If I were wearing pants, I might've peed them. I had grown so used to floating in this formless void that the simple sound (no matter how softly spoken) of a another's voice was enough to scare me out of my skin.
I turned my head only to find a wizened man with a noticeable hump watching me. There was a boundless depth in his eyes.
"K-Kokopelli?!"
He was the same man that I saw that night in the alley. The man with the flute. The man who gifted me the bracelet. The man who wasn't really a man. He was a god.
The initial impression I had of Kokopelli was a kindly old grandfather. After being made aware of who he really was, I felt a sense of awe and respect like none other.
He had an entirely different air than Calypso.
She was bright and sunny. She had this bubbly and infectious energy that moved you. While she could be mysterious and enchanting, she was generally friendly and approachable.
Kokopelli was different.
As he stood…er…floated there with his thin arms crossed above his chest, he looked like an immovable mountain. While he stood erect, his height was actually shocking. If I stood next to him, even at 5-feet 8-inches, I'd look like a shrimp. He was easily over 6 1/2 feet tall.
His wizened face couldn't hide the imposing light in his eyes. His long black hair was tarnished with grey and fell loosely past his shoulders. Despite his otherworldly air, he was decked out in a pair of wrinkled grey slacks and a blue mechanic's shirt. In his back pocket was the flute he used to enchant me.
Kokopelli was not Calypso.
There was something about him that seemed kind on the surface. But I knew if I dug even an inch into that tough exterior, I'd be swallowed whole.
I felt cold sweat trickle down my brow.
It was at this moment that he smiled. "Relax, Little Cloud. I'm not going to eat you."
Shit! I forgot that gods can read minds.
Too embarrassed by having my innermost thoughts deciphered, I greeted the senior.
"Lord Kokopelli. Thank you for blessing me."
Was that right? Is that how you're supposed to greet a god? When I met Calypso, she was so open that I didn't consider learning any formalities. Besides, she wasn't the 'formality' type.
Nervously, I swept my eyes over his stern face.
What I saw left me shaking.
…
…
…
He was laughing.
No let's call it what it was—he was cracking the hell up!
As I stood…floated—whatever! As I floated in the void, sweating buckets trying to make sure I don't piss off the god before me, Kokopelli was having the time of his ancient life!
Bastard!
"Hoo! That's funny. But Little Cloud, that's not very nice to call me a bastard. I had parents just like you. And I'm not ancient. I'm seasoned."
I clenched my jaw. I was unable to stop my eyebrow from twitching but I was at least able to stop myself from exploding in to a tirade of expletives.
After wiping a tear from his eye (from laughing at me so hard), Kokopelli waved his hand in a magnanimous fashion.
"Come on, Little Cloud. Your Pandora is too depressing. Let's go someplace else."
A simple wave of his hand was all it took. One moment I was floating in a sea of shadows and light, the next moment I was standing atop a stony ridge.
"What the…?!"
Somehow, he had teleported us out of the hell of that nothingness onto a ridge beneath a sunny sky. The air tasted dry and was filled with the sweet smell of cacti. My eyes flew open. It was at this moment that I realized I was no longer naked. I was clothed in the same outfit I was wearing earlier.
I glanced at Kokopelli. He pretended not to notice. If I'm being honest, I felt more comfortable being fully clothed in front of him. I was grateful for the consideration he showed when he teleported us.
Brining my attention back to our surroundings, I was shocked when I realized where we were.
It was the desert! As a matter of fact, we were standing on the ridge above the reservation where I grew up. I haven't seen it in 6-years but I'd never forget the sights, smells, and sounds of my hometown.
"It's nice to be home. Isn't it, Little Cloud?"
So lost was I in my observation that I nearly forgot the god that was standing next to me.
"I'm sorry. Yes. It's very nice."
"No need to apologize, little one. And no need to be so nervous. I'm not as easygoing as some goddesses you may know, but I'm not a totally bad guy."
I noticed that he used the qualifier "totally". But I didn't say anything.
"Let's take a seat. We have some things to discuss."
After speaking, he sat down right on the edge of the ridge.
I was shocked. I don't know what I was expecting, but after he waved his hands and changed the entire world with what amounted to a random gesture, I kind of expected him to materialize a full table set and chairs. I didn't expect him to just cop a squat right here on the ground.
Not very "Godly" I'd say.
He laughed. "Sorry that I don't live up to your expectations. Have a seat next to me. I'm not going to bite."
My face grew hot. "Sorry. That was rude of me. Thank you."
I was never one for heights. So, when I sat down, I made sure to do it a good and safe distance away from the dangerous ridge.
If Kokopelli thought I was odd, he didn't say it. Instead, he waited until I was fully seated and then spoke.
"Do you know what this world is?"
"Pandora. Right? That's what you called it."
"Good. It is. But it isn't."
Yep. He had that whole vaguely informative mysterious thing down.
He laughed. "Sorry. Let me be clearer."
He waved his hand and the scenery changed again.
We were in the middle of a lush forest, the damp grass beneath me soaked the underside of my jeans while the buzzing of various insects made me itch all over.
He waved his hand once more.
We were seated at the top of a snow covered peak. This was my least favorite destination as the insane temperature drop made me shudder in seconds.
He waved again.
We were now floating in the bottom of a shallow lake. I quickly held my breath, feeling cross that he didn't warn me beforehand.
One more wave and one more teleportation.
We were now seated at the bar of a swanky restaurant as a bartender in a pressed white shirt, black bowtie, and black vest mixed cocktails.
One final wave and we were back in the desert.
"Holy smokes." I couldn't form any other worlds. I felt like I'd traveled the world and all that I did was sit here while he waved his jazz hands around.
"As I said, Pandora is a place but at the same time it isn't. It is all things but nothing at once. It is solid but gaseous. It is timeless but ephemeral. It contains all of Creation and Destruction. To be in Pandora is to exist and be erased from existence all at once."
"Sounds like a lovely place."
He smiled. "Ain't it though?" He leaned back on his arms, turning his head and glancing in my direction. His eyes were black like the abyss I'd just escaped. "Any questions?"
"Yes. Did I die or something? Where am I? How did I get here? How long have I been here? What happened to Rhea? How do I get back? If or when I get back, how much time will have passed?" I fired off question after question in rapid succession. These were the thoughts that had been stewing inside of me since I first found myself in this space.
Kokopelli didn't seem bothered by my mountain of questions. Instead, he opened his mouth and let his easy and dry drawl fill the emptiness.
"First, no. You're definitely not dead. You're as alive as ever. Trust me. Second, you are currently in my Pandora. Third…well, we'll answer that one in a second. Let's skip ahead for now. Fourth, time is an antiquated concept in Pandora. Fifth, Rhea is fine. Right where you left her. Sixth, I'll send you back once we're finished. Seventh, when I send you back not a single nanosecond of time will have passed."
I was shocked. "How is this possible? I've been here for what feels like forever. None of this makes sense. What do you mean, it's your Pandora? What does any of this mean? I'm so confused."
"Don't worry Little Cloud. We have all the time in the world. So, let's take it slow and clear the air. Shall we?"