NOEMAYA

The soul, weary from the long road of becoming, lifted its voice toward the silence and said to Life:

“Hey, Life… what do you want from me?”

“I am lonely,” whispered Life, in a voice that trembled like light on water.
“I want to play. Will you play with me?”

“I’m exhausted.”

“That’s fine,” said Life, smiling with a child’s patience.
“You can play being exhausted.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m too tired to play.”

Life’s gaze deepened. “You know what happens if you stop playing?”

“What?”

“We both disappear. The game collapses.”

“Then let it collapse,” said the soul. “Maybe I want silence.”

Life’s smile faded to sorrow.
“But the silence isn’t rest. When this game ends, we’ll wake in another.
And perhaps you’ll be somewhere I cannot find you.
I will miss you, and you will miss me.”

The soul frowned. “So there’s no ending? No final peace?”

“There is only transformation,” said Life.
“When one dream dissolves, another rises.
I’ve been playing since eternity, and I have watched them all — galaxies, gods, and lovers —
born, burnt, and reborn again.”

The soul shivered. “That’s dreadful.”

“Why dreadful?” asked Life. “Would you rather not play and be bored to nothingness?
Is it not fun and wonderful to play every story there ever was?”

“I’m worn out,” said the soul. “I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Life leaned closer, almost whispering,
“Then you’ve simply forgotten the rules.”

“What rules?”

“That you are the one who wrote them.”

“I didn’t write this,” said the soul. “I wouldn’t have written pain.”

“You did,” said Life softly. “To make the play believable.
No game without stakes, no joy without risk,
no hiding without the fear of not being found.”

The soul sighed. Planning to escape Life’s stubborn appeals, it said, “Alright then… let’s play hide-and-seek.
I’ll hide. You find me.”

Life’s eyes gleamed. “Ah, my favorite.”

_______________________________________________________________________

One went and hid behind the Void. The other began the search.

That decision, to hide and to seek, became the first act of creation. From that moment, time began to tick, stars were born, and the great play unfolded.

Life called endlessly, but the one who hid did not answer. Ages passed. Worlds bloomed and burned. The seeker wandered through galaxies, whispering the name of its lost friend into every heart that ever beat.

Meanwhile, the hidden one, the soul, buried under the heavy blanket of forgetfulness, dreamed. It dreamed of being human, of suffering and striving, of birth and decay. It dreamed of the pain of separation and the thrill of reunion. It dreamed the entire universe.

And somewhere inside that dream, a faint voice began to stir:

“Wait… who is seeking whom?”

The sleeper awoke.

In that awakening, the veil thinned. The soul saw its reflection, not in another face, but in the very eyes of Life itself.

And Life laughed.

Because it finally remembered.

The one who was hiding and the one who was seeking were never two. They were one Being, playing both sides of the game. God had split Himself in two — just to have someone to talk to.

Creation was not a test, nor a punishment, nor a path to redemption. It was a divine game of hide-and-seek, born out of cosmic loneliness, sustained by curiosity, and redeemed by laughter.

And when the soul smiled back, the mirror between them vanished: there was neither a seeker nor anything sought.

Only play remained.