Birth of the Rainbow Bridge
by
Wolf Read
 
In a time before the Earth, the first intelligent beings arose among the
fresh galaxies of a young universe.  The technology these "First Ones"
developed eventually gave them the power of gods: they could create worlds,
travel almost as fast a light, and lived as long as they liked.
 
The First Ones discovered that there was no afterlife.  This saddened them,
despite their immortality, for they also understood that there were a lot
of planets with life that didn't benefit from their technological prowess.
Trillions upon trillions of beings died each microsecond, never to be
again.
 
All the death, the First Ones decided, had to be cured.
 
As a test, they picked a planet and made all its life forms immortal.  This
mistake quickly showed.  Predators, still pursuing their old mortal ways,
swallowed their prey alive.  The prey survived in the predators' stomachs,
and found things quite uncomfortable in dark, smelly acid-filled sacks.
And, as the predators stomachs ballooned from an increasing load of prey
that could not be digested, they became uncomfortably large.
 
Change their behavior, the first ones decided, and they made the animals
cease eating.  This worked for a short while.  Then the animals stopped
doing things.  Beasts lounged about, sleeping, yawning, occasionally
nudging a partner.  Without the need to eat, there was no incentive to
move.  Even play had in its roots the elements of hunting and hiding, and
vanished for lack of need.  The world quieted, and became a dull place.
 
Immortality wasn't the answer.  Death was a part of life.  Animals had to
eat in order to survive, which meant the eaten had to die.  Death couldn't
be eliminated.
 
Then we'll create an afterlife, decided the First Ones, in a new universe
of our own making, where things like eating and play needed no reason,
where beings could be perpetually young and free.  The First Ones put
together a massive computer system, made of supersmart nodes that spanned
all the galaxies.  They sent tiny robots out to each planet in the
universe, robots so small no one could see them, save with a very powerful
microscope.  The robots could make copies of themselves, so that new worlds
would always be seeded.
 
Today, one of these robots carefully attaches itself to each newborn
creature.  The moment the creature dies, the tiny robot captures its
memories, its very soul.  The memories are then sent on a beam of light to
the nearest node; a brief white flash, the product of mixing the same
colors seen in a rainbow.  The powerful burst of light bridges the dead
creature's old home with its new one.
 
Upon reaching the node, the animal's soul is free to live in a world that
readily changes to suit the creatures' utmost happiness.  It is a place of
endless beauty and delight.  It is a place where every friend, old and new,
can be found.  And a place where the hunter chases life-like toys, a
browser finds the most succulent shrubs, and a grazer chews the greenest
grass.
 
Because of the use of light to bridge the two universes, crossing over
became called "The Rainbow Bridge."
 
The End
 
***
Thanks for your time!
Wolf, Silven, and The Fabulous Furry Freak Ferrets:
Kasumi, Nabiki, Jaxom, Piemur, and Ripley
[Posted in FML issue 3104]