There is a tale older than Time, and I’d tell it to you, only Time is a sharp-edged, joyless, vengeance-blooded bitch—oh, mortals and immortals, you know this well; that Time is precisely that thing, that no matter what gender you attach to that word, nor what gender you try to attach to Time (and that latter is a failing enterprise—but I speak too soon. Chronology is strange, here in the floating ur-spaces made by words; Time, in particular, is a—at any rate, since I can’t speak of the one thing, let’s talk a little bit of Time.)
I am not, by nature, a speaker of the worst news. It does not always bring me pleasure, not that I create for pleasure (Creation is a painful, disjointed, ripping, tearing thing; it is having Created which is a joy; but again, that, too, is another story)—but I’ve come to talk, since it’s time, of Time. And it’s not a pretty story; Time has two faces, erosion and immobility, and neither is the sort which is aesthetically pleasing to anyone who perceives with eyes or similar sources. But it’s a true story, or true enough. Really, it’s just a bit of information:
Time probably doesn’t hate you.
And that ought to horrify you.
What has Time done to you? Aged you? Burnt you? Wounded you? Multiplied your heartbreaks? Brought you closer to Death? It’s not Time which has brought you wisdom or knowledge, should you possess those things; but it’s Time which will lend its weight to the processes through which your mind will forget some of these things, lose accuracy, become a fog when once it was a crisp, clear vista. And you might resist, and you might win; but again, that’s you, not Time.
And in all of these things, this is not Time hating you.
Ever felt like you were waiting forever, and you couldn’t stand it?
Ever felt that Time was passing so fast you couldn’t keep track of anything?
Ever feel that Time has stopped and you can’t change anything?
All these things are just perceptions, or—once in a while—momentary whims, if Time happens to have noticed you a little bit.
But imagine what it would be like if Time hated you. Imagine every injury and discomfort and wound Time has ever cost you, and realize that they were accidents, by-products, incidentals.
But it is entirely possible that you will, at some point, stand out such that Time does notice you.
You can’t fight Time, because nothing sticks to it. Fists turn aside; atomic weapons catch every atom within several city blocks, except for the ones Time chooses to inhabit; nothing wants to touch or be touched by Time, if it can possibly avoid doing so.
And thus, when Time decides to do you real damage, it takes you into its arms and hold you tightly, every part of you tries to flee the world. And every horrible thing Time has ever done,why, it shrivels into nothingness in comparison with the unmovable loop which is Time…
…unless you trap it, as I have, on the written page.
Oh, Time is furious with me. But it can’t touch me. Because I make the words go fast and slow, and in this strange little arena, it is I who control time. Here we are at the beginning of the Universe; and here we are at the beginning of the Universe which came before that; and now, with a smoothness so gliding that it barely feels like you’re crossing chasms immeasurable, we zoom through them both and into a farther future than has been invented even by the Future.
That fury-steaming creature there, that poor Power you see, waving hapless fists like a character from a cartoon? That’s almighty Time.
Time, meet Word, and beforever vanquished.
And you, reader, take these words, and whenever time moves in a manner not to your taste, when it dawdles irresponsibly or rushes immoderately, pull out these words, and know them for the Trap of Time, and take a deep breath, and move at your pace.
You give the words life; they give you Power; so it has always been, so it will always be, until (and far, far beyond) the end of Time.
My name is Jeff Mach (“Dark Lord” is optional) and I build communities and create things. Every year, I put on Evil Expo, the Greatest Place in the World to be a Villain. I also write a lot of fantasy and science fiction.. You can get most of my books right here. Go ahead, pre-order “I HATE Your Prophecy“. It may make you into a bad person, but I can live with that.
