The beginning quotation

{dazzalness} said:

“So this the end then.” The first being asked the question that wasn’t really a question.

“So it is,” responded the second being.

A silence lingered for a time.

“This is my first cycle you know. “ The first being tried to initiate a conversation again.

“So it is,” the second being repeated.

Silence again filled the space between them.

“I mean, I know the rules, how everything works, but does it really have to end like this? They had a great run you know. They’ve come farther than all the others. So I hear anyways. Why does it have to end like this?”

The second being remained hushed.

“I know cycles come and go and each cycle has its own special offspring. It’s all out of our hands. We are just here to make sure everything stays ordered,” agitation began to lace the first beings voice. “But I like them! They are tough and don’t let anything hold them down. Sure, they have their faults, but they have so many more strengths! If they just had a little more time they could be standing among the stars with us! How is that a bad thing?”

The second being said nothing.

“I just don’t want them to go,” the first being continued a little calmer. “They are all I have ever known. I don’t want to forget the beauty they have created. The waste they have laid. They are as much my children as the cycles. I was there when they were conceived. I was there when they took their first fumbling steps into the world. I watched protectively when disaster struck and many were lost. Some by their own hands. I was also there when they learned to work together, when harmony graced the land and new ideas flourished so quickly we couldn’t keep up. I am here now watching, waiting, grieving for their demise. Shouldn’t I get some sort of say?”

He didn’t wait for a response this time. “Shouldn’t I have a hand in deciding when it’s time? The rules be damned! Inevitably one of these cycles’ offspring will reach us in the stars, why shouldn’t it be them? Why can’t the rules be bent just once?”

The second being slowly turned to the first a knowing sadness emanating from him. “Ah child. It is always painful, but it is time to let them go. Each cycle’s offspring has its own strengths and weaknesses, their own wonderful creations and devastating flaws. But if they do not learn how to escape the cycle for themselves all will be lost. Destruction and chaos will ensue and nothing would be left to recover in the ashes. You know this dear child. And yet, your emotions are natural. These attachments will always occur. Ten billion years’ time is so fragile so ephemeral it arouses such a bittersweet almost heartbreaking fondness.”

Silence seeped between them once more.

“Come, child,” the second being said. “It is time.”