Twist of nature
Before sleep you are a piece of straw floating on the surface of a still pond, when sleep comes you can slip beneath the surface - Octavia Butler
I keep remembering this quote from Lilith’s Brood, I can’t find it anywhere online as I don’t think its the most relevant to the story but I wrote it down whilst I was rereading it earlier this year because the sensation is so precious.
I keep thinking about the sensation of being such a tiny fragment of life, resting on the cool and still surface of pond that reflects a deep blue starry sky. I gently and imperceptibly sway and I can feel the heaviness of sleep descending as I slip beneath the surface and sink deeply into an unfurling world of magic.
One legend of the Yurok people says that, far out in the Pacific Ocean but not farther than a canoe can paddle, the rim of the sky makes waves by beating on the surface of the water. On every twelfth upswing, the sky moves a little more slowly, so that a skilled navigator has enough time to slip beneath its rim, reach the outer ocean, and dance all night on the shore of another world.
The other day I was rereading some notes I had made about Ursula Le Guin and rediscovered a legend that was an influence of hers. It gives me the same tingling sensation as the Octavia Butler quote. A twist of nature, piercing the membrane of reality, and carving open a new world.