The Green Ceiling

A small forest lay in front of the viewer’s eyes. The person walked into the center of the forest, which he knew perfectly, oblivious of the surroundings. Upon reaching the center he started to observe.

Tall trees with lots of branches stood like a great hallway in all directions. The many leaves sticking out of the branches covered as a ceiling with contrasting shades of green forming almost perfect semicircles. It now looked more like a forest of green hallways with thick brown cylindrical standings.

The third dimensional effect of this world made leaves feel like having troughs and crests. At first the sight simply seemed like a big wavy green hill. Sunlight was scattering at places making it feel like borders of large hilly lands. Sometimes a few leaves fell due to the breeze and more sunlight passed, and thereby, signaling new lands being formed. The leafy crests and troughs formed buildings and rivers.

The winds constantly shifting the leaves and making the ceiling form new different lands. Walking in any direction made new lands appear each time. Sometimes a light breeze made few leaves look like small creatures roaming. A fast one made it feel like a jet moving at supersonic speed. Once it was even followed doggedly by the eyes ending only because the jet had lost fuel. The jet’s sound remained unheard by the viewer….

Tiredness took toll and the viewer lay down on the grass. An hour later the eyes opened with renewed vigour. The lands, jets, and buildings were gone and it was all again a ceiling of green. The sunlight now dimmed and evening shades passed through leaf-gaps. Many leaves had fallen down and made lots of different borders. Abstract drawings became visible, all filled with shades of green.

A green dragon, a green hammer, or some other object filled with green with dark borders all around. The voice of the viewer trailed meaninglessly as it tried to pronounce the words “dragon” or “hammer”. To the eyes they were only shapes.

The buildings it perceived were cuboids and the rivers some wavy shapes. The eyes tried hard to perceive the world outside the forest but it seemed only like cuboids or circles, or other basic shapes.

Confusion lay around in the viewer’s clear mind.

Why did the eyes love to roam and observe this forest of leaves each day the most??

© Aditya Subramanian, 2020