Occhiolism
There was nothing beyond the stars. There was everything beyond the stars. Infinity; like a bright, pulsating tapestry of a billion colourful strands, swirling and cascading and merging into unnatural but perfect spirals. It was eternal and timeless. Simultaneously horrifying and beautiful. The beginning and the end of every drop of life.
Kaleidoscopes of colours and light surged past. They burst from the darkness, emerging out of the void like bright monsters that exploded into showers of illumination. Their remnants formed new wheels of hues, spinning and dripping all over the gulf. Sometimes, there was no darkness at all. Just blinding palettes and churning arcs of melting stars. The pod was sucked through the portal they created, joining and merging with their interstellar carnival. There may have been music - alien, astral rhythms rippling through the fabric of the vessel - or it might just have been the thundering of his pulse.
Dave kept his hands on the controls, though he knew he had no command anymore. The galaxies that tore past did what they wanted with him. He was swallowed by endless constellations and digested in the very innards of the universe.
His thoughts were leaking past his eyes. There was no sane notion he could cling on to. Science was nothing in this reach of the cosmos. His mind was assaulted and claimed by the spell of the monolith. All he saw was the star gate. All he heard was the star gate. All he smelt was the star gate. All he tasted was the star gate. All he felt was the star gate. It swarmed inside of him. He was becoming one with it, bit by bit the atoms of his body being absorbed by the spectacle.
He passed over throbbing, impossible landscapes. Their colours were undefinable, like no thing ever seen by man before. The pod was but one speck in a sweeping, panoramic, mighty vista. It went on forever and forever and forever, choked full of stars.
It was maddening. He could bear no more. His eyes streamed and burned. He held on to the controls in a death-grip, but could not keep his head up. He screamed and screamed as the light-show span and multiplied in his brain. Nothing else mattered. Everything was meaningless and petty. There was only the gateway into the unknown. Into the infinite.
And beyond.
So this was another little prompt fill of '23 emotions people feel but can't explain' that me and my friend are doing on Tumblr. This was 'Occhiolism' meaning: the awareness of the smallness of your perspective. I saw 2001 for the first time the other day and am so in love with it. I wanted to have a go at writing the star gate scene, so I sort of let loose with the descriptions and adjectives haha. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and this isn't the end of my 2001 stories! Hope you enjoyed, feedback always appreciated :)
