Those who seek to challenge their inner self also seek to improve themselves infinitesimally ...

As with in some time or other, we all get our own desert to cross ...

The universe is an incredible collage of all things known and unknown. There is as much to it that we may never fully understand it no matter how long humanity goes on to exist. Boundaries for instance. Is the universe infinite? If so, how can that be? And if not, if there are boundaries to the universe, then what is beyond those boundaries?

Going onto creation ... if God, any God or Gods, or deities of any kind, had a part in the creation of all that exists, then who or what created that deity or god? Of course, so many of such entities are myth or folklore, nothing more than stories passed down from one generation to the next. And too, for many, such entities are very real and are worshipped on a daily basis but imagine for a moment that such creatures do exist, then a hell of a lot of possible what ifs would arise.

What if these Gods are nothing more than beings created by the universe just like us, except with abilities and lifespans so far beyond our comprehension to the point where we can only view them as Gods or as entities of Myth? Humanity has the ability to create and on quite a large scale too, as would any advanced civilisation. Difference is the scale and limitations of that creation.

Perhaps there is a plan for all of life, perhaps everything is purely random. If something so out of this world were to present itself to you, how would you react to it? How could you react to it? And if certain aspects of your life prior to such a moment were able to be seen or understood as something which could back up said presentation, then what?

Once there was nothing but chaos, it never fully went away, soon ... it is set to return stronger than ever before ... what if the difference between some sort of control and a level of utter chaos was ... you?

1.

You know, even ancient deities like to have fun every once in a while. Boredom can best even the most upstanding of us all. Yeah, even Gods often like to mingle, and as odd as that may seem, it occurs more often than anyone can even begin to comprehend. On this particular occasion, fun is to be mixed with a little bit of business.

Lord, I am not worthy to receive your faith, but just say the word and I am yours.

***

The war cries of a large falcon are heard as Johnny Birch pauses for a moment to see if he can see the lord of the skies on this, the hottest and brightest of all days, right before he enters the nearest watering hole with which he has been able to find. The sky is clear and the sun so innately bright that even if the largest of sky creatures were near then he probably wouldn't be able to see it being so blinded as he currently is.

Johnny, a name he often stresses is his though there have been other names with which he has been known by, some not heard in a long time, and others more meaningful than he could ever know. He is an ordinary man with ordinary problems, or so he believes, getting on in life just a little to a point where life tends to catch up a little more often than not.

Yet to realize it, the unusual has found him once again. Another thing yet to be realized, is just how long it has been since life went a bit odd, just as it can't yet be realized as to why this is so.

As it is, he soon is inside, where he wastes no time in placing his briefcase upon a bar top, taking the nearest available stool, a stool at no point does he get to sit upon. No time indeed is wasted with producing a handkerchief with which he uses to pat down his leaking forehead, no doubt his face has turned a cherry red by now for he can feel the burn with the touch as he pats away that facial leakage.

'Hope you have some sunscreen in that case of yours' speaks the nearest patron who is only just two stools away.

'Who knew Hell would be paying us a visit today?' he says wondering as to if this man had always been there. Yeah, Johnny just arrived but had there been someone so close in the moment he entered through the doors? 'I'd have nothing but sunscreen if I could have foreseen this, but who knew, right?'

'As a matter of fact, I did.'

'Is that so?'

'It is ...'

He doesn't want to press the conversation because he is sure that all kinds of oddballs will be out in force on a day like today. It is both not the day to be inside and the exact day to be indoors. Be nice he tells himself, today is not a day for agro. Things are more than hot enough as it is, no need to stir it. A bottled beer is ordered and comes straight from the cooler. Upon its arrival he takes a quick swig then uses the bottle to cool his face.

'Thank God for small favours, huh?' he comments, indeed keeping the peace and hopefully lighting the mood.

'Your very much welcome ...' speaks that patron two stools over.

'Huh, what's that?'

'You said thank God for small favours and I said that you are welcome ...'

Ah, he has heard it all now. The loo-la's are really out in force today.

'So, yeah ... right. You so happen to be God?'

'I am A God ... the Sun God Ra in fact, at your service ... well, actually not literally at your service. I'm officially off duty so it happens ... but you get the point.'

'Unfortunately, I do ...'

'You know Jacob, you really shouldn't be drinking beer ... not on a day like today. It dehydrates the body, and you know what the doctor said ...'

'Hold on a minute ... what did you call me?'

'Jacob ...'

'That's not my name.'

'No, not right now it's not, but it was what you were called at school, was it not?'

'Yeah, but that ...'

'... was a long time ago? I know that. You know, I may be thought of as a sun god ... there is so much more to it than that. I am the God of the sky, the God of all the land, the God of the sea, even of the very air you are breathing. I see everything, I hear everything ... I know ... every-friggin-thing.'

The bottle of cool beer, with which Johnny Birch was holding in his right hand, vanishes.

'Hey ... what just happened to my beer ...?'

'You don't really want what it is that will ultimately kill you ... and it will do so sooner than you know at that ... have a nice, cool cordial instead.'

'You what?'

An empty pint glass appears next to the briefcase. Four cubes of ice click into being, they briefly bounce around and settle into that glass. A coloured liquid begins to fill the glass from the bottom up. Looks are thrown about the immediate area.

'Go ahead ... bottoms up.'

'What's this?'

'Blackcurrant with a touch of honey', a click of a finger and thumb and the liquid changes colour. 'Or orange ... with a touch of ginger, if you prefer ...'

He'd much prefer the beer, still ... the flavoured water looks good. It feels good too, once he gets to it and he does down it in one. Almost instantly he feels so much cooler. There aren't many in the immediate vicinity, all of whom are taking notice of proceedings where none of them had been a moment or so ago, including the master of ceremony behind the bar.

The real master of ceremony is not he who tends the bar, rather he is one who came to witness as a mortal despite the fact that he cannot be anything merely ... mortal. He stands off from the stool he sat upon and suddenly appears Godlike, as much as one can in mortal form. His height and stature alone is intimidating. His musculature is clearly obvious despite the clothing he wears, and almost seems ... unnatural. He walks slowly and surely towards this Johnathon Birch fellow.

'There is a reason why you once were known as Jacob' he says quietly, leaning in towards the left ear of poor Mister Birch. No matter his lowly tone, his voice still booms and does so that all who are present can surely hear.

'So, I have been told, but the reasoning to such was something never shared with me.'

'There is a prophecy to be fulfilled, you are capable of seeing this prophecy through but only under the right circumstance. If you are intrigued, or are in any way interested, all you have to do is come find me.'

'How do I find you? What if I am not interested? ... What is this ... Prophecy?'

'Call my name, the breeze will carry your call to me, for I am the breeze, I am all from here to the end and everything in between. Don't delay too long. Time is eternal though it is not on our side ...'

The big fellow, whomever he actually is, moves to the exit of this ... tavern, and simply vanishes without directly moving past it. Two patrons manoeuvre themselves to stand next to Mister Birch lost in an awe at what they just witnessed. The bar man moves to stand at Mister Birch's other side. Temperature drops significantly to resemble something of normalcy.

'So ...' the question everyone wants to ask builds until it is asked, 'what are you going to do?

Second chances do exist for those who should seek such ... All you can do is ... believe.