Clear orbs sparkled as they rocketed towards earth, flickering, glittering and tempting. Two celestial teams soared and swerved with lightning speed across the galaxy, attempting to "win as many points" for their team as possible. As each opponent would make contact with an orb, the sphere would swirl with either pearlescent ether or an ebony goo. The longer each team would have one of the precious balls in their possession, the more their team colors would taint or purify the object.
At times, the team of light would manage to capture an orb from the moment it was ejected from the heavens above. Protecting and guarding from its inception, they would fill each blank space with as much of their goodness until it reached capacity. This little soul wouldn't necessarily remain good throughout life; most rarely did. The earth was filled with all kinds of temptations, toxins and transgressions. Each era that passed exponentially increased the negative influence over the souls that were its inhabitants, but the team of light would never give up - could never give up. At the very least, the souls in their grip would start off with the greatest opportunities to bless and shine and glow with purity.
Dark chargers were just as hungry for their own stain to dye these pre-birth beings. Stalking after the light warriors, they reached and grasped towards the orbs, attempting interceptions and often temporarily succeeding. As they confiscated the objects, they infused darkness, creating vacuums and black holes, absorbing light in gulps, devouring the opal luminescence with insatiable ferocity.
Each side warred for victory; every individual being- a trophy that proclaimed adept skill, unwavering focus, and an aggressive drive to procure more "soldiers".
There were no time-outs, breaks, or halftime periods. The eternal game would be played out as long as souls were being born into this world. Exhaustion had no part in these eons. The opponents had one job: to fill the orbs with as much of their influence before each was allowed to take up residence in the bodies being formed in vitro on earth.
"Blank bulb burning!" sounded a heavenly voice across space, clear with warning.
Every so often, one of the orbs would evade any capture, heading straight for the body on earth that would be its host. If it fused with its human, without any kind of imprint from either side, it would be terminal for the recipient.
All eyes looked toward the tiny clear globe hurtling towards the southern hemisphere. The two opponents closest in proximity eyed one another's intent for a split second before tearing off after their prize. Both knew that if they could reach it first, they would be able to fill it completely- either fully dark or completely light. It would be a massive win for the corresponding team. Light and dark adversaries fought to push their energy to max capacity.
In a death spiral, the two chargers looked like comets orbiting one another, twisting and coiling like two strands of DNA. Approaching at this speed, they might not be able to pull back in time before impact. In this cosmic display of "chicken" they continued to assess their enemy- would they be willing to win, at any cost? Heat crackled and electricity sparked in arcs from their overheating bodies. The sight of land fast approaching caused both to consider heavily. In seconds, they would pass the point of no return. The dark charger looked to the orb, to his enemy, back to the orb, and quickly jerked his head back to the light charger.
"Have it and die, then!" he spat out at the final moment, turning his horned head back towards space, looking for any other consolation prize in his vicinity - perhaps some lighter globe that needed just a touch more darkness before entering Earth's orbit.
The light charger had won the orb, but knew it was too late for himself. He would give up his life now for this little being. He pointed his body sharply towards the blank crystal sphere. Reaching out from his free fall, his fingertips grazed the sides of the ball.
"One more. Just a tiny....bit...more," he grunted as his fingers pulled the sphere into his grasp. As soon as he connected, he poured all of his light into the object, knowing that it would be his final act of existence.
Right before impact, he rolled his shoulder and pulled the tiny ball of light into his protective embrace, shielding it completely from the explosion.
From a hillside, two children walked home in the early evening
"Wow! Look!"
The younger child turned, a little too late. "What?"
"Oh, you missed it."
The little one peered into the sky, "Missed what, Jowly? Missed what!?"
"Nothing big. Just a shooting star. Come on! Let's get home."
And that's all anyone would see that day. Just another shooting star. The mysteries of light, dark, sacrifice and battles for souls would continue to be lost on the humans who only had eyes for what they wanted to see.
This post was an entry for The Inkwell Challenge for the prompt: LIGHT, and also an entry for the DREEM-WOTW challenge with the prompt: BLANK.
Image source:
Orb of Light
