He woke up again from a supernova exploding in one of his spires. He opened his eyes moodily. He felt his stomach roar from hunger. Slowly he extended himself, in the hope of finding something to eat…Nothing! Being in the center of the Milky Way was certainly not the bargain he was hoping for. Truth be said, there is nothing much for a non-active black hole to do in this day and age of the Universe! He was, of course, the one and only undisputed king of this galaxy…but what an unsatisfying kingdom it was. He – lets call him Sag – was in the process of rearranging a particularly juicy dust cloud in the outer rim of the galaxy – some million years now, he was trying, unsuccessfully might we add, to bring it closer to him –, when he spotted a very annoying globular cluster blocking his view to outer space. He hated globular clusters…so tiny but yet so rich. Oh, the envy he felt for that black hole that was residing in such a place. Nothing to worry about, most probably a nice big companion star to feed off, “That’s the good life” he thought. But then his eyes caught something else, something quite far away, outside his own galaxy, he suspected. He squinted, and it dawned to him that he was looking at another galaxy! And not just any other galaxy, a quite smaller one, but so very cute, in the way that small things usually are. He felt something stir in the most center of his being. Could it be hope? Yes! It most certainly was. After so many billion years, finally, the promise of a companion was revealed to him in the form of this foreign, yet strangely attractive, galaxy! From his excitement he started bouncing around, spinning faster and faster. A group of stars in the vicinity, clearly annoyed, scrambled to get off his way.
And the time passed, millions upon millions of years, and every millennium, our eager black hole would send his gravitons as far as his mass allowed him trying to touch, to feel, to communicate with the galaxy that, since that first day, had hunted his dreams. And one day, very faintly, very elusively, but yet very distinctively, he felt something. With strength that even he didn’t know he had, he started pulling, and pulling, like there was no tomorrow. The first millennium a few parsecs, the next one kiloparsecs, the promised partner was nearing him. He could now see, there in the center, another black hole. Smaller than him of course – and we should say, this made him feel somehow reassured – but so handsome at the same time. He was as he had imagined him so many times! He could swear that he was smiling at him. Or maybe it was just his imagination…Now the other black hole – we can call him Jim, since this is as good a name as any other for a black hole –, now Jim was so close that some of his gas clouds were interacting with Sag’s gas clouds! Oh happy day! What a new sensation that was! The different texture, different temperatures, densities, consistencies made his head spin with excitement. It’s not important to relate to you, inquiring reader, in every detail what happened next. Suffice to say that Jim was equally – or most probably more – attracted to Sag and their cosmic romance was one to be written down in stone for future generations of black holes to read and cherish! But finally came a day, when the couple came extremely close. Both of them had been feeding away – quite hungrily we should note – on the stars and gas surrounding them, result of their passionate affair. They were in the process of playing around with a poor star that happened to come near them – truth be said, the rest of the galaxies, or what remained of them, had suffered a lot from this union –. Sag was tossing it to Jim, and he tossed it back merrily to him. Back and forth several times, until with a swift blow, he was a bit clumsy in this way, Sag sent the star screeching past Jim and out of their playground! Suddenly both of them felt weak. They felt like their very souls were coming out of them. More and more they came closer and more and more they felt weaker. But somehow it felt OK. It felt…natural. They swirled and spined around each other, not knowing exactly what was happening. From outside, they looked like these people that want to dance but don’t know the steps. Eventually, and when they felt that they had nothing more in them to give, their horizons touched. Slowly first but then forcefully, they collided with each other in a blaze of light and energy. Bathed in this, almost metaphysical, light, the two became one and then…
Sag woke up again from a supernova exploding in one of his spires. “No, there are no spires anymore.” he thought to himself. His shape had changed. He was still Sag, but yet, somehow, not. “I guess that’s love” Sag said, more to himself than anyone else, and continued pulling a certain dust cloud on the outer rim of the galaxy.
Sometimes, while traveling in the dark night of the Universe, Sag can still feel his long-lost spires. And along with that feeling comes also the memory of hope. And each time that happens, dear reader, Sag feels very much alone.
And the time passed, millions upon millions of years, and every millennium, our eager black hole would send his gravitons as far as his mass allowed him trying to touch, to feel, to communicate with the galaxy that, since that first day, had hunted his dreams. And one day, very faintly, very elusively, but yet very distinctively, he felt something. With strength that even he didn’t know he had, he started pulling, and pulling, like there was no tomorrow. The first millennium a few parsecs, the next one kiloparsecs, the promised partner was nearing him. He could now see, there in the center, another black hole. Smaller than him of course – and we should say, this made him feel somehow reassured – but so handsome at the same time. He was as he had imagined him so many times! He could swear that he was smiling at him. Or maybe it was just his imagination…Now the other black hole – we can call him Jim, since this is as good a name as any other for a black hole –, now Jim was so close that some of his gas clouds were interacting with Sag’s gas clouds! Oh happy day! What a new sensation that was! The different texture, different temperatures, densities, consistencies made his head spin with excitement. It’s not important to relate to you, inquiring reader, in every detail what happened next. Suffice to say that Jim was equally – or most probably more – attracted to Sag and their cosmic romance was one to be written down in stone for future generations of black holes to read and cherish! But finally came a day, when the couple came extremely close. Both of them had been feeding away – quite hungrily we should note – on the stars and gas surrounding them, result of their passionate affair. They were in the process of playing around with a poor star that happened to come near them – truth be said, the rest of the galaxies, or what remained of them, had suffered a lot from this union –. Sag was tossing it to Jim, and he tossed it back merrily to him. Back and forth several times, until with a swift blow, he was a bit clumsy in this way, Sag sent the star screeching past Jim and out of their playground! Suddenly both of them felt weak. They felt like their very souls were coming out of them. More and more they came closer and more and more they felt weaker. But somehow it felt OK. It felt…natural. They swirled and spined around each other, not knowing exactly what was happening. From outside, they looked like these people that want to dance but don’t know the steps. Eventually, and when they felt that they had nothing more in them to give, their horizons touched. Slowly first but then forcefully, they collided with each other in a blaze of light and energy. Bathed in this, almost metaphysical, light, the two became one and then…
Sag woke up again from a supernova exploding in one of his spires. “No, there are no spires anymore.” he thought to himself. His shape had changed. He was still Sag, but yet, somehow, not. “I guess that’s love” Sag said, more to himself than anyone else, and continued pulling a certain dust cloud on the outer rim of the galaxy.
Sometimes, while traveling in the dark night of the Universe, Sag can still feel his long-lost spires. And along with that feeling comes also the memory of hope. And each time that happens, dear reader, Sag feels very much alone.
THE END
