I gathered up my few possessions. The camp rolled up and fitted snugly into my backpack. As the last item was tucked away, all that was left of my presence was the imprint of my weight on the heather. It was fitting that my remains were those of the effect of gravity. Soon the heather would extract energy and carbon from the sun and the biosphere and the programme of its DNA would cause the stems to buck up and resume their elegant poise, as they sway in the sea winds. The small flower heads would soon regain their resplendent bloom. The blades of grass would bounce back and after the briefest of times, the imprint would be gone from the here and now. The low entropy of the living environment would quickly restore order.
I thought how lucky I was to live in a low entropy environment. I thought how lucky I was to be alive. There was a jauntiness to my step as I made my way down from the cliff edge for the last time. I didn't look back but held the memory of the scene dearly in my memory never to be lost.
By the time I had reached the road, the sun had made its way into the midafternoon sky. Its light bounced off the powdery clouds and sent dappled shadows flowing across the stone walled fields. The old stone house passed unremarked. I was moving on. The events of the past were gone and the future, whatever it held, beckoned. I had no particular designs but knew that, come what may, the belief that life and existence was good would carry me through whatever challenges were presented by fate.
As I passed the cottage restaurant I thought I saw a figure stand by the small window. She had both hands clasped over her tummy and her face, could I see it, seemed to smile. I realised that fate had already started a new chapter already, in this island corner of spacetime. The imprint of my body on the cliff top was almost gone but my bio-imprint was just beginning to emerge. What I was leaving, was the greatest entanglement with the future of all - genes. They were not my genes, for they were never mine to own. I was a mere carrier and carer of them in their journey through time. I knew now that finally I had passed them on, fulfilled my biological destiny.
The female figure standing calmly protecting her womb, no longer presented threat and fear. Tears almost came to my eyes, as I wished her good fortune for her future and that of her child. I did not wave or acknowledge her presence but continued on still light-hearted and happy.
As I reached the pier there was a boat about to depart and I broke into a run. The same skipper recognised me and beckoned me on. From the pier I threw my backpack onboard and scrambled down the rusty ladder. I was breathless but had made it.
'Whoa!' shouted the skipper from the cabin. 'You're in a fine hurry to leave the island. I hope you're not being chased by some young one's da.' He laughed heartily at the thought and the boat chugged into reverse and pulled away from the pier.
The rocky bulk of the island rose like a benign monster from the waves. As the boat drew away the from the shadow of the cliffs the towering majesty of the summit filled my view. The white specks of seagulls moved in chaotic abandon, their wild cries echoing as if from a distant past. I could imagine the island rising in violent triumph from the sea bed, as the great tectonic plates shifted and pushed against each other. Its creation was a chance result of internal earth floes of magma. Millions of years of wind and rain, had failed to erase it from the seascape, serving only to leave it a legacy of a thin soil, barely capable of supporting life. But life had come to it, in the form of monks fleeing the barbarism of a Europe in chaos. These monks had established their outpost here and, through their solemn prayer and learning, had bequeathed a legacy to the current world. Others, myself included, had come to seek the wisdom that had once inhabited the island outpost of humanity. In a way I had achieved some of my goal. I was leaving with my thoughts elevated to a higher plane.
I had come seeking to explore the world of modern science. I wanted to learn from modern theories and apply that learning to a philosophy that perhaps had yet to be born. The old philosophies were set in an outdated paradigm. They had to be thrown out and new ideas generated in their stead. They could not be simply built upon. That was the crucial realisation that I had perhaps inadvertently and unknowingly reached. But now as I left the island I had a clear vision of a future dedicated to that new philosophy.
I knew that the new philosophy had to fill the vast chasm between the seeming lucidity of scientific theorism and the chaotic beauty of the natural living world. About this living beauty science has little to say.
The Island
?D P Greene 2009 198
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