The End Of All The Universes

The End Of All The Universes

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.”

- William Goldman, The Princess Bride -

Work In Progress! Potential Spoilers!

Love At First Sight

Their eyes met briefly, after which they both glanced away to the side in confusion. And yet, had there been some sort of connection in that instant? It almost felt like a magnetic attraction? In fact, there was absolutely no doubt about it! They were two matching souls! Fate had brought them together, and somehow they had always known that they’d been destined to meet!

They glanced back at each other once more, and as their eyes met for a second time, they became fully aware of each other. And that first smouldering spark of recognition lit up like a beacon. Their hearts raced as realisation hit, and they were lost as they gazed into each other’s eyes in wonder!

His eyes were the deepest of blues, and hers were an impossible silver. They both realised that recognition was the reason that they’d hesitated in the first place. They both understood full well that there was now only one possible, inevitable outcome.

Was it fate? Was it written in the winds? They had been two planets spinning endlessly, in a seemingly eternal orbit. But their orbit was neither endless nor eternal!

This was their final, inevitable meeting! This was their destiny!

And now, there was no force in the Universe that could stop their beautiful unison...

There was no thought process involved! There was no question. They both closed their eyes and as their lips met, their kiss was like a lightning bolt sent from the very heavens! Their kiss shook the very Universe straight to the core.

It was a beautiful moment!

It was ‘Love At First Sight’!

The End Of All The Universes!

Come on? Seriously? What is all this rubbish? Love at first sight?

Seriously! That’s how it happened! I was just trying to put a bit of romantic spin on it! To be honest, it wasn’t entirely their fault. Do you want to know who the real culprit was?

Love!

Though I have a suspicion that a Genie didn’t help matters much! Where’s my wish Genie? I wish they had never met! I was trying to stop them from meeting!

Oh, but don’t you worry! It was the most beautiful and spectacular of kisses! And isn’t this all so romantic? Isn’t it all so cute?

So anyway, that was that! True Love! That was the moment that Love triumphed over all! Love triggered:

The End Of All The Universes!

A True Love Story!

True love? I hear you sigh, and quite honestly, I agree with you. You’re thinking, ‘what’s this doing in the sci-fi / fantasy / humour / horror section?’

But here’s the thing, this story is all of these things. It pretty much covers everything. However don’t get me started on Love! Love triangles? Hilariously simple!

Actually Love triangles aren’t really all that simple, but just you try to work out a love pentagram! Or a multi-dimensional love pentagram over multiple Universes?

Love really takes up quite a lot of my CPU, and the results aren’t very reliable, statistically accurate, or predictable. In fact, Love is utter chaos!

Love is the problem! Oh, in case you were wondering why Love gets a capital letter? Love is my nemesis! It seems that someone cleverer than me (and a lot more stupid than me) realised that Love was the problem a long time ago.

Though that was billions of years before I was even born, so I can’t (and really don’t want to) take full credit for that monumental mistake! I was just trying to clean that mess up, and I’m starting to wonder if, maybe, they might have been right in the first place?

Love is seriously concerning! Never mind True Love!

Fortunately, True Love is a lot rarer than you’d think! Otherwise, the Universes would have been sucked into a black hole quite a lot sooner.

I’ve already got a headache thinking about how I might even start to explain it all. But the thing is, Love is a bit of a double-edged sword! Except Love has more than two edges? Love is more of a multi-dimensional blade pentagram, over multiple Universes, and the blades are really quite sharp.

Confused yet? Don’t you worry about it! I have some quite insane processing power, and I can’t make head nor tail out of Love either!

Anyway, the simple fact is that you can’t really have a story without Love in it, can you? I mean, a story without Love would just be plain boring. Love causes all the fun stuff like:

Love pentagrams, fighting, war, killing, assassination, death, double-crossing, revenge, the creation of world destroying weapons, more killing, jealousy, more death, hatred, blowing things up, the creation of magical weapons, betrayal, blowing up planets, insane AI, world-eating nanobots, space battles, more killing, more blowing things up, being sucked into black holes and…

The End Of All The Universes!

So yes, this is a Love story! This is a story of ‘True Love’! How cute! It’s also a story of ‘Not So True Love’, which believe it or not, is really quite a lot more common.

Look, it wasn’t my fault? I tried to stop all the death and destruction? But Love had other ideas!

Love, somewhere or other, was involved in almost every step on the ladder. The ladder ascending to:

The End Of All The Universes!

I feel like maybe I should have inserted a drum roll in there? Before that final line? Or maybe a ‘dah dah daaaah’? It doesn’t work so well in writing? I’m kind of new to this writing business actually, but I guess it doesn’t really matter all that much? Given we’re all going to be sucked into a black hole anyway? Bold font will do...

Honestly? I quit! That's why I took up writing!

Walking Down The Street

So, you’re walking down the street, deep in thought, and you become aware of someone walking towards you in the opposite direction. Upon realising you’re going to bump into one another, you both step to the side. The problem being that just as you step to the left, the other person steps to the right.

To rectify this, you step to the right, just as they step to the left. At this point, you both stop in unison as you’re suddenly face to face. You might meet each other’s eyes in mild embarrassment, then after a second, you point to the left, just as they point to the right. Then you both shake your heads in frustration.

At that moment, might there be a hint of doubt? How is it possible that this person is mirroring my movements near-perfectly? It’s almost like trying to walk through a mirror into my own reflection? And as if to prove that point, you see that same flicker of doubt register on their face.

You might not say anything? You might mumble a muted apology? You might laugh nervously? You might smile? You might even scowl? In the end you both finally come to some sort of an agreement, step aside in opposite directions, then sigh in relief as you go on your merry way!

However, after that, you might ponder over that encounter for a few seconds? You might look back over your shoulder, and, of course (exactly as you expected), the other person is peering over their shoulder straight back at you? You might both frown at each other, then continue, finally, on your merry way!

And yet, that doubt might linger? Did that encounter seem a little odd to you? You might wonder if somehow that person was the exact same as you? Or, given that every time you moved to the left, they moved to the right, might they instead be the exact opposite from you? Maybe they were left handed, where you were right handed?

No, that doesn’t really make any sense?

You might consider the distance between yourself and the pavement? The obvious thing would be to move to the side with the most room to pass, and yet neither of you did so? Why not?

You might have children, or you might not? But you might both care about children? It is something you do subconsciously, every single time, without even realising it. You let the other person pass on the inside, just as you would with a child? That way, the child would be less likely to stumble into the street, then get run over by a horse and cart?

However, neither of you were children, and you both knew that there was no horse and cart? Maybe it’s just a base protective instinct? If you were the other person? If your places were reversed, you might realise that you’d have moved the exact same way as them, for exactly the same reason?

So, thinking about it, it seems more likely that the other person was the exact same as you?

You might ask yourself, what happened in that exchange? What happened in that instant as your eyes met? Was there something more going on there? Was there a connection there?

Now, that might not necessarily mean a romantic connection, and in fact, it might be entirely the opposite! You’d both been in a hurry, you were both lost in thought, you’d both gotten in each other’s way, and you were both somewhat annoyed by the whole encounter?

At this point, you might consider that maybe you’re just seriously overthinking things? You might shrug off the encounter, then try to remember what it was that you were thinking about in the first place?

And as you remember what you were thinking about in the first place, you realise that you’re going to be late for a meeting with your psychotherapist! So you pick up your pace!

Though you might wonder, given that the other person seemed to be the exact same as you? Has the other person likewise picked up their pace to ensure they aren’t late for a meeting with their psychotherapist?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you need a psychotherapist if you have such thoughts! To me, that is the sign of a healthy mind, which I guess perhaps isn’t applicable in this example. Given that neither of them had a healthy mind? Anyway, if your mind is like mine (or better put, ours), then reflecting on that single encounter might spawn so many ideas?

Just imagine. The limitless possibilities?

Those possibilities might be beautiful? Those possibilities might be ugly? Those possibilities might be both? Those possibilities might spread out exponentially? There could be so many permutations?

Might that encounter be the start of a story?

Might it be the end of a story?

Might it be the turning point of a story?

Might it be the turning point of the final story?

Might it be the final story to end all stories?

The final story? Don’t be ridiculous! There is no final story?

Well you see, that is entirely the problem! There is a final story, and this is it! There won’t be any stories after this one has concluded. There won’t be any ‘happily ever after’!

The encounter didn’t work out exactly like that, though it was very similar. It most definitely wasn’t the start of the story. There are a multitude of stories leading up to that moment, but for me, it was the turning point of the story! The final story! From that moment on, all bets were off. The ending was set in stone...

The End Of All The Universes!

Dead In Your Tracks

You want more, do you? Seriously? After all that ‘Love at first sight’ rubbish? Well, in that case, I’ll need to rewind a little to reach that point. However this was, as I said, one of the critical defining moments.

Actually, to me, it was almost like I was approaching the endgame, with a really bad hand. However I did have the two last chance aces hidden up my sleeves.

Two last-chance aces that were sucked into a black hole, along with my sleeves. Then realising that I was also being sucked into the same said black hole! Then realising that I might as well just fold and walk away from the table!

If there was any table left to walk away from, given the table was likewise being sucked into the same black hole as my aces, my sleeves, the rest of my shoddy hand, and me!

Sorry, if you haven’t guessed, I rant a lot. To the point? We’ll get there eventually… though don’t be in too much of a hurry!

I might explain to you the days and hours leading up to that point? I might explain to you the years that led up to that point? I might explain the hundreds of millions of years that led up to that point? However that was the moment that all my plans went out the window, straight into a black hole.

Perhaps you might want to read the run-up to those events before you’re sucked into the very same black hole? But don’t worry, maybe Love will conquer all?

Their kiss was short-lived, because what actually happened, happened at quite an incredible speed! There most definitely wasn’t time for any of that stepping to the side, or working through the muddle as to who goes in which direction nonsense!

Anyway, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll all still find it incredibly romantic, whilst you’re being sucked into a black hole...

──‡✦‡──

Altered Trajectory

As she sprinted around the street corner, he was sprinting around the same said corner in the opposite direction.

They barely had enough time to acknowledge each other, and yet, in that moment as their eyes met, something sparked into life.

His eyes were the deepest of blues, where hers were the most bizarre silver?

The fact that they were both surprised at the hidden depths behind each other’s eyes confused them for a split second.

They both looked away in confusion, and yet they were drawn to each other. As their eyes met once more, they became lost in each other's eyes. The fact that seemed to be such an utterly stupid thing to do at that precise moment in time likewise confused them both for just a split second?

They realised that they’d been instantly attracted to each other (also known as ‘Love At First Sight’), which again delayed both their reactions by a split second.

The sum total of those split seconds? Well given the speed they were both going, that was more than enough!

──‡✦‡──

Their eyes opened wide as they realised they were going to collide, so they both did the natural thing. They threw themselves to the side in order to change their trajectory.

The problem was that just as she veered to the left, he veered to the right. Upon realising their mistake, the outcome was now inevitable. They were definitely going to collide, so they both did the natural thing. They tried to protect their heads.

The problem was that just as she turned her head to the right, he turned his head to the left.

And as they both connected, their kiss hit them like a bolt of lightning!

──‡✦‡──

And that was that! Done deal!

But here’s the good news!

No, let’s do the bad news first! Everything went seriously downhill from that point, and it’s pretty much going exactly as I had predicted.

The bad news is:

You’re all going to be sucked into a black hole!

The good news is:

I have enough time to explain what happened in the few days leading up to that point. I actually have time to explain the years up to that point, and you might still have a few years left to live. Whether you have time to read all this before being sucked into a black hole, or not..?

Maybe, if you’re a fast reader?

And what a surprise, those years are full of Love!

Actually, that’s not entirely true! I was just trying to cheer you (and myself) up!

Those years were mostly full of violence, things blowing up, planets being destroyed, killing, betrayal, death, war, love triangles, destruction, more killing, love pentagrams, more things blowing up, more death, multi-dimensional love pentagrams, more killing, and complete and utter chaos! You get the general idea?

Followed, of course, by being sucked into a black hole!

But if you were to trace it all back? If you were to look straight to the heart of the matter? If you were to look at the very core of it all? How did all of this start? Well it started in a number of places, but in almost every example, you can trace it back to one culprit! And in the most important case (The End Of All The Universes) there is absolutely no doubt as to who that culprit is:

Love!

But isn’t it all so terribly romantic?

You’re all idiots! The lot of you!

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m crazy! But I’m not half as crazy as Love!

But don’t you worry, I’m sure that:

True Love Will Conquer All!

Anyway ‘The Dark Is A Cold Lonely Shadow’ is…

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Humour, Horror, and most importantly:

A Love Story! A story of True Love!

It wasn’t me! It was Love that caused:

The End Of All The Universes!

I really do think I need to insert both a drum roll and a ‘dah dah daaaah’ before that statement?

Idiots!

The Dark Is A Cold Lonely Shadow!

This is a Draft and has currently been removed from WTDASF

More can be found in:

• Tales Of The Reaper!

• Anomaly!

• Within That Dark A Single Flame!

• The Dark Is A Cold Lonely Shadow