Post by Morgan Payne on Aug 28, 2021 6:11:18 GMT -8
Call Of
The Great Dreamer
Pt 1: In Waves
She looked to her left where a small lifeboat sat on the shore. One of those older kinds that required the inhabitant to paddle by hand. That wasn’t there before. She walked towards it, if only to get a closer look but the closer she got, she saw it was indeed an older lifeboat with a pair of oars. It looked like it had seen better days for sure. Would this thing even float? Closer examination revealed that it was in more or less decent shape if the seaweed and other debris were removed from within. It was the first thing she began doing; clearing the miniature vessel out of anything that clearly shouldn’t have been there. Seaweed. Some large shells. Even a few pieces of trash, no doubt thrown overboard from some cruise ship. She reached for one of the oars when a crab came crawling over the edge from inside, causing her to jump back with a slight gasp. Get a hold of your damn self, already. She watched the ocean critter go skittering across the sand before her attention was directed out over the water again. Still, that uncontrollable urge to venture out called to her.
Sitting in the boat, she worked the paddles, rowing out further and further into the water. The shore was getting farther and farther away now, to the point she could barely see land at all. Further and further out, she paddled and ever stronger did that invisible force that urged her out there grow. The only concern she had was that it seemed the farther she paddled out, the stronger the wind got. The heavier the storm got. Her hand began to whip about her head and face while heavy rain beat down across her and the boat. The waves were getting bigger. More violent as they crashed into her boat. The boat tipped one way and she felt one of the oars slip from her grasp and into the rolling sea. No! Shit! She set the other oar down and attempted to reach for it but the waves pulled it out of reach. She had just decided to settle with the one oar when she looked up and saw it. Her heart caught in her throat as the darkening sky was blocked out by the biggest wave she’d ever witnessed. Part of her wanted to scream but what good would that even do? Who was going to be out here to even hear her? Maybe she could paddle away from it? Yeah, right. Fat chance of that. It didn’t stop her from trying though as she grabbed up that one remaining oar and began paddling as hard as she fucking could, alternating sides. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. It was as much as she got before that wave came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. She felt the oar slip from her hands and the boat split beneath her as the sheer force of that tidal monstrosity shoved her down beneath the surface. She began to feel herself go into a panic as she tried to kick her way back to the surface but no matter how hard she attempted it, she felt herself sinking. Lower and lower. Deeper and deeper, she sank into the dark watery abyss that sought to claim her like so many others at sea before her. The woman reached with her hands, kicked with her feet, did everything she could think of to fight against the watery pull that dragged her down until she felt her feet touch the bottom. Her heart was pounding inside her chest as she looked above her. She couldn’t even see the surface anymore, she was so far down.
It was strange, being down there. The longer she sat there on the ocean floor - it was all she could assume it to be - she was realizing two things. First: she could somehow move, even if a little restricted with less resistance from the water than she should have felt in her situation. Second: she...she could breathe? She didn’t dare open her mouth under water but she quickly came to realize that she didn’t necessarily need to hold her breath. Everything else, however, seemed...normal? If that was the word for it, anyway. Her hearing was nulled by the water and her hair seemed to just float weightlessly around her head. What was more, her vision seemed to begin to adjust to the darkness around her and she could almost see around her as if whatever had beckoned her out there was lighting the way for her. That urge. That pull. She’d almost forgotten but soon remembered. It was still there and still beckoning her. She felt the desire to press on through the ocean. Even there, on the floor itself. She took a step. Easy enough. A little resistance but not much. She was able to walk across the floor at a slowed pace. She still didn’t understand how or why she was even able to but she did so. She began walking. Trekking across that underwater desert of sand, rock and coral, following that unseen, unheard force. No. Wait. She could hear something. Something down there with her, even if in the distance. It sounded like a voice. Yes, it was a voice! It was calling to her. It was saying….
3:15 AM EST
Saturday, August 28th
Asheville, North Carolina
“The Castle”
Morgan sat up in her bed with a startled gasp. A cold sweat ran across her skin as her eyes darted all around her, trying to get a grip on her surroundings. She was just beginning to recognize her own bedroom when she felt something brush across her back and heard a voice.
“Hey.”
She jumped a little and twisted around in time to see Mary sitting up beside her and retracting her hand.
“Whoa! Baby, what’s wrong?”
There was enough light from the moon outside, she could see her wife’s concerned expression in the darkness. Morgan’s heart dropped back down out of her throat as she put a hand to her chest and exhaled.
“Mmh. Nuttin’. Sorry, Boo….”
Mary tilted her head, resting her hand over Morgan’s back again. The warmth was a nice contrast to the cold perspiration that had almost drenched her.
“Hey. C’mere.”
Mary sat up more and pulled her into a side hug. Morgan relaxed in her wife’s arms, closing her eyes as she felt a kiss on the side of her head.
“You have a bad dream?”
Morgan didn’t respond at first. She didn’t know what the hell it was. She reached up to hold onto Mary’s arm across her chest and kissed the woman’s forearm, nodding and just rested her face there.
“What was it?”
How did she even begin to explain? Morgan looked up as she tried to put the experience into words. She looked at Mary; the woman watching her in return with concern in her soft brown eyes. When she couldn’t find the words she just shook her head with frustration. Mary’s hands shifted up to cup her face.
“Hey. It’s okay, baby. It’s just a dream. Let’s get some sleep. C’mere.”
Mary laid down, pulling Morgan gently back onto the pillows with her and pulled her back against her. Morgan relaxed more as her wife pulled the sheets up over them and wrapped her up in her arms. She felt a kiss to the back of her shoulder and smiled softly. Contently.
“Good night, baby. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Morgan closed her eyes and focused on falling back asleep. The only sound, aside from Mary’s own breathing, was that of the wind lightly blowing through the trees outside. Morgan tried to push the sound of the wind out of her head as it sounded all too much like something else. Like the sound of waves….
To Be Continued….
