Humanity's Evolution, Part I

The grass felt smooth and wet beneath my bare toes. The sunlight's warmth tingled on my face. I even sat down in the wet grass to enjoy the sensation of dew soaking into my clothes. A contented sigh escaped my lips. I sat in my favorite park a perfect place for my lecture. It held a wide expanse of grassy land dotted with tall towering trees.

A small bird with beautiful crimson feathers alighted next to me. It's beaded eyes looked directly into my own. I smiled at it. The bird melted away and was replaced by a tall man stretched out languorously on the grass.

"Hello Michael," I said. "You could have stayed a bird."

He didn't answer until he wiggled his body on the grass savoring the wetness like me. Then he turned towards me and gave a firm negative shake of his head." Crimson-backed tanagers don't talk. Remember, I am a purist," he said.

I nodded my head. It was an old argument. Michael believed that when he transformed into a physical being he had to act like the creature would and not add any characteristics. Personally, I didn't care. Little Dragons adopted a physical form for their own reasons. I didn't see any problem in taking a creative license in how they appeared or acted.

Michael then gave my own form an inquisitive look. "Anna, I thought you were going to talk about the 21st Century today not the First Age of Enlightenment."

I had taken on the form of a Muslim woman, a famous one. One of my great ancestors Rahab Tabat. "Muslim women were in the 21st century," I defended.

"Rahab was one of the enlightened 50," he said sitting up and crossing his legs. "I know you admired people in the 21st century. Why not be one of them?"

"Because I am not the purist you are," I retorted. I was more of a spiritualist when I selected a physical form. I always adopted the first one that came to mind before my transformation. "Besides who cares what I look like. It is what I teach that counts."

A sly look came over Michael's face. "If I remember correctly looks mattered in the 21st century."

I pushed him playfully back onto the grass. "We were primarily physical beings then you dolt of course looks would matter," I laughed. "We didn't know any better back then."

Michael laid down smiling again. "Our view of the world sure was limited in the 21st century."

"Yes, but you saw glimpses of what we could be even back then," I assured him. "The potential was there but raw and unfocused."

"If you say so," Michael said shrugging his shoulders. "I am personally glad I didn't have to live through it. The future is much more exciting," he sat up again his eyes alight. "How are you going to vote?" he asked.

That was the question on everyone's mind. "I don't know," I said stretching out my legs. It felt good to have them again. "Do you?"

"No I don't. I really want to say yes but," he laid back down again with a sigh. "What if we are wrong."

"I think the elders were wise to have us sit through these lectures on ancient Little Dragon history. As energy and physical beings, we can forget what it was like when we were just physical beings. This project will create something new in the physical realm." I said.

"Spoken like a true historical anthropologist," he said while staring up at the blue sky. "Personally, I will be happy when we stop reciting history and start talking about the future. I want to hear from the scientist who proposed this new project. Imagine every Little Dragon combining their energy to birth a brand-new planet. We won't only be creating an atmospheric body but an entire new civilization."

"Yes," I said my voice solemn. "If anything went wrong we would be responsible."

"But if it went well, we would be contributing to the entire universe!" Michael exclaimed caught up in the excitement of it all.

I was certainly not immune, but I was a student of history. I specialized in the 21st century a time when Little Dragons were just physical beings. Back then we went by an entirely different name. We called ourselves humans.

That ends Part I. 

Read Part II on my brand new website, www.reneeannhughes.com. Here you will be able to enjoy reading the free story Humanity's Evolution in its entirety as well as chapters from the second story, Social Conundrums in a more user friendly format. 

If you enjoyed reading Part I, please consider donating either time or money to your favorite charity. A few worthwhile ones out there are www.feedingamerica.org, www.doctorswithoutborders.org and www.givedirectly.org.

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