The Beginning
Once upon a time, after a great cataclysm that almost obliterated life on this planet, a small group of peasants, who were very old, were the only survivors of the global disaster. They were struggling to survive by farming the blighted earth. But the earth was so damaged that their efforts to cultivate a few food crops were in vain.
Finally, in desperation, one aged man, wiser and more courageous than the rest, proposed to go out into the world in search of food. The other villagers were too frightened, dis-couraged, and weakened by illness and hunger to accompany him, so he decided to set out alone.
He found a path into the large dark forest that stood on the edge of the village fields. As he entered the forest's shadowy depths, he began to feel uneasy, and with good cause. No sooner had he reached a point where he could no longer see the vil-lage fields behind him, than a host of strange and fearsome creatures began to attack him. An upright writhing serpent crept up behind him, a hairy crawling beast without a name threatened his ankles, a sharp-talons flying thing with great flapping wings descended from the sky upon him.
Despite his terror and infirmities, for he was very old, the man fended off the terrifying apparitions as best he could, knowing he had to continue on his quest for food.
Suddenly he heard a sound like none he had ever heard before -- a haunting wail of utter misery, the thin and pitiful cry of an abandoned child. He could not possibly ignore it. He stepped off the path and made his way through the trees and underbrush, following the reedy cry as if entranced
Pushing aside a leafy branch, he stepped into a small clearing. He saw before him the ruins of an ancient temple, its stone walls covered with moss, its cracked columns grown round with vines. The cries seemed to come from within the temple, so he mounted the worn stone steps and entered through a low, arched doorway.
Once his eyes had adjusted to the dim light inside, he saw a small figure huddled in front of a simple altar. It was moan-ing softly, rocking back and forth, its head bent upon its knees and half hidden by its encircling arms. He crossed the uneven marble floor and knelt in front of the strange little being. Reaching out a weathered hand, he lifted its head so that he could look at its face.
But what was this? The being had no face; its head was featureless, a smooth white oval, without eye or mouth or nose or ear, as blank and seamless as an egg.
He drew back, horrified, staring at this human form that looked sightlessly towards him for a moment and then quickly covered its terrible blank face with its hands, as if anguished by the revelation of its deformity.
The old man remained motionless, battling his impulse to flee from this travesty of humankind. Frightened and bewil-dered as he was, he sensed that the creature was suffering al-most beyond belief. Tears came to his eyes and he felt his heart expand. Instinctively he reached out to the poor miserable creature and embraced it. It collapsed against him, its shoul-ders shaking with sobs.
Steeling himself against the horror of that blank visage, he cradled its head gently in his hands and turned it up to-wards him. Gazing intently at its eyeless face, as if to will a response into existence, he caressed the featureless oval. Its skin was soft and flawless, like that of a baby.
He felt an odd sensation growing in his hands. They were warm, so warm that they tingled. They seemed to move with-out his willing them to do so. Quickly they began to mold the little creature's smooth resilient flesh, making an indentation for eyes, shaping a nose, a mouth, ears. His hands moved now more rapidly and deftly until a fully human face, which seemed to have been waiting for a touch such as his to take form, looked back at him.
For a long moment, he and the newborn person gazed into each other's eyes. And then the person, whose fresh and per-fect features reminded him of everyone who had ever been dear to him in the past and who might become so in the future, smiled. With this benevolent and grateful smile, which the old man matched with a joyous smile of his own, the two joined hands and walked out together into the waiting world.
