Black Nothing

What had once been created could have been a mistake. It did not know.

It did not care.

Below it was nothing. Above was also nothing. Surrounding it was nothing. It did not know if it truly existed or something else.

It did not know a way to count the passage of time, but decades would not be even close. Hundreds and thousands of millennia might suffice. It 'existed' in a dark expanse of nothingness.

It did not eat, or drink, or breath at first. But at some point during it's time of awareness, it could see. And what it saw made the new skill rather pointless. Still darkness surrounded it. Above, below, everywhere.

Eventually it could hear things in the nothing. But that was just as pointless, as the only things heard were only ever a soft swish swish.

More time passed and it gained freedom. More of a form. Growing, possibly. Attached to the front of it, much below it's eyes was flat, thin and webby things. Needle-point nails slipped in and out with ease. Behind it eventually grew something long and flowy, almost wispy. Like smoke that never dissipated.

Like the appendages in it's front, a long, thin point could appear out of the black wisp behind it. What the purpose of this newness of self, it did not know. It was just aware of these things.

It's sight grew to see all of this and more. Surrounding it was still blackness, but it was mixed with shapes. To us, it would be rocks, dirt, sticks. Bones, leaves, and plants. And other things that moved around. These things all still meant nothing to it, but they were still there and now visible.

To us, some of these moving things could be called fish. To it, these were merely what we call food. Something that it found filled an empty part of itself inside. It grew to an obsession. Finding these moving things that filled a void.

More time went by and sounds were heard by it more and more. Always above, only ever above. It knew not what these sounds were, or what created them, nor what to do with them, but sounds they still were.

After some time, it eventually moved closer to these sounds. It could have been curiosity. It could have been because the sounds grew more frequent and it grew territorial of it's expanse of nothing. Or it could have been a primal instinct to just know.

It moved towards these sounds that it heard, moving slowly at first but then quick. Quicker than a human's blink of an eye, it went from one spot to another. And then it's black nothingness became more, as a new object was introduced to it. It was what we call light. And the light gave newness to it that it had never known.

It could see the appendages of itself clearly, and although color had no meaning to it, the blues, greens, grays and oranges of it was rather wonderful. But also not.

It grew prideful. It grew cocky. It grew greedy. And it grew larger.

It learned to hunt as the moving creatures grew larger, faster and maybe a little smarter. It learned to use it's needle-point end as a spear and learned that sometimes certain things could not be put in it's empty hole inside unless they were torn to shreds with it's sharp, thin points in it's front that were unsheathed at a moment's need. Or ripped and shredded with 78 sharp teeth.

It learned to be terrifying.

The sounds above created little shadows whenever a sound was heard. And as even more time went on, above it holes would appear every so often for a short time, shining more light in the blackness. Through these holes, items attached to a thin piece of something were submerged. Things that did not need to be hunted or chased.

It became obsessed with these delicious items. And it could be said that this was both it's downfall and uprising.

More time went by, decades in human time, and it grew impatient. It wanted more. The emptiness that fish and small lifeless creatures filled grew larger and the creatures that moved in the blackness became less abundant. This brought less sounds above. Less holes of light. Less of it's obsession.

Billions of years it had existed in it's black hole. Billions of years it had grown, evolved, learned.

A slimy head with razor-sharp dorsal fins and black, black eyes that reflected no light went towards one of the light holes before it disappeared, as they often did, and for the first time went past and through. Up.

It's surroundings turned harsh, bright, cold, windy. Sounds were louder. Everything was louder, sharper, harsher, clearer. But it did not care much.

A sound, louder than any others it had heard in it's existence was heard. And where that sound was heard, were creatures that stood no more than it's own length away and interested it greatly. Two of them continued making sounds.

"This is thick ice, you must not be afraid of falling in. It has never happened to any in our village and never will. It is too cold out here." A large creature created this sound, while also making doing something that sounded like cutting light holes that led to the black.

"I am not afraid, father. I thought no more fish had been caught here for quite some time though? We have other ponds to fish in." A creature smaller than the first created this sound. It was not as loud.

The first creature stopped cutting his light hole. "Fish will breed and come back eventually. Thus is the way. A frozen pond means nothing to the fish and their ways of life. Maybe we will be lucky today son."

A third creature suddenly made a noise that made the insides of it move with glee. "We should go to a different frozen pond, friends. This pond is haunted by a horrible creature. That's why there's no fish anymore!"

The three creatures got closer to the light hole, peered down and became quiet.

It unsheathed it's razor-like needles and moved it's short, webbed front appendages to get closer. It did not make a noise as the rest of it was pulled closer to the creatures. The once wispy back end that held it's similar needle-like spear was now dark, slimy, but helped it reach the creatures. It took only a moment to reach them, it's speed not failing.

These creatures filled the emptiness within it more than any other it had yet experienced.

This is the moment in time it realized the black nothingness of it's existence had now become more.