Published via Ecency

The place where the world stopped was not so strange, but the vertigo was overwhelming. The girl could not decide whether or not it would be wise to jump.

"It is boring here, anyway." The boy teased her.

"Would you do it?" The girl's gaze was fixed on the portal at her feet - vertigo slowly subsiding.

"I have no interest in mortals," the boy gestured dramatically.

"Let me guess. They bore you?"

"Precisely."

The place where the world stopped was expansive, alien, and overwhelming - fitting since it birthed reality. The place called the girl often, vertigo be damned. She was, however, more interested in its perilous edges than its vast nexus. Such was the nature of the curious and precocious.

"You should have been born a mortal." The boy floated over to stand beside the girl. "I do not understand what you see in these mists."

Freedom. The girl thought but did not say. Such words were blasphemy, and the All Knowing One always listened. "'Behind shimmering mists, our purpose is known. Behind our hearts, the truth is torn.' Do you not find that interesting?"

"I have found." The boy turned to face her. "That you quote father's scriptures whenever you are at a loss for words."

Not this time. The passage she quoted was the reason the shimmering mists intrigued her so. Mortals dwelled behind those shimmering mists. Were mortals the purpose she was yearning for? Why were they in a realm of their own? If the place where the world stopped was their beginning as well, why were they not privy to it?

The boy grabbed her hand. "Have you forgotten what happens to anyone foolish enough to jump?"

The girl found she had moved a step towards the vast expanse of infinity. "I have not." In truth, they did not know what happened - only that they did not return. "My proclivities do not allow me to forget anything."

The boy sighed. "I was... jesting before. Mortals do not bore me. They... frighten me."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Truly?" The boy nodded and the girl clasped his hands. "Come with me then!" She said with glee.

"Madness!" He tore her grasp free.

"There is no need to be frightened -"

"And how do you know that?" The boy's tone was sharp, judging. "You really have taken leave of your senses..."

"I suppose I have." The girl said, mad at herself for even asking. "But better a fool," she looked the boy in the eyes. "than a coward."

The boy shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and disappeared.

The girl was left contemplating on the edge of the place where the world stopped. She should have not chided the boy; now she had to apologize. What prompted her to such anger?

A futile existance. the girl thought.

Disappointed in herself, she stepped back from the edge.

Part 2 of this story by the amazing @penderis.