The Day of the Nefilim (46 page)

— and she arrives, her craft in perfect repair, despite the pressures of the deep which would collapse the world to the size of a pinprick, if only the world could survive there long enough for that to happen; the weight of the water here is infinite; yet every piece and cog and gear is still functioning, in perfect accord with its intended role;

— she is at the place where things that exist slide up against the things that do not exist, and they whisper together, all curious as to whether their true nature is to be known, or unknown, or unknowable (which would mean
so
much less to think about), or what lies on the other side of the plain that is the ocean floor, below its sheer and opaline surface, or what will happen after dinner, and whether dried apricots will ruin anyone’s appetite…

The Princess navigates her vessel toward a spot on this surface where existence and non-existence meet, where they slide over each other like lovers, and she feels herself flicker, most deliciously and agreeably, she agrees, and she smiles at the joy of this, because it is very deep down here, and not many bother to attempt the journey, and even fewer make it to the plane where existence and non-existence meet, where they do indeed, yes, she sees that now, slide over each other like wet, sweat-soaked lovers, who gasp and look and come, and the Princess smiles because she sees a great whale in the impeccable half-light of the distance, swimming near a ridge of doubt and curiosity, and a pool of light that paints pictures on the deep spills from the eyes of the beast, and on its great hide are scars which are shaped like words such as might be in a book, if only books could contain words
that
large, or even if books could just exist down here, but then they do not, and so she feels thankful that whales can — if only she had paid even more attention to her books and her reading, especially the volumes on whales! — and then her smile becomes wide,
so
wide, and she laughs with such joy that all the deities come diving and flying to see, and far above the God and the Goddess hear her, and pause, and lift their teeth from each others’ skin, and look into each others’ eyes, She into His and He into Hers, and they laugh, and create several new universes, one of which, reader, is the one you are sitting in right now.

* *

So I was told. It was a week later that she returned, in the same manner that she had left, although she swore it was only a few minutes.

She has never been the same since. And now sometimes she disappears, for days at a time, and I know where she is, of course. Her secret is safe with me, for I have no agenda, and can be trusted implicitly. And every time she comes out of that room, I see that she has grown more, and says less, and every day she looks at the Moon or where the Moon would be if it was there, and she composes verses, but still she does not write them down.

But she does tell them to me, and as for that; perhaps another time.

* * *