Atlantis

by Lisa Graves

  There was a swishing sound in the background. My head couldn’t make out what it was, but for some reason it didn’t concern me. Somehow I knew it was normal. The rhythmic swishing sound was a part of this place. My feet automatically kept time with the swishing as I continued on through the darkness.

  Up ahead I started to see a faint glow. It glistened, reflecting on the wet cobblestones. There was a light ahead. My head was excited to see what it was, although I thought I already knew.

  It was as if I had somehow gone back in time to one of Elliott’s stories. I knew this place. Weirder yet, I remembered it. But my head still questioned things. My thoughts seemed to be my thoughts now, mixed in the mind of my 1700s self. I walked towards the swishing and the light.

  As I drew nearer the end of the tunnel, I realized that whatever was producing the light wasn’t a torch flame as I had originally thought. There was no flicker to this light. Just a soft, steady glow. I closed the distance to the opening up ahead, with barely an audible patter. It was as if I was moving in shadow, part of the shadows perhaps. If I wanted, I could have easily snuck up on the light. But again, instinctively I knew I didn’t need too. I took a deep breath of the salty air as I moved through the last archway.

  At first glance, the beauty of my surroundings took my breath away. What lay before me was in strong contrast to where I just was. Like black to white. Night and day. The dreary, damp, somber stones had somehow led me to a hidden cliff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The thrashing waves below were the source of the swishing.

  The steady glow I noticed from within the tunnel had come from the light of the full moon. It reminded me of my art history book. The moon lit the rocky shore line like Rembrandt highlighting the figures he painted. Although I noticed all the little imperfections, such as the rough rocky surfaces and the bleak colors of night, they were lit in such a way that no one would dare characterize them as flaws. It was magnificent.

  The swishing of the ocean thrashing against the rocks, over and over, was natural background music of this place. The mysterious perfecting light of the moon, and the smell of the salt water, was intoxicating. I sat down on the rocky cliff and watched the waves try and tear the stones apart far below me. A light salty mist was all that could reach me from the battle that raged below.

  My head told me I had been here before. That this place really existed. Somewhere in my subconscious, I think, I realized I was dreaming. But it was a dream of something real. I was certain this had happened before. The deja vu sensation was overwhelming. I knew I was waiting for someone.

  Even in my dream I caught myself thinking too much. I tried to let my instincts take over, and enjoy the moment. To quit analyzing life for a mere fraction of a second and simply enjoy the beauty it provided. I shut my eyes and let my senses take over. The spray of the ocean on my face. The smell of the sea salt in my nose. The electricity that pulsed from my hand?

  I opened my eyes to Elliott. He had come and sat beside me on the rocky cliff. He was who I was waiting for, who I’d always wait for. His hand held mine. Our eyes met and he cupped my face in his hand and kissed me.

  Pulling his lips from mine he whispered in my ear, “Are you ready?” His lips brushed my ear and his hot breath sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  We both stood up on the rocky ledge and inched ourselves closer to the precipice. My head tried to pull me away from the ledge, but my dream had taken over. I was merely a viewer now, like watching a rerun on television.

  “I love you Miele,” Elliott said to me, taking my right hand in his left.

  “Forever,” I whispered back, clutching his hand tightly.

  Abruptly my strange, beautiful dream turned into a nightmare, and I couldn’t do anything about it. The next thing I knew, Elliott and I, hand in hand, jumped from the cliff. I could feel the wind fly past me as we fell towards the waves and rocks below. As we broke the surface of the water, our hands got wrenched apart by the powerful current. I searched frantically in the black water for Elliott. The salt water penetrated my eyes and burned. I was out of breath and unable to find the surface. All I wanted was to see Elliott’s face before I died. There was no question what was happening. I was dying. From my underwater prison I heard a light banging in the background.

  “Lilly,” a muffled voice called to me. I looked around under the water, eyes stinging, trying to locate the source of the sound.

  It was too late. The black water started to disappear. It was over. All light drained from view. Yet, the banging got louder.

  “Lilly! Are you okay?” The voice was clearer now.

  I opened my eyes, I was back in the bathroom. The water was cold. All the bubbles were gone and the candles had gone out. The banging continued.

  “Lilly!” a worried scream came from the other side of the locked bathroom door.

  “I’m...okay.” I think? I sat up in the water, not sure what had happened. Had I really just watched myself die? The tears started to fall. At least I was already wet.

  “Lilly, are you really okay?” It was Nicholas. I had almost forgotten I promised he could come by later. Technically, it was later.

  I tried to quiet my eyes as I stood up and started to dry off. I managed to pull myself together long enough to mumble out, “I’ll be out in a second.”

  The hardest part of the dream to shake was that I had been happy. Totally, utterly, completely happy when I, when we, had jumped from the cliff. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I couldn’t make sense of it. Refueled from the emotional roller coaster ride I just took, my eyes started to pour salt water down my cheeks.

  How was I ever going to manage to pull myself together in front of Nicholas? Crap. I didn’t bring my pajamas in the bathroom with me. I hadn’t realized I should have.

  “Nich-o-las?” I called through the door, trying to suppress the tears.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m not decent. Any way you can hand me the pajama bottoms and tank top that are on my bedroom floor?”

  “I’m on it.” I heard his feet move towards my room as I waited patiently. My hand stuck out of the cracked door as I waited for my clothes. In less than thirty seconds he was back placing the crumpled up clothes in my hand.

  “Thanks. I’ll be out in a sec.” I grabbed the clothes and shut the door.

  I dressed, still slightly in a daze, and towel dried my short black hair. Considering how I was feeling at the moment, I was surprised I just didn’t let it drip dry. I didn’t realize it until I had gotten to my room that I had passed by the bathroom mirror without giving it a second thought, or glance for that matter. So much for a relaxing bath, I thought as I walked into my room.

  Just then I realized the spider hadn’t left. Probably just took a nap. Now awake and reenergized, its spinning continued.

  I looked at Nicholas sitting on my bed, propped against the wall. I meant to say how’d it go with Charlotte, but instead, “Water is the key” came out.

  “What are you talking about hoe?” Nicholas laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

  I stood shock still. The weights in my slippers had returned. Water is the key, I thought. Had I somehow, subconsciously known to take a bath, to submerge myself in water? That dream I had was so real. I was willing to bet it really happened, back in 1719... Or whenever Elliott said it was.

  The dream even had to do with water. It all had to be connected, I was sure of that. Unfortunately, the meaning still eluded me.

  I didn’t even see Nicholas get up off the bed and shake his hand in front of my face to try and reclaim my attention. It wasn’t until he gripped my shoulders and gently shook me that I came out of my trance.

  “What is going on with you Lilly? Are you okay?”

  I looked up into his eyes, and shrugged my shoulders. “I have no idea.”

  “What was that you mumbled earlier, something about water?”

  Something inside told me that although I could tell Nicholas about my dream,
I shouldn’t. He would listen, maybe even believe me. But then he would try and thwart my plans with Elliott. As far as my shaggy blond headed friend was concerned, Elliott was his competition. I shook my head, “It was nothing hoe. How’d it go with Charlotte? You two set a wedding date?” I winked at him.

  “Don’t even start that. I think I got through to her that we can only be friends.”

  “Friends huh?” If I could only get that same concept through to Nicholas.

  I smiled. I knew that Charlotte was sure to view Nicholas’s break-up ice cream lunch as their first date. She was as bad as him when it came to seeing what was there, or not there rather. And she gave me a hard time about reality.

  “So, how did she take it?” I asked.

  “Good, I think. Since we were never actually dating and all.” He shook his head to indicate how frustrated he was with Charlotte and the awkward little love triangle we had gotten into.

  “It’s funny how people can view two identical situations and see them very differently.” I looked at him. I don’t think he understood I was talking about him and myself.

  I searched his face, trying to see Charlotte’s reaction through his eyes. To see if I was right or Nicholas was.

  “She even hugged me goodnight when I dropped her off at her house,” he added.

  I shot Nicholas an accusing glance. Looks like I was right. Charlotte saw it as a date. Her hugging Nicholas only solidified that fact in my mind. My hugging him was common practice, and even though she usually shot me jealous, longing glances as we hugged, she never got up the courage. If she saw him as her boyfriend, no courage would be necessary. Hugging would then be a perk.

  “She wants you,” I teased.

  “Who wouldn’t,” he teased back, but then looked at me seriously.

  I wasn’t up for more arguing. I sat on my bed. “Nicholas, I don’t feel like doing this again tonight. I’m tired, and I’m not debating my love interests anymore today.”

  He sat down next to me. I let my body fall back in frustration and closed my eyes. Nicholas sat beside me, quiet as a mouse and brushed his fingers up and down my arm. Sadly, as we sat there in silence, I realized that Nicholas hadn’t changed. He had always been a hopeless flirt. And I, thinking it was meant to be facetious, rather than actual flirting with me, flirted back. He hadn’t changed. My perception had.

  I felt him move himself back on the bed, probably propping himself up against the wall. “Why did it take you so long to answer me earlier?” he asked.

  I opened my eyes and tilted my head in his direction. “What do you mean?”

  “When you were in the bathroom. What was the matter? Are you okay?” There was a seriousness to the worry in his words that confused me.

  “I’m fine hoe.”

  “Lilly, don’t bother trying to lie to me. You can lie to other people, but why even try with me? You know I can see through you.”

  I really didn’t feel like telling Nicholas about my dream. I didn’t want to relive my death. Or tell him how happy I was as it happened in my dream. I didn’t reply.

  “Hey,” he nudged me. “I’m still here. Answer me.”

  Instead of answering him, I readjusted my body on the bed. I laid my head in Nicholas’s lap and put my feet on my pillows. After cuddling myself in my blanket, I sighed and started to speak.

  “I accidently fell asleep in the tub.”

  Nicholas was quiet as he assessed my answer. I hoped in my head that it would be good enough for him. Ironically, I started to relax lying in Nicholas’s lap as he played with my hair.

  Finally, he responded, “You’re not telling me something. What are you hiding Lilly?”

  “I may have had a really strange dream, that’s all,” I mumbled out. It must be getting late, I was sleepy and it had already been a really long day.

  “What do you mean by strange?”

  It was a wonder I was still talking. My eyes refused to open as my mouth moved mechanically, retelling Nicholas an edited version of my dream. “I was in an underground tunnel, walking. I came to an door, archway thing that opened up to a cliff by the sea. . . It was so high. . .” I trailed off.

  “What’s so strange about that? Sounds cool to me.”

  “It was amazing,” I yawned.

  “Anything else Lil?”

  I yawned again, and was out cold a second later. I was so happy sleep saved me from having to explain the jumping-off-the-cliff part of my dream. I was sure Nicholas wouldn’t take that sitting down.

  As the peaceful darkness of sleep cradled me, my thoughts turned to the spider that had annoyed me so much throughout the day. I imagined that I could see him hiding in the dark corners of my mind. He was trying to unlock a secret door that was hidden and locked, deep in my subconscious. I followed the annoying little spider as it delved deeper into unknown sectors of my brain.

  When I finally caught up to him, he was using one of his long, skinny legs as a pick. Trying to crack the lock of a massive chest he had found. I hurried forward once I realized what he was doing. I needed to stop him. This chest shouldn’t be opened. It was locked for a reason. But I couldn’t seem to run fast enough. My body flew towards to chest, but I was too late. The spider won. The lid popped open with the last click of the lock.

  I knew I shouldn’t look. The chest had been locked for a reason. I should run away as fast as I could. But I didn’t. Instead, I peered over the edge to see what had been trapped inside. Animal, vegetable, or mineral? I hadn’t a clue. As my eyes looked over the edge I gasped. I couldn’t believe what looked back at me from within the chest.

  Chapter 11. Planes

  Lying in the corner of the bottom of the trunk, as if she was taking a nap, was me. My ocean blue eyes, my messy, spiked black hair, and my small frame. It was surreal. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from her. She looked at me with the same curious interest, tilted her head and smiled.

  Before I could say anything, I felt as though the floor gave out below me. Wind blew past my face. I couldn’t catch my breath. My arms flailed through the air, catching nothing.

  I was falling.

  To my surprise, I landed with a soft thud on the grass that somehow materialized below me. As I tried to stand up, the rush of movement was dizzying. I fell back down on the cushy, green carpet. My dream had changed gears in an abrupt way.

  Still sitting and shaken, I looked around, trying to see where my subconscious had taken me. The bowing trees swayed around me. A familiar but more intense scent of lavender filled the air. Of course. I was in my meadow. This is where I always came to get my perspective back, or try to at least. But it was different.

  There was an energy in the air that wasn’t usually there. It was as if I could feel the life force that emitted from the grass, the trees, the leaves. The sensation lightly pricked my skin like goosebumps. I shivered in reaction to it. Even the air seemed to be alive as it swirled playfully around me, making the wildflowers dance.

  Significant as that was, it wasn’t the only difference.

  I looked up and fell on my back in astonishment at the beauty of the sky above me. Normally, on a clear night I would find the starry sky amazing. But this was spectacular.

  It was as if my eyes were looking through a high-powered telescope. The clarity was awe inspiring. And that was before adding all of the colors. Above my head, different parts of the universe glowed. My eyes gazed at a red cloud sprinkled with bright white stars, several blue clouds with a few definite starry planets residing within them, and there was even a planet close enough that it took up a large portion of the horizon with its pearly white and purple swirling clouds. I had just discovered what could only be another galaxy, with its bicycle spoke shape spinning in midair, when I felt another energy enter the meadow.

  I turned automatically in the direction of the sensation.

  Before my eyes even found the source, the playful wind swirled and blew his distinct floral scent into my face. Elliott ran across the meadow to me, a gigant
ic smile on his face. I barely had time to sit up when he picked me up in his arms in one swift scooping motion and swung me around, and around.

  “You figured it out!” The sweet and smooth texture of his voice rang with happiness and he repeatedly kissed my cheek.

  My eyebrows furrowed. I was so confused, yet utterly happy at the same time. I was with Elliott again. I was enjoying his beautiful beaming white smile, the floral scent of his skin, and the energy of him pulsing around me; it seemed that my world was set right. I stared into his hazel green eyes as the world spun around us. “What did I figure out?” I giggled. His mood was contagious.

  Elliott stopped spinning us around. His face turned more serious as his eyes assessed mine. “Ma scusa, tu sai come e’ arrivata qui, non?”

  Though the sounds his voice made were music to my ears, I didn’t understand a word of it. I looked into his eyes; I could feel the confusion coloring my face. “What?”

  “I’m sorry, Miele.” Elliott hugged me close and I could feel him pause as he breathed me in. Self conscious as ever, I wondered what I smelled like to him. He sat me down softly back on the grassy ground. Folding his body down to sit beside mine, he continued, “Do you know how you got here?”

  “I don’t even know where I am.” I kept starring into his eyes.

  Elliott seemed to deliberate at my response. It was as if he was afraid of scaring me. He spoke his next words slow and careful. “Where do you think you are?”

  I pried my eyes from the dreamy guy in front of me, and once again scanned the surroundings. “Well, it looks like my meadow. . .”

  “But. . .” he pried.

  “But. . . it’s different.”

  He stroked his fingertips from my temple to chin and looked deep into my eyes. “What do you see?” he asked.

  I shivered at the sensation. The electricity that pulsed from him seemed somehow more condensed here, wherever I was. I pulled my eyes away from his and looked up.