The River's Edge

From time to time the river would expel a pronounced “gurgle” as water rushed into a pocket created by the infinite droplets moving in their mysterious ways. She listened from the bank and watched the water pass by. Where it came from, she knew not; but she supposed that before long, it would reach the ocean and the cycle would repeat. She leaned back; laying in the grass, she closed her eyes. Her mind wandered back to the river’s edge, and perhaps in an attempt to test the water, it trickled in and was carried along by the steady current. At first, her vision was distorted by the water, but before long her sight became clear and the chill of the water faded from her limbs. As she was moved downstream, she was stricken by the stone mosaic, which paved the riverbed. The irreplicable pattern paralleled the constantly distorting surface from the start to the finish, never repeating but always the same. This was a masterpiece that could only be created by the hand of God. She was carried farther away, and here she began to take notice of the life all around her, which was not visible from the surface. At first, she saw the fishes contenting themselves to pockets of still water or holding steady under a riffle or seeking shelter among the stones, nearly invisible. The mosaic of the river-rock continued onto their backs; every one was different and the same. But even these could not draw her attention away from the continued multitudes of creatures that followed her down the river. She began to notice the insects that passed through the water with ease and the algae which was forever to be subject to the current’s will and the aquatic plants rooted to the riverbed perpetually waving “hello” and “goodbye” to anyone who will notice. She passed by, unseen and unheard: an extraterrestrial visitor in this strange world. As she gazed upon these unfamiliar forms, she was struck by the mystery of it. Not moments before, she was sitting, just above the surface, a stranger to this whole world, mere inches from her. Everything seemed so changed; the blindfold has been removed; the light turned on. How could she continue when such universes exist, unseen, below her very nose? How could anyone contemplate the infinity of the Cosmos when that very infinity was present here on Earth, contained within the head of a pin? From under the water she heard the river gurgle louder than before; she stirred; her eyes opened. “I must have fallen asleep,” she sighed to herself; the sunny afternoon had nearly given way to the dark of the evening. She rose and made her way back to the path from which she descended down to the water’s edge. The river gurgled on behind her, as stead as ever.