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The skeleton of what remains of a bush emerges from the dry ground. It extends its thin arms to the sky, seeking moisture, in vain. It is radiated by the heat of the sun, until a spark ignites on its fragile branches. In a short time the slender shrub is engulfed in flames and begins to lose matter, becoming increasingly smaller. The fire reaches the arid land and then goes out, as it has destroyed the only thing that kept it alive.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBaNZ7UQ5m
The yellow star never stops shining over this desolation, drying up every form of life kissed by its light. Everything is dried up, from the soil, to the plants, the living. Now there are few of us left to wander these lands in vain, looking for even just a small droplet of dew. We keep praying to the Gods to make water fall from the sky, but they don't listen to us. With each passing day we continue to leave the withered dead in our path, and not before long there will be no one left. If the Gods don't listen to us, we will go straight to them.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqCjfuEBwp
The children of the ground have decided to raise their heads to the sky to wonder what is up there. Ancient legends speak of entities in the stars, enormous, white, pale mountains in the sky on which the castles of our Gods stood. Now these "clouds" are no longer there, in their place only this canvas remains, covered with a coat of intense blue color. We must take back the clouds, we must take back the water, we must take revenge against our supreme parents who abandoned us. We must learn to fly.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0teWbr1Ark
Man. And bird. One tied to the materiality of the ground and the heaviness of his limbs, the other is a free being, whose empty bones allow him to go wherever he wants. The fusion of these two worlds will take us to a new evolutionary stage, halfway between man and god, and once we get to that point, the next step will always be the higher step. Divinity conquered.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcnaOan3m8
I am the proto-superior-man. In recent months we have collected hundreds if not thousands of feathers from hundreds if not thousands of birds. We will take the best of each of them and merge it with the best of our race.
One by one, I inserted each feather into my body. On my arms, on my legs, on my torso. I pulled out all the hair on my head, and inserted more feathers into the holes my mammalian fur had left. It was a long and painful process, but I let my body accept my new form. The blood that came out of the stings coagulated, my bones emptied of marrow, and the plumage fused with my body. I let my nails grow, and shaped them into sharp claws.
I am reborn. I am the future. I am the model on which they will base themselves to achieve omniscience. First we model our body, then we will model the universe.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifZ63RoxCP
I'm at the top of a great valley, with my eyes closed. I sense that the yellow star is burning at an intensity never felt before, but my feathers protect me. I feel a light breeze, which quickly becomes stronger. I let myself fall into the valley. First I start gliding, then my race takes the big leap. I fly.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJ54my6DO8
Ecstasy. Frenzy. Adrenaline. Narcissism. Selfishness. There are many words that could describe how I felt, but none will ever be able to describe the sheer sensory magnitude of what I was feeling.
There I was, on top of the world, far from any mortal, I was the most powerful being on earth. I was flying at an incredible speed, and getting higher and higher. I no longer felt the heat, I no longer felt the hunger, I no longer felt the thirst. I no longer felt the need to feel like a mortal. Every time I went higher I felt further away from my previous life. After all, why should I care about everyone I left behind? They are all my subjects now. Under my claws. I am the new rightful monarch of mortals, and by force I will conquer all creation.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wGZWOk5t
The days pass, and I keep flying higher, in search of these clouds and their flying castles. I keep looking, but I find absolutely nothing. I realize that there is nothing around me but emptiness. The wind doesn't even exist anymore, and the breeze I feel is only caused by my rapid movement, or rather, no, I don't even feel that anymore. Above me I see the black firmament, and distant stars. It seems impossible to me to think that there is still something higher. Where are the gods? And their palaces? Has anyone ever been up here or am I the first being in the universe to come here? I've arrived at my destination, but what do I do now? I came here with the conviction of conquering my divinity that is rightfully mine, but here there is nothing to fight for. Now I have truly become the Master of these lands, but I remain the despot of nothingness. An omniscient and omnipresent god who holds in his sharp claws the cosmic zero, which despite its null value it is all he has left.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacr04eDd2S
For a moment my gaze falls downwards. For some reason I feel like something is hitting me in the stomach. It's a strange sensation, something that makes me feel bad but good at the same time. Almost like a sweet embrace. I have never felt such comforting warmth in my entire life. It's like I feel... Nostalgia? Of that hell down there? Impossible. And yet…196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GCXhmzWYF
I didn't fly here to make it rain. I didn't fly here to help my people. I came here for myself, to fill the void I have always felt among those filthy mortals, but now I am the embodiment of the void. My bones are empty, my kingdom is empty, my heart is empty, my soul is empty. I got it all wrong. By staying there we would all have died, but at least I would have died embracing someone who cared about me. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know how to make the water fall to heal that damned desert. I gave up my true essence for a useless journey.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFW7fdmwGIx
I disavow.
I let myself fall into the void below, and begin to squirm. I continue to roll in all directions, no longer understanding where is above and where is below, faster and faster, closer and closer to the ground.
I pluck the feathers from my body. First from the head, then from the chest, legs, arms. I cut off the wings that have brought me this far. I disavow this cursed artificial body, this proto-demigod that has only led to my abjuration.
I disavow all my beliefs about life and the universal order.
I am a living being, no different from an ant, no different from a worm, no different from a bird, no different from a god. The god that I am is not represented by my bodily form but by the infinity of my mind.
I disavow the sky, I disavow the search for greatness, I disavow the rain.
I disavow myself.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRgZ9fer9g
The skeleton of what remains of a bush emerges from the dry ground. It extends its thin arms to the sky, seeking moisture, in vain. It is radiated by the heat of the sun, until a spark ignites on its fragile branches. But without warning, a small droplet of water falls from the sky. Another one. Then yet another.
It started to rain. And it never stopped again.196Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplxX7uBbGb
