular high water mark, he went to the museum of herstory where the survivors of the great flood were having a memory keeping session open to the public.
There he heard the story of how almost everybody had drowned in the Great Flood except for one family who had built the great tower. They had stayed in the its high room for three years while the flood raged around the tower. According to the matriarch, their food supply consisted of a rice cereal which would make snap crackle and pop noises as the flood waters rose.
After many months of eating these soggy rice krispies, a huge boat floated by and they were able to trade some of their cereal for chicken eggs and fishing rods. Forunately the rice krispies proved to be very good bait for fishing, and good feed for the chicks who grew from the eggs. So for the remainder of the flood they survived on rice krispie omelettes and rice krispie breaded fish.
After the program, Timey asked the matriarch if she could remember before time. She said she couldn’t anymore, but her daughter might be able to help. Kammie was the Keeper of the Memory for Aswas, and was the highest paid official in town.
The next morning Timey visited the cave of Kammie and told her he was searching for a feeling which he had lost, and that if he could remember where he had lost it, he might be able to find it again.
Kammie helped Timey remember his journey and helped him trace his memory back to the time before time. He saw that he could now understand the circular nature of his search and that the circle was actually a spiral. She helped him feel his original loss, so he could see the resulting ring of his life.
As a symbol of his journey she gave him the Ring of Life, and told him to present it to her sister Natalie in the town of Willbemaybe. Following her directions he traveled down Memory Lane for four days at which point it turned into Dream Way at the corner of Hope St. He followed Dream Way for 2 more days to the town of Willbemaybe. There he presented the Ring of Light to Natalie and told her he was looking for that which was before Time.
She said she could help him create his dreams and hopes for the future, but couldn’t take him beyond time. For this, he must follow the golden trail to Asis and visit her other sister, Bertha who would be busy birthing babies, but she may take time for him on her recommendation.
Natalie then gave him a note of assurance through which he could gain the confidence necessary to complete his mission. Thanking her, he set off on the Istobe road which led to the mountain, Isis. After seven days, he reached the town of Asis. There were very few people here, and most of the inhabitants seemed to appear and disappear into thin air. He later found out that there were holding areas for those denizens who couldn’t stay present. One area held those drawn to the future and another one held those drawn to the past.
Timey found himself floating among these realities and eventually was able to stay present while the past and future remained in his awareness.
Clutching his note of assurance he rang the doorbell of Bertha. She let him in but said he would have to wait forever to receive the gift he was looking for. He asked her “How do I wait forever?” She said “You must be present always.” “How do I do that” he asked, feeling an anxiety which he hadn’t felt seemingly in ages.
Bertha left the room without saying anything further, and after a time which seemed neither long or short, a butterfly appeared and landed on his shoulder. The butterfly told him, “When you are at the wall of Never, look for the doorway of Nowhere, and when you are willing to be nowhere, which is now here, you will be always present.”
“I AM willing, he said to the butterfly and himself, and remained present even while being aware of a need inside for something to happen. I am willing to be here with you, he said to the anxious thought and feeling.
As he watched, the thought turned into a lifetime of things happening. He continued to watch, present always. Soon another thought and feeling arose, and another lifetime resulted. He continued to watch. In between the lifetimes, he found himself in a place beyond creation where nothing was.
But it was not empty here, it was full, joyfull, full inactivity, full in stillness. He saw within him, the Mother of the World, birthing worlds. And yet he was still present and still Here now.
In one small corner of himself he saw a human figure approach another human figure. The figures seemed distinct, but shared an awareness unfathomable, unspeakable. For there was no place where either one was not, although seemingly there was a manifestation of two bodies.
The Old Wizard said to the Father of Time, ” I see you have found the Ring of Eternity within. I now give you this ring as a symbol of who you really are. Father Time brought his focus to the ring and read the inscription. It said “NOW HERE FOREVER”.
