"Atlantis Rising"

A Mystical Adventure In Time!

2008-07-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Atlantis Rising - CH. 4 Part 3

2008-06-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Two days later, and against her better judgment Lisa found herself on Karen’s doorstep. She still felt somewhat dazed from her recent excursion to Atlantis, and her heart ached more than ever.

Just as Lisa walked in the door the phone began to ring. Karen looked hesitant to answer, but picked up before the answering machine did. Lisa could hear a man’s voice on the other end. Karen told him she couldn’t talk and quickly hung up.

“Lisa, what’s the matter? You look lost.”

With tear filled eyes Lisa looked down at the floor. “Karen, I don’t belong here. I know how crazy this all sounds but…”

“Oh, not this Atlantis stuff again.”

Lisa sat down and rested her head in her hands. “My life has turned upside down. I don’t know what’s real anymore. Now that I have met Sylor, I know he is my twin soul, and I cannot imagine my life without him.” She stood, and started pacing the floor.

Karen let out a breath of annoyance. “I don’t think I want to hear any of this.”

“Karen, you said it could be dreams, or past life memories. Well, what about time travel? Maybe I’m going back in time to a life I actually once lived, a life I am so emotionally connected to, and it’s important that I…”

“Lisa, listen to yourself! Stop it! None of this is real. Sylor is not real, just like Jeff was not real!”

Lisa almost hated her for saying that. Karen either didn’t see the look on Lisa’s face, or chose to ignore it, as she continued her admonishment.

“Lisa, did you ever think that this is nothing but your writers imagination? Think about it. How long have you been trying to come up with something new? You even said yourself you wanted to write something different. How different can this get?”

“How can you say something like that? How can you insult me like… You know me. Damn it! I can’t believe you...”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…Lisa, maybe you should…”

“Maybe I should what?” Lisa challenged.

“Maybe you should see someone. I’m sorry.”

“You mean maybe I should seek professional help?” Lisa shook her head. “You were the one person I thought would understand these things, metaphysics, reincarnation, dreams. But you…”

“Maybe the breakup with Dave hit you harder than you realize.”

“Oh, I’m out of here.” Lisa thought sure she broke the door on her way out.

“Proof. I need proof,” she kept repeating on the drive home.

Yes, proof. Proof that she really was in Atlantis. Proof that everything she was experiencing was real. Proof that she wasn’t going crazy. Why couldn’t she just trust what her heart was telling her? Instead, she kept falling into the left brained, show me, if I can’t see it then it doesn’t exist society. A very limited and close-minded way of thinking, she felt. But she had to face it; these things just do not happen in this society, or in reality. No one time travels back to Atlantis. No one time travels. She would have to bring something back from Atlantis, even if it was just to prove it to herself.

copyright2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.4 Part 2

2008-05-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

“Where is Sylor?” Lisa anxiously stepped out of the capsule. “I want to see him.”

“Sylor is not available,” Jenielle said. “He is with the other scientists in the ambiterrium.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you not remember?”

Jenielle’s tone of sarcasm angered Lisa. “If I did…” She silently started counting to ten. “No, I don’t remember.”

“The ambiterrium is where Sylor and his fellow scientists work.”

“Sylor is a priest and a scientist?” I know he is a priest, I saw the pendant.”

“Sylor is becoming less of a priest as he is moving away from the ways of spirit. He holds the highest position as head scientist. He is well respected, and knows it. This has made him big inside his head. He is but a fool.”

“When can I see him?”

“He will be back shortly. Come, you will be bathed while you wait.”

They, along with the lion, proceeded to the room with the pool. The same two women came forward. Lisa removed her clothes, this time without hesitation. Jenielle nodded with approval, and left the room.

Lisa had just finished dressing when Jenielle had entered the room with a chalice. Lisa drank from it. “I should have asked this before, but what is this that I’ve been drinking?”

“It is made from the flowers. It helps to clear our aura, the energy field around each of us, so that illness may not set in. Sylor has not yet returned. We must wait.”

“Jenielle, you said I…I mean Hollina was your sister. Are you older or younger?

“I arrived before Hollina.”

“I know who you are in my reality. You reincarnated as my friend Karen. We’ve always been like sisters. This is incredible.”

“Incredible, yes.” Jenielle raised a brow. “What of Sylor? Is he too in your reality?”

“Unfortunately, no. At least not that I know of.”

Jenielle quickly turned away. “The woman who I am in your reality, Karen, is she with a husband?”

“No. She was once, but it didn’t work out.”

“How did you feel for this man that was her husband?”

“I never knew him. She lived in another part of the country at the time, and they weren’t together very long.”

“And there is no Sylor in your reality. This you are sure of?”

“If Sylor is in my reality, then I haven’t met him. I would know Sylor. I would know him anywhere.”

Jenielle mumbled something under her breath, and then said. “Let us cease discussion of Sylor.”

“What did I do here as Hollina. What was my work?”

“You were a healer. Many came to you. You knew the power of the mind and what it could do.”

“Why did I leave here?”

“You ask big questions.” Jenielle walked a few feet away, and paused. She turned back with a somber look. “You were one of the few left who were prophetic. Two times in the distant past there were earthquakes. This was long before you and I. These earthquakes destroyed parts of our land. Atlantis was much larger than it is now. In a vision you and six others saw the destruction that would end us. It may soon be upon us. You, as Hollina, vowed never to witness this.”

“So what happened, and what about Sylor?”

“You could not bear to be a part of the death of the land you loved so much. You wished to make Egypt your new home with the many others, and then bring the knowledge of our culture to other areas of the planet.”

“So Sylor and I went to Egypt?”

“No. No, you did not go to Egypt. Sylor would not hear of it. He too knows the power of the mind and what your beliefs can create. He refused to believe you or the others. The bigness in his head was beyond your vision. He is a brilliant scientist. There are none like him. But the others that work with him are not so brilliant. And they are dangerous.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the vision, you saw these very scientists. They fool with the crystals, and have found a way to grow them, but it is not the same. These crystals have no heart, unlike the crystals the Creator had given us. These scientists have evil within. There desire is to gain enough power to control the entire planet, and they intend to use the crystals to do it. There are certain experiments that…”

“But what about Sylor? Is this what he wants too?”

“He does not. He will not give his word to experiment in this way. The experiments are written in code and are…”

A woman in a tan gown entered the room and nodded her head to Jenielle, and then left. “Sylor has returned. I will take you to him, but there is little time.”

Lisa made a mental note to continue this conversation. She wanted to know more about the experiments.

Her heart began to beat faster in anticipation. Sylor opened the door as they approached. He and Jenielle exchanged glances. Lisa felt the tension and wondered what the problem was between them. But it would have to wait. Sylor was the only thing she wanted to focus on at the moment.

Sylor and Lisa stood facing each other. There was a moment of silence as they took in each other’s essence. She shivered as he made the first move, taking her face in his hands. “I long for the day when you will again be my wife.”

She couldn’t speak. The thought of being with him…there were no words. She slowly moved her hands through his hair. Gradually they made their way to his face, and to his mouth. She ran her finger along his upper lip. It was all she could do to keep her dignity.

He cloaked her with his embrace. Lisa took in his scent and couldn’t take it anymore. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips on his. He quickly accepted the invitation, and reciprocated deeply with all abandonment.

A passion swept over her, as she had never known before. Aching for more, she pressed herself against him, and felt his readiness beneath his robe.

He pushed her back, straining to breathe. “No! We cannot! We cannot give ourselves to each other at this time. It would be detrimental to your being. It is too soon.”

“Then when?” Lisa asked, disturbed. The lion let out a roar.

“You must go.”

“But Sylor I…”

“You must go now.”

“Sylor, I don’t want to leave you.”
He took her in his arms and tenderly kissed her mouth. “Be not concerned. We will have out time. Two embodiments connected by one soul, one heart, cannot forever be separated. We will be together, and our love will be all that it was meant to be. I promise you.” He slowly backed away. “Go now.”

Lisa went back to the pool-room to change. Jenielle was nowhere to be found. The lion alone walked Lisa back to the capsule.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.4 Part 1

2008-05-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Lisa opened her eyes and gazed at the stars that hung above her. She turned over on her side and bought the comforter up to her neck “Oh God, I don’t want to be here.”
Atlantis was where she wanted to be, where she belonged, with her beloved. She recalled what had taken place the first time they had looked into each other’s eyes. He was everything to her. She wiped her eyes knowing she had found her twin soul.

The next morning Lisa took a cup of coffee and headed down to the beach. She was too tired to walk to the east side and didn’t wander very far. She found a spot to sit in the sand. She began questioning what was happening to her. She knew she couldn’t keep it to herself much longer and decided she would tell Karen soon.

But what would she tell her? That somehow she was meeting her twin soul in Atlantis, a place that supposedly never existed, and eventually she would have to make a choice whether or not to stay there?

While growing up she had always felt different from the other kids. This feeling hadn’t changed much as an adult. Sometimes when she looked at her reflection, she felt like she was on the wrong side of the mirror. “ A psychologist could have a field day with me,” she whispered.

As difficult as it was, she wanted to put Sylor and the whole Atlantis thing out of her mind for the moment and relax. Before she was able to, she saw someone running up the beach coming her way. The person was yelling gibberish, and ran as if they were trying to break a record, or a leg. She realized it was Karen. Oh God, something’s wrong. Lisa ran to meet her.

Karen practically tackled her, and they both fell in the sand. “You’ve got it, you’ve got it!”

“Got what?” Lisa scowled, as she stood up and brushed the sand off herself. “Christ Karen, I thought someone died.”

“The building!” Karen caught her breath. “You’ve got the building! The other party backed out. It’s yours if you still want it. You still want to do this right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. This is great!”

“All right!” Karen threw her arms around Lisa, kicked off her shoes, and raced into the water up to her knees. She began laughing and yelling, “Life is great!”

Lisa ran down to meet her. Karen grabbed her hands and they danced around in a circle giggling like two children, until they both fell into the water.

“I’m freezing.” Karen yelled.

“Me too, let’s go back to the house.” Lisa retrieved her coffee mug from the sand.

As they were running to the house, Lisa came to a dead stop. “There he is again.”

Karen looked around, puzzled. “Who?”

“Mr. Moses.” Lisa mumbled under her breath.

“Who? I don’t see anyone.”

“Never mind.”

“That’s your problem.” Karen pointed to the coffee mug. “That crap you’re drinking.”

“Sorry Karen, but carrot juice just doesn’t do it for me.”

Lisa hadn’t gone back to Atlantis since meeting Sylor. It had been over a week and he hadn’t left her thoughts. She felt like she was walking a fine line between fantasy and reality. It was just this state of mind that kept her from going back just yet.

A few days later, she and Karen went out for dinner. Lisa couldn’t contain herself any longer and told Karen everything. But oddly, she refrained from telling Karen she was the incarnation of Jenielle.

“You must think I’m crazy.” Lisa took a sip of wine and let out a sigh, feeling some relief of being able to bare her soul.

“I think you could be getting vivid past life memories, or it’s out of body experiences. And that man you’ve seen, the one on the beach, he could very well be a spirit guide. We all have them. Sometimes they make their presence known at certain times in our lives.”

“But it all feels so real in Atlantis, and Sylor…I mean it’s like I’m experiencing it as myself, not as an observer.”

“Then maybe it’s all just dreams.” Karen said impatiently.

“No, I know it’s not dreams. Oh hell, I don’t know what it is. And what’s so hard is that…I don’t want to be here anymore.” Lisa put her head down. “I want to be there…with him.”

“You’re scaring me.” Karen rubbed her forehead. “Look, not that long ago we were talking about Atlantis, and twin souls. We were…look, Lisa you are not actually going back to Atlantis. It’s all in your mind.”

“You think I’m losing it, don’t you?”

“I really don’t know what to think. This sounds so…its makes for great fiction but…”

“Yeah, it does make for…” Lisa put her hand to her stomach hoping to calm the queasiness she was suddenly experiencing. Fiction? She hadn’t considered that. Was her mind somehow creating all of this for a new book? No, it couldn’t be. Sylor was real. He had to be.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you. No, maybe I do. Get rid of that damn crystal!”

“No!” Lisa raised her voice. “Absolutely not. That crystal is my connection to Atlantis.” Her voice softened. “And to him.”

Lisa didn’t want to think anymore about reality versus fantasy. She missed Sylor enough and was going back.

Copyright2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.3 Part 5

2008-05-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

“Will I meet Sylor this time?” Lisa anxiously crossed her fingers waiting for Jenielle to answer. Jenielle said nothing, but motioned for Lisa to follow her. The lion clung to Lisa’s side. She eagerly stroked the animal, feeling an attachment to him. “Jenielle, I want to…”

“Yes, you made your demand known at our last encounter.”

“Well?” No answer. Lisa felt like throwing something at her. What was with this woman’s attitude?

Lisa was requested to lie on the table. Jenielle swept her hands over Lisa, and revealed she was cleaning her aura. After ten minutes Lisa was given the chalice to drink from.

A question popped into Lisa’s mind that she hadn’t thought of before. “Jenielle, if I was Hollina, obviously we knew each other, but how? What was our relationship?”

“We were sisters.”

“Oh.” Lisa’s eyes widened, hardly believing it. She thought about Karen and how they had become blood sisters when they were children. Lisa also wondered how Jenielle treated others.

Jenielle brought Lisa to another room. It was larger and had a small pool in the center of it. The room had a domed ceiling, which was made of quartz. Lisa noted how beautiful the rays of the sun had shone though, creating a brilliant cascade of colors that reflected off the pool of water. Two woman wearing tan colored gowns arrived, holding towels and toiletries. The woman began removing their gowns.

“Please remove your clothing.” Jenielle said lifelessly to Lisa.

“What!”

“Please remove your clothing,” she repeated with a tone of impatience.
Lisa looked around feeling uneasy. A woman she hardly knew, two women she didn’t know, plus a lion, and she was suppose to take her clothes off?

“Why do you hesitate?”

“I’m not used to taking my clothes off in front of others.”

“Are you foolish? I have not heard of such a thing. Remove your clothing now.”
Obviously, in Atlantis they had no problem with nudity. Unlike us, Lisa thought.

She began removing her clothes, slowly, piece by piece, feeling humiliated. She kept telling herself she really didn’t have to do this, but she was curious. She stood totally naked, using her hands and arms to cover strategic places. “This better be a dream,” she mumbled.

“I do not understand this foolishness.”

“Jenielle, where I come from nudity is seen as something wrong, something dirty. If we don’t cover our bodies, we are talked about, and not to kindly.”

“Is this what we are headed for as humans? Denying the very embodiments the Creator has gifted us with? To contradict the expression, the very temple we have been given is sacrilegious.” Jenielle shook her head. Sadness showed. “Then with all that is happening, I should not be surprised.”

The two women stepped forward smiling warmly took Lisa by the arms, and gently led her into the pool. Jenielle left the room. Though Lisa still felt self-conscious she did relax a bit in the pinkish colored water, until the women began to bathe her. She stiffened up, leaving a baffled expression on the women’s faces. It finally occurred to Lisa that this was the norm, and forced herself to let them bathe her. The women smiled thoughtfully, but never spoke.

Lisa was guided out of the pool, and the women dried her off. They rubbed an oil over body that smelled like roses, which reminded her of the rose oil she sometimes used in her bath.

Jenielle returned carrying a pale pink long sleeved gown for Lisa to wear. The neckline was cut low, and had gold trim. The gown had an empire waist and tied in the back. Lisa felt it was a tad tight, but not uncomfortable.

Her hair was brushed up in a ponytail and tied with a wide white ribbon with gold trim. They placed tiny pink rose-like flowers in her hair. They then, placed a gold pendant, the size of half dollar around her neck. It hung down between her breasts. Lisa held her breath upon seeing it. She clutched the pendant in her palm when she realized it was the same symbol she had seen on the wall. She felt Jenielle must have sensed her next question.

“It is the symbol of Atlantis. This pendant is worn only by the priests, and priestesses of Atlantis.”

“Hollina was a priestess?” Karen would love this, she thought. The two women bowed to her, and smiled. Jenielle turned away and said nothing.

Jenielle then motioned for Lisa to follow. The lion accompanied them. They walked down a long hall, which had pillars of marble, and walls made of blue lapis with gold etched into them. Statues were set into some of the walls, and light poured through quartz ceilings. Lisa looked down and to her amazement saw that the floors looked to be made of opal.

Jenielle said nothing, but Lisa knew where she was being taken. Butterflies danced in her stomach as they stood outside of a large gold door. Jenielle stepped in front of her, opened the door, and then stepped back.

“You may proceed inside.” Jenielle said in a soft tone, as she looked downward.

The butterflies in Lisa’s stomach were now doing the twist, and her hands had become sweaty. She felt like she waited forever for this moment. She inhaled as if going underwater, and took one step inside the room. She let the breath out, taking another, and took two more steps in passed the open door.

She quietly gasped. There, about twenty feet away, he stood. His back faced her. She turned and looked for Jenielle. Only the lion remained. Lisa stood fixed, holding her breath, as she waited for him to turn and speak. Silence reigned. Anger began to swell up in her. He knew she was there. Lisa could feel the false pride in him, as well as herself.

She eyed him up and down, all six feet of him. It was just like in the dream… the long turquoise robe, and the blonde hair that barely brushed his shoulders. She wasn’t sure which emotion she was feeling most, anger, fear, or excitement. The tension was mounting and her shoulders tightened. The stillness had become intolerable.

“Turn around, turn to me.” She called. He remained motionless. She figured is she was smart she would turn around and walk out. But no, she was in love. Again she swallowed her pride. Her neck was beginning to hurt. “Turn around, turn to me,” she bellowed.

He didn’t budge. She had come back to be treated like this? Maybe Jenielle was right. How could he humiliate her like this? She clenched her fist as she bit the inside of her mouth.

“Damn you, Sylor!” She walked swiftly to him, and stood about five feet behind him. “Turn around, turn to me. Look at me!” She demanded.

Slowly, very slowly, he turned. Lisa’s breath became shallow as she stood shaking, with her pulse racing. Then it happened. She took one look into those sky-blue eyes, gulped, and stopped shaking. Her chest ached, and her heart wanted to engulf him. The urge to move into him, to meld with him was overwhelming.

“Oh God”, she whispered as she looked into a face she felt God had sculpted with His own hands…a perfect masterpiece.

She felt beams of light streaming forth from inside herself. Her aura was expanding and enveloping them both. She knew he had to have felt the love that was radiating from her. He had to have felt the love that was exuding from every pore of her body. She could feel the same coming from him. She immersed herself in his light, going into the very core of his being, where she was exposed to the depth of love that his ego unsuccessfully tried to keep hidden from her.

She felt his light beginning to contract. Though she was becoming mush inside she knew she had to stand strong. There was an intensity about him that shook her. With that feeling she detached from his stare, and moved her gaze downward. She saw he was wearing the same pendant as she.

The feeling of his gaze drew her eyes to his again. His features hardened as he examined her face. One corner of his mouth curled up. Part of her wanted to smack the smugness off his princely face. The other part wanted to wrap herself around him. After what seemed to an eternity, his face softened and his mouth dropped some. The sternness was washed away, and was to be replaced by an expression of longing.

“Hollina,” he whispered as he moved closer to her, “It is really you.” He lightly touched her face with one hand.

She didn’t say a word. She just wanted to drink in the feeling. His touch made her tremble. Every hair on her body stood on end. She held her breath afraid to break the connection. It took all she could to hold herself together.

His eyes began to well up unmasking his vulnerability. He took her face in both hands. His touch relayed to her the words he could not yet speak. It didn’t matter. She could feel his every emotion as if she were he.

“I have you back,” he whispered. “You have come back to me.”

She saw him smile for the first time. It was a sad smile that would stay impressed in her mind.

He pulled her to himself, and inhaled her scent. He gently embraced her, and caressed the back of her neck. She detected a faint scent of vanilla coming from him. And at the same time she could feel the heat emanating from his body…the body she was longing for.

She gazed up at his tear-covered face. Abruptly, he let her go and turned away. She knew he didn’t want her to see him like that. She knew he did not want her to have that kind of power over him. The lion let out a roar warning Lisa she had to go.

“Sylor,” she said, taking his hand. “My name is Lisa, not Hollina.”

“It matters not. You are still Hollina. You carry her within you.”

He smiled softly as she stroked his face, his hair, and touched his mouth. She declined to do the thing she had wanted to do since the moment she saw his face, and was to meet his lips with hers.

“You will return.” He said confidently.

“How can I not?”

They said nothing more. She walked to the door where the lion waited, and turned back. Sylor’s face was expressionless, even hinting of coldness. She knew she had hurt him somehow, and now he was guarded. He had so much pride…too much.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH. 3 Part 4

2008-05-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

In a weakened state she made her way downstairs. She did have some mild nausea and poured herself warm cola. Even though her head ached she felt mentally restless.

Her hands were shaking as she reached for the remote. She skimmed through all the channels. Boring! She picked up one of her favorite magazines lying on the coffee table. She impatiently thumbed through it, and then threw it on the floor. Boring!

What could top what she had been experiencing except more of the same. She thought of Sylor. She would have to go back soon. She had to meet him. She had to see him for herself. The longing inside her was too much. Though she still felt weak, and knew it was too soon, she would try again that night.

“You did not heed my advice.” Jenielle commented, as Lisa slowly stepped out of the capsule. “I am not surprised. Hollina could be headstrong at times.”

Lisa ignored what Jenielle had said. “I want to see Sylor.”

“Why would you want to see man that hurt you with disrespect? A man that did not…would not believe your truth.”

“He was my husband.”

“He is not now your husband.” You are not the full embodiment of Hollina. She is only an aspect of you now, though you do look the same as she.”

“Hollina?” Lisa questioned.

“Hollina is a part of you that once lived.”

“I’m Hollina reincarnated?”

“You are many. Hollina is the strongest aspect at this time, and with good reason.”

“What reason.”

“Sylor planned it this way, but he will pay for his misdeed. Everyone pays for their misdeeds, whether they are in thought or in action.”

Lisa walked a few feet away from the capsule. She felt a little lightheaded, but she knew she would be all right. She turned around and gasped. A living, breathing lion had walked into the room. She looked at Jenielle who seemed unconcerned. As it approached Lisa began to relax, and all fear vanished, though she didn’t know why.

The lion stood by Lisa’s side and let out a roar. Lisa raised her eyebrows at Jenielle waiting for some kind of explanation.

“I have summoned him. He will walk by your side. He will help your energy to balance and adjust. He will also act as your protector.”

“Why would I need protection?”

“One day you may. You need not concern yourself at the moment.”

“What was Hollina like?”

“Very much like yourself. It is most strange. I did not believe she would be this strong in you. And you have talked of our demise, as did she.”

“I don’t under…” Lisa jumped. The lion had let out a roar.

“It is time. You must go.”

“Why? I feel fine”

“The animals sense the energy better than we do.” Jenielle commented. “It was not always that way. At one time we could sense it as well as they. Some are still able, but they are few. You were one.”

“But I want to see Sylor.” Lisa looked around. She felt so desperate. She thought she would never see him. “Please, I…”

“There is no time. With each visit, you will be able to stay longer periods. Then you will have to make a decision.”

“A decision?”

“There will come a time when your being will not be able to handle both vibrational levels. When you are fully adjusted and are capable of sustaining yourself here, you will have to choose whether to live your life here, or stay in your own reality. You will be unable to continue to do both. Once your choice has been made, you cannot ever go back to the other. You must weigh your decision carefully. Go now.”

Lisa could barely hold the pen as she wrote in her journal. So she was the incarnation of someone named Hollina, and Sylor was the man to whom she had been married. This much she knew, but not much more.

She still didn’t know why she was going to Atlantis, if she was going there. What about this Jenielle person, who reminded her so much of Karen? “Wait a minute,” Lisa said out loud. If she was the incarnation of Hollina, then could Karen be the incarnation of Jenielle? “Yes, of course,” she whispered, as the feeling seem to hit her right in the solar plexus. With the way both Karen and Jenielle were treating her, they had to be cut from the same mold. She chuckled, but really didn’t think it was all that funny.

Lisa awakened almost twelve hours later, with a mild headache and, to her surprise no nausea. She made coffee and walked down to the beach. It was the first week of May. The sun felt warm on her face, and the breeze was invigorating. She looked out at the ocean and remembered that it covered three quarters of the earth, and somewhere down under all that ocean lay Atlantis. Maybe. Damn! Why were there still doubts? Her head told her one thing, her heart another.

She was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, and happily acknowledged everything she had in her life. If we do create our life by what we think and believe then more people must be turned on to this concept. Instead of believing in war and hate, if our minds focused and believed in peace and love, then maybe we would have world peace. She felt like a Pollyanna thinking that, but sometimes the truth can be quite simple, and supposedly she already knew that anything is possible.

She thought about Karen. She felt that despite the fact Karen had this new life, she really wasn’t all that happy. Lisa also sensed there was something secretive going on with her.

She thought about the small building that Karen knew was so perfect. She was right…it was perfect. In a trance Lisa watched the waves crash over the rocks. Then it hit her. "Why didn’t I think of this before?" She ran back to the house and phoned Karen.

“The building on Lansing Avenue…” Lisa said trying to catch her breath. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before but I could help you out with purchasing the building. Hell, I could even buy the building. Yeah! I’ll buy the building!”

“Are you nuts?”

“Absolutely! Come on, it will work, I know it.”

After much discussion and convincing, Karen agreed. “Okay, okay, let me call the realtor and get back to you.”

Karen called back within an hour. It was evident she had been crying. “You’re not going to believe this. Someone put a binder on it yesterday. They really want the place. I’ll just have to keep working on it. Thanks anyway, it was a great gesture.”

Lisa hung up the phone feeling like a heel, even though it wasn’t her fault. But she still felt it was the perfect place.

It would be a couple of days before Lisa would take another “trip” to Atlantis. She wanted to regain all her strength. The dreams of Sylor had stopped, since the Atlantis thing began. She had only one goal in mind this time, and that was to meet Sylor.
She nervously thought of the decision she would have to make. She didn’t like the sound of that. To have to make a choice to stay in a place that supposedly never existed…how absurd!

What if Atlantis is a myth? What if it was only something in Plato’s imagination? Was this all in her imagination? Had she watched too many re-runs of The Twilight Zone? Rod Serling had nothing on her.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.3 Part 3

2008-05-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Lisa slowly moved from the bed with the intent of heading to the bathroom. The next thing she knew she was on the floor. She wasn’t out for more than a couple of minutes, and it to the bathroom just in time.

She poured herself a glass of warm cola to help settle her stomach. She went back to bed with her journal, and wrote everything down. This has to be nothing more than a dream.

Then why did it feel so real? And why was she sick again? Who was this Jenielle? What was that symbol, and why was she grabbing at her chest? Atlantis?

Her heart fluttered, and a feeling of longing came over her. Tears filled her eyes. It could be dreams she pondered, or out-of-body-experiences, or even past life memories coming into her conscious awareness. Whatever it was, she knew she wanted more. Atlantis was a part of her, and very much alive inside her.

Lisa spent the next three days resting feeling like she had the flu. During this time she called Karen to see how she was progressing with the hunt for rental space. Karen said things were the same and that she didn’t have time to talk. Lisa swore she heard a man’s voice in the background. She had no plans to tell Karen she had meditated with the crystal again.

Lisa was feeling much better and nervously thought about embarking on another adventure. She decided she didn’t need the tape. She took a few deep breaths with the crystal sitting on her chest. It all happened more quickly this time.

Jenielle stood before her dressed in an aqua Grecian style gown. “Are you stabilized?”

Lisa wanted to laugh, but contained herself. “Yes, I guess I’m stabilized.”

Jenielle guided Lisa out of the capsule. She felt a little lightheaded and stopped. Jenielle supported her. “I’m all right.” Lisa said as she noticed Jenielle kept looking her up and down.

“Most strange,” Jenielle finally said as she ran her hand down the side of Lisa’s jeans. She then touched the material of her own dress, and touched Lisa’s jeans again. “Most strange.”

“Why am I here? I don’t understand any of this. What’s….”

“Have you not discovered your gift of the crystal?”

“The crystal?” Lisa’s eyes grew wide.

“Yes. There are two halves. They fit together to make a whole.”

“I have a crystal. If I have a half, then where is the other?”

“You have many questions. They will be answered in time.”

“But why am I here, in Atlantis?”

“You should not be.” Jenielle said bluntly.

“I don’t understand. Is this a dream?”

“It may be wise for you to believe that.”

Lisa felt as if she was lost in the Arctic being around this woman. “Are you upset that I’m here? I don’t even know how it happened. I was meditating with the crystal and …”

“And how did the crystal come into your possession?”

“I was walking along the ocean, and …”

“Damn him!” Jenielle said in a low tone almost under her breath.

“Damn who?”

“Sylor!” Jenielle shouted, and shook her head in disgust.

“Who is Sylor, and why am I here?” Lisa was becoming upset, and tried to move passed Jenielle to go somewhere, but didn’t know where.

“Do not!” Jenielle held her back. “You do not yet understand. My advice to you is to go back from where you came, and never return or even think of Atlantis again.”

“I need to know what’s happening here. I’m in Atlantis and I believe I’ve lived here before. I have a strong feeling we knew each other. And why shouldn’t I come back here. I know I loved Atlantis.”

“Yes, you are correct. You were here, and you did love Atlantis, which is one of the reasons you left.”

“Left? Why, where did I go?”

“What is your time frame in the future? How many years between us?”

“I think, well, from what I’ve learned, there is possibly twelve thousand years between us.”

“You are twelve thousand years into the future. And how is Atlantis? Is she flourishing?” Jenielle raised her brow.

Lisa looked at her sadly. But by the look on Jenielle’s face, Lisa suspected she already knew. “You know, don’t you?”

“Say it!” Jenielle demanded. “What do the records reveal?”

Lisa hesitated for a few seconds, not wanting to believe it herself. “Jenielle, where I come from, Atlantis doesn’t exist, and supposedly there is no real evidence that it ever did. It is only seen as a myth, or a legend. But there are many that believe it did exist, and that one day proof will be discovered.”

Jenielle turned and walked a few feet away looking downwards. When she turned back tears were evident. “Is it not enough we are headed for a fall? But to never have existed at all? Yes, your proof will be found, and your records will be rewritten. What was the cause of our demise?”

Lisa tried to hold back her tears. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry to have to tell you any of this, but from what I’ve read, the whole continent sank from earthquakes brought on by the misuse of the crystal energy.”

Jenielle said nothing for about a minute or so. She kept staring down at the floor. “Then you and the others were correct. He would not believe you. He would not hear your truth. He is caught up in his selfishness.”

“Who?” Lisa was starting to feel weak, and looked around for a place to sit. Her body was starting to shake.

“Sylor.”

“Who is Sylor?” Lisa was becoming visibly sick. Jenielle guided her back inside the capsule.

“You have stayed too long, you must go back.”

“Who is Sylor?” Lisa demanded as she stepped inside the capsule.

With no expression, Jenielle coldly said. “He was your husband.”

Lisa opened her eyes and was nearly blinded from the sun streaming through the skylights above her bed. Her stomach didn’t feel to bad, she noticed after she sat up, but she did have a headache.

So Sylor was her husband. But who was she? And what the hell was going on anyway? Then it occurred to her that the man in her dream, the robed one, was Sylor. The man she desired with all her heart and soul had been her husband.

This acknowledgement took her breath away. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she placed her hand over her heart. She knew she loved this man like no other. She thought about how angry she was in the dream. What kind of man was he? Jenielle obviously didn’t like him. And how could she herself have been married to him if he wasn’t benevolent in character? Was any of this real? Was she losing her mind?

She wanted so much to believe that somehow she really was in Atlantis, but how could it be possible? She looked around her bedroom. She looked at the pink curtains, and the floral wall covering.

She noticed the shelf that held the Barbie doll, and the teddy bear she had since she was a child. She glanced down to the side of her dresser at the gallon jug of nickels she had been hoarding. These things were there as they had been for years. These things were solid reality. How could she have been anywhere else?

Lisa felt she could easily let herself buy in to all that was happening. She was told she had left Atlantis. Why did she leave? But more importantly, why was she going back there now? She had so many questions, and she was determined that they would all be answered.

Copyright2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH. 3 Part 2

2008-05-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

“Before I left California I went to a psychic. She someone that’s very good, and celebrities pay big bucks to have a reading with her. She told me some things about my life, and since I was moving back here I asked her about you.”

“Oh, I hope this is good.” Lisa pulled her seat closer, and took a sip of wine.

“I’ll try to tell you exactly what she said, because it’s kind of strange. She started by saying you were very creative, and that the books you’ve written were practice for a greater book.”

Lisa’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. “Does that mean…”

Karen waved her hand. “Let me finish. She said you had a mission in this lifetime, and that you must get out of your current relationship. But you had to be ready to get out of it. She said there would be a new relationship coming into your life, someone from the past. She didn’t know when or how you would meet. She said you already might be getting clues.”

Lisa sat back and stared thinking how strange things have been lately.

“She also said that in a previous life there was a lot of hurt, and that the two of you must work things out to fulfill your mission, because it’s something you must do together. She kept saying, the future changes the past changes the future.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t’ know. But she said you should keep an open mind, and that you already know anything is possible.”

Lisa sat stunned, and irritated. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? Not that I understand any of it.”

“It wasn’t meant for you to know before. You had to have split with Dave on your own, and not because there was someone else coming into your life.”

“Did she anything else?” Lisa asked curtly.

“Yes. She said there would be confusion at some point, and mistakes, but they would only seem like mistakes. Her exact words were, some mistakes are life’s music.”

“Some mistakes are life’s music! Did she also tell you that some things are beyond understanding, like the mysteries of life? Who is this woman to say things that are going to happen in my life, things that I can’t even understand. How dare she!”

“Calm down. I’m just telling you what she told me. No psychic is one hundred percent accurate. These are only probabilities. The energy of it can change as we change. There is free will. And remember, we create our own reality by what we believe on a subconscious level, as well a conscious level.”

Lisa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Was there anything else?”

“That was it, but she was serious. She even had me spooked. I felt it was time to tell you.”

Lisa went home feeling flustered, but with a spark of hope about her future. Mistakes? Confusion? She could live with that if a new novel would be the result, and a new love. But a mission? What was that about? Funny how the two things she wanted most in her life is what this woman touched upon. Then again, she considered, maybe Karen was making it all up.

Lisa was tired and went up to bed early that night. She crawled under the pink satin comforter. She felt like the crystal was calling her. With twinges in her stomach, she picked it up, and then she realized that the dream had started the same time she had found the crystal.

“Let me try you again.” She shut the light, and turned on the tape. She knew one thing; if nothing happened, she would be very disappointed.

Again, it all happened…the shaking, the sounds, and the light. Then it stopped. The door slid open and same woman stood before her. “You may step out if you are able,” the woman said with a frosty tone.

Lisa tried to lift her leg, but it was as if she had forgotten how to move. She practically had to tell each muscle what to do. She managed to get one foot out. The woman took her hand. Lisa felt a shock shoot up her arm. The woman guided her to a nearby room, and had her sit up on a table that wasn’t much larger than a doctor’s table. She was handed a gold chalice to drink from. The haziness in her head suddenly cleared up. She was told to lie back on the table and close her eyes.

The woman stood in back and placed her hands on Lisa’s head, saying nothing. After a minute she did the same with her feet. Lisa just wanted to go to sleep. She was then told to open her eyes. She found the woman staring right into her face.

“You look nearly the same as she.”

“The same as who?” Lisa started to shake.

“You will know soon.”

Lisa stood up and noticed the table she had been lying on. She ran her hand along the outer edge of it. It was made of a white pearly substance. In the middle were circular panels of quartz.

She focused on her surroundings. The room was completely round, and about fifteen feet in diameter. The domed ceiling was made of quartz, and was about twenty feet high. Like the table, the floor consisted of circular quartz panels.

The walls were made of marble, with a line of gold four inches wide that ran along the wall half way up. She moved away from the table and turned to follow this line until she came to a symbol. She thought her heart would stop as she held her breath. She kept trying to grab something at her chest over and over, but not knowing why.

She stopped and stood still for a moment focusing on the symbol. No, it couldn’t be, she thought. It was impossible. Impossible! Lisa felt overwhelmed with déjà vu. She stared back at the woman who looked so much like Karen, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was afraid to ask…afraid to know, but she had to.

“Where am I?” She asked desperately.

“Do you not know?”

“Where? Lisa searched the woman’s eyes, as tears formed in her own.
The woman grinned as she slowly walked around the table never taking her almond shaped eyes off Lisa.

“Where?” Lisa pleaded, hating being toyed with like this.

“Atlantis.”

Lisa moved back against the table. Tears streamed down her face. “No, it can’t be.” She wiped her face with her hands. “I’m home. I’m home.”

“You must go back now.”

“Why?” Lisa asked almost hysterically with tears flowing again.

“You cannot stay just yet. It will take time. Your body must adjust to this vibration slowly. You will return when you know it is time. Though it is my opinion that you should never return again… it is my thought that you will. You are as stubborn as she. Possibly more stubborn than he.”

“Who?”

“Then the day will come when you will have to make a decision.”

“A decision. What are you talking about?”

The woman took Lisa by the wrist pulling her. “You must go.”

As they entered the room that held the capsule Lisa stopped. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. “Oh God, that’s incredible.”

The capsule was embedded in a huge quartz pyramid forty feet high, with the apex going right through the center of the domed ceiling. She stood rooted to the spot, not being able to take her eyes off the awesome structure. The woman grabbed hold of Lisa’s upper arm and quickly walked her to the capsule.

“Wait!” Lisa said, as the woman started to close the door. “Do I know you? Have we met before?”

The woman stared coldly saying nothing.

“What’s your name? Asked Lisa.

The woman put her head down, and said softly, “Jenielle.”

“That’s beautiful.” Lisa noted a hint of vulnerability about the woman, but she slammed the door shut before Lisa could say another word.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.3 Part 1

2008-04-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

>"What the hell just happened?” Lisa looked up through the skylights at a sliver of a moon. She felt like her head was both expanding and contracting, and her stomach started to churn. She sat up slowly feeling like her head was not with the rest of her body. She hung on to everything she could as she inched her way to the bathroom.
“Why did I eat those clams?” She said as she walked slowly back to her bed feeling as if she had the worst hangover of her life.

She rested her head on the pillow, and began trying to put this all into some sort of perspective. Was it a dream? Maybe. An out-of-body-experience? A definite possibility. Did the crystal do this? No way!

Where was the crystal? She thrust about looking for it, and found it in the middle of the bed. She held it in her palm and examined it. What was up with this odd shaped piece of Quartz? She wondered if it was something magical as she gazed at the glow around it.

As she was about to place it back on the nightstand, she had a vision. She looked at her hand, but it was a child’s hand. And it was outstretched with palm up waiting for something to be given.

The next thing she saw was another hand over her own. The hand was large with long fingers. Deep wrinkles and creases were embedded in the skin. She felt something between the two hands. As the large hand slowly pulled away, her small hand was left holding the crystal.

“What the hell’s going on now?” She placed the crystal down and rubbed her forehead, wanting the throbbing to stop.

She reached over into the drawer of her nightstand, and pulled out a notebook. Karen had told her to start keeping a journal of her meditative experiences. She could barely write, for she felt so weak.

She leaned over to put the journal away, and her stomach started to churn again. Maybe she had some kind of food poisoning, she thought. She had eaten a whole plate of fried clams for lunch, and they could have been bad. She shivered then smiled when she thought that what had just happened to her could have been a near death experience. After all, the ill-natured woman did tell her she was not ready, and to go back.

She thought about calling Karen, then declined figuring she would scold her meditating with the crystal. Lisa picked up the phone anyway deciding that she didn’t need Karen’s approval for anything she did. Karen wasn’t home, and wouldn’t be home until the next day. Karen’s mother could offer no other information.

“I told you not to meditate with that crystal!”

“Will you keep your voice down?” Lisa retorted, as they were eating lunch at Bob’s Place two days later.

“Maybe it was food poisoning. You should have had the salad anyway. If it wasn’t an out-of-body-experience, then you must have fallen asleep and it was only a dream.”

“It sure as hell didn’t feel like it. But then, what else could it have been? Whatever it was, I know the crystal triggered it. I didn’t think so at first, but after having that vision with the crystal being placed in my hand…”

“Well, you’re not going to meditate with it again, right?”

“Are you kidding? Of course! I have to know what this is about. I have to know.”

“What is it they say…curiosity killed the cat?”

“Speaking of curiosity, where you the night before last when I tried calling you about this?”

“I stayed with a friend.” Karen said with a downward gaze.

“Anyone I…oh, look who just walked in.”

Karen looked over then quickly looked away. She picked up her water glass with hands trembling, and took a large swallow.

Dave came over to Lisa and Karen. A man and woman followed. Dave introduced his new business partner along with the man’s wife. They made some small talk then the hostess came to seat them on the other side of the room.

“Karen, what’s the matter? You seem nervous.”

“Nothing’s the matter. My stomach feels a little queasy, that’s all.”

“Must be that salad you’re eating.” Lisa quipped and then looked toward where Dave was sitting. “I knew they looked familiar, now I think I remember where I’ve seen them before.”

“Who?” Karen repeatedly tapped her fork against her salad bowl.

“Dave’s new partner, Steve. I met him and his wife I don’t know, five, six years ago. It was at a party. She was pregnant and a week overdue, and he was a nervous wreck. He would not leave her side.”

“I’m ordering a glass of wine.” Karen said foully.

“You know, I think Dave gets more handsome as he gets older. I have to admit I miss him. I wish we could have…”

“You wouldn’t be thinking of getting back with him, would you?”

“No. It’s over.” Lisa put her spoon down, and sat back. “What’s going on? You’ve seemed awfully anxious about my getting a divorce. I would have expected you to suggest counseling or something when I first told you. Instead you…”

“Yes, you’re right, and I probably would have.” Karen paused. “There’s something I should tell you. I suppose it’s time. It’s just that she said it was essential that you were out of your relationship before you knew, so you wouldn’t end it because of what I’m about to tell you.”

“Karen, what the hell are you talking about?

Atlantis Rising - CH.2 Part 5

2008-04-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

“I didn’t put him in my novels because he wasn’t good anymore.” A pained feeling came over her. “I haven’t thought about Jeff since high school. God, I blocked him out because he wasn’t good anymore.”

“Okay, now you’re making him sound like he was real.”

“I know this sounds crazy, but somehow he was real to me. He did seem to have a life of his own. Writer’s characters can take on a life of their own, but he was different. He was too real, and he had been with me since I was very young.”

Karen leaned forward looking skeptical. “What do you mean, been with you?”

Embarrassed, Lisa said, “From what I remember I was about four or five when I started making up stories. Jeff was the first character I had created in my mind. As I got older I used to fantasize about Jeff being my boyfriend. There was something about him. Maybe it was those sad blue eyes. He was everything I had ever wanted. I loved him.” Lisa cringed upon saying that.

“Sounds like you had one hell of a fantasy life.” Karen snickered.

“In high school I was still writing about him. Then it seemed like I couldn’t come up with anything new for him. It was as if he was turning on me, rebelling. I couldn’t control him, and I took it personally. It hurt. In my mind I put him aside…blocked him out. Until today.”

Karen shook her head from side to side. “ I don’t know what to say.”

“Writers can have weird imaginations at times.” Lisa said trying to redeem herself. “Think I’m ready for a straitjacket or what?”

“Einstein did say that imagination was greater than knowledge. Didn’t you have a drawing of that character, Jeff, on the wall by your bed? I think it was there when I had first met you. From what I remember the drawing was very life-like, as if an artist had drawn it. I know you were not…”

Lisa stood up abruptly. “I have to go to the ladies room.”
She quickly locked the stall and sat down. She held her stomach and took deep breaths. It had all come back to her. She finally remembered the incident, the one that haunted her. It was the one that happened when she was five years old. She had never told anyone about it.

One day she had decided to draw a picture of Jeff. She had seen him so clearly in her mind. She had her big pad, and her pencil. She tried and tried, and just couldn’t do it. She finally got so upset and frustrated that she threw the pad, and herself down on the floor and cried.

After she had her cry she looked up and saw the room was filled with light. Out of this light a woman stepped forward. She thought that the woman would be very nice, and was not afraid of her. The woman wore a flowing white gown, and her hair was worn up in a Victorian style. Lisa saw that she had the most beautiful blue eyes, and wished her own were blue.

The woman pointed to the pad that was still lying on the floor. Lisa picked it up. The woman moved in back of her, and placed her hand over Lisa’s hand. Together they drew Jeff just as Lisa had seen him in her mind. They turned the drawing over and wrote something on the back, but even now Lisa could not remember what it was they wrote. After that, the woman smiled at her angelically and literally disappeared.

Lisa came back to her seat and told Karen what she had just remembered. “I know I have that drawing somewhere. I think I may have put it in a scrapbook, and it’s likely to be in the big walk-in closet in the upstairs hall. It would probably take me forever to find it, that closet is stuffed, and it would most likely be way in the back. I’ll have to look for it soon.”

Karen checked her watch. “We’ve got to go. I’ve got to pick up Mum.”

It was just as well. Lisa figured the next thing that would be coming out of her mouth was that she was in love with some faceless guy in her dream, and that she kept seeing this Moses like character. Karen probably thought she was crazy as it is. Lisa was starting to wonder about that herself.

Later that night Lisa decided to try the tape again. Her eyes became riveted to the crystal on her nightstand. She picked it up, tempted to meditate with it, but put it down remembering what Karen had said. She lay on the bed and turned on the cassette player. After about a half a minute, she shut the player off and sat up. She picked up the crystal again.

What’s the worst that could happen? She wondered. She didn’t know what Karen was concerned with. What would be the harm in having an out of body experience? She felt she could use some adventure in her life. The last time she felt that way she had tried skydiving, and loved it. She had risked her life, then. This could hardly be worse.

Lisa instinctively placed the crystal between her breasts. She wondered about that, but something told her it was right. The woman’s voice on the tape was soothing, and she relaxed immediately. She reached the point just before falling asleep.

She felt a fluttering in her heart, and she began to shake. She thought an earthquake was happening and jumped up, or thought she did. Everything was spinning around, and she found herself surrounded by millions of tiny points of light.

An electrical sound invaded her head, and a sound as if someone was crinkling cellophane. She was horrified and elated at the same time. She could not open her eyes. She felt like her body was breaking apart into tiny pieces. It didn’t hurt, but felt weird. The electrical sound turned into a low gentle hum. As suddenly as it began, it stopped.

She opened her eyes and found herself standing in a tube-like device that looked to be made entirely of diamonds. Her vision was hazy, but she could see the colors of a rainbow reflecting off her body. A white light pulsated above her head.

“Am I dead?” She asked weakly.
A door about thirty inches wide slid open. Her vision still wasn’t clear, but she could see the outline of a woman standing before her.

“We have expected your arrival,” the woman said in an acidulous tone. Before Lisa could speak, the woman shoved a gold chalice at her. “Drink,” the woman coldly demanded.
Lisa stood dumbfounded trying to figure out if she was dreaming.

“Drink now!”

Lisa slowly took the chalice, brought it to her nose, and sniffed.

“You must drink now. There is no time for foolishness.”

Hesitantly, she drank the small amount of what tasted like water. Immediately, her vision returned to normal. Startled, she held her breath as she looked into the face of a woman who looked identical to Karen, except that she had a Cleopatra-style hairdo with eyes matching her jet-black hair. The woman was wearing a long sleeved pastel blue gown, with a thick silver colored belt.
This is a joke, Lisa thought. Yes, she was dead, and this was the spirit guide from hell!

“We have expected you.”

“Who, me?” Lisa felt giddy, and proceeded to step out.

“Stay where you are. You must stay in the capsule. You are not ready.”

“Ready for what?” She giggled.

“Your physical body is not ready for our rate of vibration. Your vibration is very dense. We are of a higher vibration here. It will take much time for you to adjust to the higher level.”

“What?” Lisa asked, feeling like she was in the middle of a sci-fi movie, only no one had told her the plot.

“You must return to your level now before there is damage. Think of your level.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I…” “The woman slammed the door shut. Lisa figured that the woman meant she should think of her home. “Oh God, I’m not wearing my ruby slippers!”

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH. 2 Part 4

2008-04-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

The next morning Lisa rolled over to press the snooze button when the alarm went off at 8AM. She had set it early to break herself out of the habit of sleeping late. She was sorry she had. The room was dark and dreary. The gloomy clouds hung above her bed through the two skylights, as the rain knocked at the glass. She dozed off, but a clap of thunder reawakened her.

She pulled the blankets up to her neck. She lay there disappointed that she didn’t have the dream…the mystery man in the turquoise robe. “My dream lover.” She whispered. “Yeah, right!”

She dragged herself out of bed, shivering, and threw on her pink quilted robe. She could hear the wind picking up as she turned up the thermostat. “Crazy New England weather.”
As she made coffee she thought of Karen and felt guilty, and then berated herself for feeling that way. The steam from the brew warmed her as she stood in front of the glass sliders in the kitchen. She sipped her coffee and watched the rain pound the deck.

Entranced, she stared into the tiny puddles of liquid wishing her life was, as clear to her as the raindrops. She had gone to bed the night before questioning what she really wanted in her life. She focused on one particular beaded mass of water, and she knew. And she had known all along.

For months she had been visualizing it. Unintentionally. She knew she wanted nothing more than to write a best seller, and to find the love of her life. It had always been there in the back of her mind, something she would only be semi-conscious of. Sometime she would daydream and imagine this, but never realized what she was actually doing. And now she knew, deep down, that it was possible to make these things happen.

She envisioned the robed one. Her desire for him was overwhelming. It was much more than physical. She still didn’t know what he looked like, but her heart and her soul wanted this man. “This is crazy.” She said aloud.

A chill came over her. She looked out into the distance near the shore. “What the hell?” Someone was running along the beach. She picked up the binoculars to see if she was hallucinating. She was not! It was him again, Mr. Moses, clad only in a pair of running shorts.
As far away as he was, he seemed to be looking right at her into the binoculars. The hair on her arms stood straight up. At the same time, the phone rang, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly caught the binoculars before they came crashing down on the floor.

Karen had called to invite Lisa over for breakfast. She accepted, though she figured breakfast would consist of chamomile tea, and rice cakes.

Surprise! Freshly brewed coffee, and steaming blueberry muffins. “Gee, I almost stopped at a drive-thru,” said Lisa.

“Sorry about the coffee thing yesterday. Sometimes I get carried away with wanting people to change the way they eat. I wasn’t in a good mood anyway.”

“What’s wrong? Anything I can do?” Lisa asked, feeling like they were kids again.

“It’s not something I care to discuss. I have to deal with it myself. But thanks, anyway.”

Karen sure did change, Lisa thought. Now, who was the one clamming up when there was a problem?
Lisa sank her teeth into the hot buttered muffin. “How did you make out with the other appointment yesterday afternoon?”

“I’m happy you asked.” Karen had a big smile. The place was much too small. But on the drive home there was roadwork on Elm street, so I had to take a detour down Lansing avenue, and there it was. It’s the place I have been looking for. It’s exactly what I’ve been picturing! I have an appointment at 11:30. Will you come with me? We can go for lunch after. I’m buying.”

“Yeah, sure. You know I have a real good feeling about this. I bet this will be the one.”

“I hope so. I’m dying to get this store going.”

Karen went from joy to disappointment all in a matter of minutes upon arriving at the property. There had been a misunderstanding. The small building was not for rent, but for sale. Though she had some money saved, there was no way she could purchase the building.

“I can’t believe this. It was perfect. Perfect!” Karen roared as she tore a garlic roll in half at Quint’s restaurant. Lisa took a bite of a fried clam, and nodded in agreement.

“Well, I’ll just have to keep visualizing.” Karen said confidently. “Something else will come along, something just like it, or something better. But I still say that place was perfect.” She growled.

“So much for my gut feeling. Usually when I get a feeling that strong it pans out. Who knows? Speaking of visualizing, you said that I should know what I want. I’ve known it all along, but didn’t know it,” she said humorously. “I’ve always wanted to write a bestseller, and I know that sounds silly, because what writer doesn’t? But, I never thought I could, so I never hoped for it. All my novels are so ordinary to me. This time I want to do something so different, really different, but I have no ideas yet. Then,” she hesitated, “I want to find my twin soul.”

“Lisa, I told you…”

“Yeah, I know what you told me, but I don’t completely buy that. Maybe I’ll visualize him into existence. But I feel I need to do the book first anyway. Maybe I should start picturing myself on Good Morning America, being introduced as the best selling novelist, Lisa Burke.” Lisa laughed.

“Yes, that’s what you should be doing.”

“I’ve been visualizing all my life. From the time I was little I knew I wanted to be a writer, and always saw that in my mind. I did the same thing with my Corvette, and the beach house. You’re right, what you focus your energy on can come to you, especially if you desire it bad enough. And yeah, you need to be careful what you focus on. Wow. It always came natural for me, but I’m sure it does for everyone. I always looked at it as daydreaming.”

Karen started to laugh. “That reminds me of something. Remember when our fifth grade teacher Mrs. Davis would come and tap you on the shoulder? I think her exact words were, Miss Bennett, are you with us, or are you daydreaming again? Please keep your feet on the ground where they belong.”

Lisa placed her hand over her mouth trying to subdue her own laughter. “ I never knew what she meant. I would look down at my feet and become very confused. I was probably dreaming up characters for my stories when she’d ask that.”

“Oh yes, your weekly stories that you read to the class every Friday. I remember some of them being very good, and others put the class to sleep. Then you’d make some foolish looking drawing to go with the story.”

“I was trying to be an artist as well as a writer.” Lisa smiled feeling somewhat proud.

Karen continued, “And there was that same character you would put in every story; the little blond boy with the sad blue eyes. The kids would want to know why he was in all the stories when he really had nothing to do with them. You used to say because he was good. I don’t remember what his name was, but you had him growing up as we were growing up. Why didn’t you ever write him into your novels? You look as white as a ghost. Are you all right?"

Karen’s voice sounded so far away, but Lisa had heard every word that was said. Her stomach turned, and she could feel the blood draining from her face.
Lisa held her breath. Karen had said the right word; ghost…a ghost from childhood’s past.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.2 Part 3

2008-03-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

“Oh, the Death card,” Karen smirked. “I wish you could see the look on your face.” The Death card represents what you’re going through right now. It doesn’t mean physical death. It means the death of old ways, an old way of life, old ideas, and the death of your marriage. Didn’t you say you felt like a part of you was dying?”

"Yeah, and the ending of my marriage does feel like a death.”

“That’s right. Look forward to the birth of a new life. The card means change, transformation. Shuffle the deck and pick one card."

Lisa reluctantly obeyed and picked a card called The Magician.

“Great card. The Magician creates. You can create. You can create the life you truly desire.”
Karen checked her watch. “I have an appointment to look at some rental space. It’s not exactly what I had in mind from what the realtor described, but I figured I might as well check it out. I have another appointment later this afternoon, too. Want to come with me now? We can go to lunch after.”

“Sure, as long as you don’t attack me when I order a burger and fries.” Lisa chuckled.

As Karen drove Lisa picked up a book that was lying on the back seat. It was a book on crystals. She thumbed through it and stopped when she caught a word that evoked many emotions. “Atlantis! I haven’t thought about Atlantis in years.”

“I remember how you freaked out when you heard that song called Atlantis, when we were kids.” Karen laughed.

"Yeah, it was by a singer named Donovan. I had never heard of Atlantis until that song. But I knew what he was talking about. I knew.” Lisa let out a sigh. “And I wanted to be there. I felt the sadness, the longing. I felt such a loss. It was as if Atlantis was buried in my psyche…as if there was a part of me that knew Atlantis, and I wanted to be there so bad. Imagine wanting to be in a place that supposedly never existed. Crazy huh?”

“That’s when you thought you had been a princess in a past life. Priestess would have been more like it. But somehow I could not imagine you being a priestess.”

“Thanks a lot.” Lisa began reading some of the contents. “God, Karen, it says here that crystals were used to generate power similar to electricity. It also says that certain ones could be used for thought amplification. The knowledge of this way to create was held sacred, and kept secret from those who would not realize the power, and could use it destructively.”

Lisa’s stomach started to feel funny, and she continued on. “Apparently, the knowledge and use of this crystal energy was abused by those in power, and eventually led to the downfall and final destruction of a once peaceful and harmonious paradise.”

She rubbed her throbbing brow. “This is true! I know this! I don’t know how, but I do. Atlantis did exist. I feel it. I know it. It’s the same feeling I had when we were kids. I lived a lifetime in Atlantis. I’m sure of it.”

“A lot of us did, Lisa. I’m sure I did too. It’s said that the United States is the new Atlantis, and you know what they say about history repeating itself.”

Early that evening Lisa decided to give the tape a try. She was able to relax quickly and easily. She had come to a point where she was nearing sleep when an image started to form in her mind. She became excited when she saw a man in a white robe, with a gold tie around his waist. Expecting to see the one in her dream, she was shocked when she saw what looked to be the face of the man on the beach. Mr. Moses, she decided to call him.

She forced herself to keep focused on him. A deep love and caring emanated from this man, and she found she wanted to stay in his presence. She was about to ask him his name when she jumped up with her heart beating wildly. Someone was knocking at the back door downstairs.

It was Dave, and he wanted to take more clothes. He and Lisa talked. He agreed it was time to end their marriage. She and Dave would part as friends. She wouldn’t have had it any other way. She did not want anything left undone. Believing in reincarnation, she knew if they parted as enemies or left the situation unresolved, they would have to work it out in a future lifetime. She knew that all conflict must be resolved. She once read, never die hating someone…you will be sure to meet them again in the future.

After Dave left, Lisa hesitantly opened the door to the bedroom closet. It was a walk-in closet, and now Dave’s side was empty. Lisa’s heart nearly stopped. Everything was gone. Every shoe, every dress shirt, tie, suit, baseball mitt, coin collection, hat collection…nineteen years. She didn’t see it as more room for her clothes, but as emptiness inside herself.

She pulled out a green sequin dress, and a couple of other cocktail dresses. She had worn these to company parties. Parties that she loathed with all the gossip and phoniness. She left the dresses out to give to Goodwill. She looked in Dave’s dresser…nothing but more emptiness. It finally hit her that it was over. She dropped down on the bed and cried, thinking and feeling that she was so alone. Suddenly she felt a calmness wash over her, and in her minds eye saw Mr. Moses. She distinctly heard the words, “One is never alone.”

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.2 Part 2

2008-03-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Karen nearly spit out the tea she had just taken a sip of. “Maybe she didn’t know he was married.” She said quickly.

“Yeah, she did, Dave told me.”

“I know you said you didn’t love him, but it still must hurt.”

Lisa pulled a napkin out of the holder and began twisting it. “Yeah, it does, but, not because he was with another woman. It’s the lie. No matter how you feel about someone, nobody wants to be lied to.”

“True.” Karen said, eyes looking down.

Lisa almost choked on those last words she herself had said. She felt her whole marriage had been a lie. She figured that the saying was true; what goes around comes around, otherwise known as karma.

Lisa threw the twisted napkin on the table. “Do you believe in soul-mates?”

“You mean in the romantic sense?”

“What else is there?”

“Well, maybe you and I are soul-mates, or you and your parents, or your brother. You and Dave could be, too. It’s not necessarily a romantic thing, although it can be. It can be a very strong connection with another that you may have had many past lives with.”

“Oh,” Lisa said not really understanding.

“Maybe what you’re referring to is twin souls or twin flames. In spirit the soul is actually one unit, and before it started to incarnate, the soul had to split in two, the masculine and the feminine. Everyone has a twin soul. Supposedly there is no love on earth like it. Our twin soul is our true love.”
“Oh God, that sounds so beautiful.” Lisa said relishing the thought.

“If that’s what you’re looking for, forget it. It is very rare for twin souls to incarnate together. From what I’ve learned they may start out together in one life, but then go their own ways for many lifetimes, to gain experience and soul-growth separately. They may come together at the end of a cycle of lifetimes. It’s rare to meet your twin.”

“But what if my twin soul is alive and here somewhere on the planet?”

“Very doubtful. If it happens that you are on earth at the same time he could very well be on the other side of the world as an eight year old, or an eighty year old.”

“Wonderful.” Lisa said, and frowned.

She began thinking about the dream, and drifted off into a little fantasy of the robed one being her true love, face unseen. She felt he had a powerful presence and she knew she had to stop this before she got herself really hooked on someone who wasn’t real. As if she wasn’t already.

“Just the thought of being with someone, making love with someone where you feel so connected on every level…a spiritual connection as well as everything else, something so deep…” Lisa placed her hand to her heart.

“You didn’t have anything like that with Dave?”

“No.” She hesitated. “I didn’t.”

“Come on, not even in the beginning? Dave practically worshiped you. You must have had that, at least for a while anyway.”

Lisa’s eyes filled up. She was sorry she had brought up the subject. All of sudden she felt like guilt was trying to make her confess, she didn’t want to open the can of worms.

“I never had that with Dave… I don’t…because I don’t think I ever really loved him. I loved him in my own way like I do now, but not in the way…I didn’t feel what I knew you were suppose to feel. I never should have married him.”

Karen abruptly got up from the table and placed her cup in the sink, loudly. “Then why did you marry him? Why? How could you? I was the one…”

Karen stopped herself, and Lisa knew why. Lisa also knew why Karen was angry. But Karen didn’t know that Lisa knew about what had happened one night, nearly twenty years before, and the circumstances that evolved from it.

All these years she had held in what she had just admitted about her husband, and she wasn’t sure she felt any better spilling it. She had always sensed that Dave knew. He had to, she thought.

Karen relaxed and sat down again. Why did you do it?”

“I didn’t want to lose him.”

“Lose him…to whom, to what? He loved you. I remember I…never mind. It was a long time ago. We were kids. What did we know? We all do foolish things we end up regretting but seemed right at the time.”

Lisa knew what had happened twenty years before would come out one day, and she would tell Karen she already knew everything. Lisa had given her word to Dave to keep it a secret. If only Dave had not given her an ultimatum their lives may have all been different. But then, Lisa believed there is an underlying cause behind all things, that everything happens for a reason, whether we understand it, or like it, or not.

Karen dropped the subject much to Lisa’s relief. She pulled out the meditation tape and handed it to Lisa. “The tape starts out with a countdown to relax your body. Then there will be about twenty minutes of silence where you can do visualization, or affirmations, or do nothing and see what comes to you. It takes about thirty minutes.

“Sounds easy enough.” Lisa let out a yawn.

“If you are going to use it for visualization you must know what you really want. Do your homework and figure it out. And you must desire it with all your heart. That’s very important. Heartfelt desire is emotion, which is energy that can help manifest what you truly want. And then you must believe. You must believe that what you desire will come to you. And of course it should be of a positive nature. Never visualize for something bad to happen to someone. You’ll only create bad karma. You know, what goes around comes around. “

“I’m well aware of the phrase.”

Karen continued, “Whatever it is that you want, see it in your mind. See yourself having it. Use all your emotion as if it were really happening. Taste it, smell it, and live it in your mind. Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between a real and an imagined event, and it will work to bring you what you desire or what you fear if the emotion is strong enough. Try to do this everyday if you can.”

“Wow! I’m not sure I know what I really want. I’ll have to think about that one. Maybe I’ll use the crystal to meditate with too.”

“No! The crystal must be left alone!”

Lisa shivered, and sat up straight. The voice she had just heard did not sound like Karen’s. For that moment it was as if Karen was someone else.

“Why? You said…”

“I honestly don’t know why. There is something about it. I can’t explain it, and I didn’t mean to sound so dramatic. But don’t use it. Just don’t.”

Lisa said nothing and picked up a deck of tarot cards that had been sitting on the table. She starting shuffling them not really knowing what she was doing. One flew out of the deck and onto the floor. She picked it up and looked at it, then quickly threw it on the table. “Karen, that says ‘Death!”

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - CH.2 Part 1

2008-03-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

As Lisa drove to Karen’s house the next morning all she could think about was the turquoise robed prince. The dream had come again and, of course, as he was about to turn and face her, she had awoken. 5:23 AM. She couldn’t get back to sleep because she couldn’t get him out of her mind. She wanted so much to see his face. She wanted so much to put her arms around him.

The ache in her heart was getting stronger. This was crazy, she told herself as she searched the pocket in her jacket for a tissue. She wiped her eyes and wondered why she was angry in the dream, and why did he give off this emanation of superiority? Who the hell was he? Now she found herself getting angry and she didn’t know why.

There were so many emotions going on inside her, and feelings she had never felt before. She hadn’t thought much about other men. Well maybe a little in the last year or so, since she hadn’t been able to write. As long as she could write she didn’t need a man. She suddenly realized that the writing had just been a mask, that there had been an empty place inside her for so long, and it had taken writers block for her to become aware of it.

Lisa turned on the radio, and then turned it off. The last thing she wanted to hear was a love song. She began thinking about reincarnation, and tried to reject the notion that he was someone she knew from a past life. “Okay Lisa, get real. It’s only a dream,” she mumbled, as she turned off the ignition of the green corvette that matched her eyes.

Karen poured her a cup of herbal tea. Lisa took a sip, “Yuk! This is terrible. How can you drink this? Isn’t there any coffee?”

The phone rang. Lisa noticed Karen didn’t seem to want to answer it. When she did, it was in another room. Lisa wondered who was on the other end. Karen talked in a whispered tone, and then shouted, telling the other party that she was hanging up.

“So when are you going to go for a divorce?” Karen snapped as she walked back into the kitchen. “You are going to get a divorce right?”

Lisa bit the inside of her mouth, and under her breath counted to ten. She looked directly at Karen for a few seconds, and wondered where this was all coming from. “As I told you yesterday, Dave is leaving the option of divorce up to me. But, after yesterday’s mug incident, I know it’s time to end it. So yes, I’m going to divorce Dave.” Lisa let out a long breath, and rested her face in her hands. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I am not used to being up this early.”

“Jesus, Lisa, it’s almost 8:30. I’ve been up since 6AM. I’ve showered, made breakfast, straightened up, and took Mum to work.”

Lisa reached over and patted Karen on the back. The excess weight may have been gone, she thought, but her efficiency and organization were still very much intact.

“Isn’t there any coffee?” Lisa pushed the cup of tea away.

“You shouldn’t drink coffee, that stuff will kill you.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Lisa rolled her eyes, and almost wished Karen was only here for a visit. She hated all this childish bickering.

Karen located some instant in back of the cabinet. A few minutes later Lisa contently took a sip then asked, “What kind of woman goes out with a married man?”

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising CH.1 Part 5

2008-03-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

"Strange? What do you mean?"

“ When I picked it up, I don’t know why but I held the crystal to my chest. I closed my eyes, and I could feel it tingling. Then everything was quiet. I didn’t hear the ocean anymore, the sea gulls, or the wind chimes. I started to feel weightless and tingly. Then I began to see this light in my mind, and there was this strange humming sound. When I felt like I was starting to move, I quickly opened my eyes, and everything was just as it had been. I almost wish I had kept my eyes closed just to see what would have happened. I put the crystal on my nightstand and haven’t touched it since. Oh, and another thing, the crystal has this strange glow about it.”

“ It sounds like you were about to have an out-of-body experience."
" Wonderful,” Lisa said sarcastically. “Out-of-mind experience would be more like it, I think.”

“ What do you mean? That’s fantastic! I should be so lucky,” Karen said, pouting. “Some people try for years to have one, and you started to have one spontaneously. That figures.”

“ That figures? What’s that suppose to mean?” Lisa said defensively upon hearing Karen’s tone of voice.

“ Nothing, never mind. Why don’t you come by the house tomorrow and I’ll give you that meditation tape?”

Later, as they walked back to the house, Lisa joked about throwing the mug into the water, and how ridiculous she must have looked. She recalled how, as a child, she would throw things when she got angry. Then she realized that it was Dave’s mug she had thrown. It was the one she had bought him when they were on their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. She mentioned this to Karen, who said nothing until they walked into the kitchen.

“ I take it you don’t normally drink out of that mug right?”

Lisa opened the cabinet and pulled out a mug with pink roses on it. “This is my favorite one. I use it every day. Why?”

“ Why did you use Dave’s today?”

Lisa poured herself some coffee. “I don’t know. I probably wasn’t paying attention and grabbed the first one. Why?”

“ Well, this may sound silly but...it’s very symbolic, don’t you think?”

Lisa shrugged, and shook her head. “I guess I’m a little slow here. What do you mean?”

“ Symbolism in a coffee mug. Think about it.”

She did. Karen’s words cut right through her. Lisa knew her marriage was over. It was time to end it and start a new life. Scary thought. Exciting, too. What did she want? What could she visualize?

“Don’t forget to come by tomorrow for the tape,” Karen said on her way out later that morning. “Once you get used to the tape, try meditating with a crystal. Crystals are amplifiers of energy. You can use one to visualize. Oh, let me see the one you found.”

Lisa rushed upstairs to get it from her nightstand. As she was coming back down she had a flash of the man in the dream she’d been having. Feelings of sadness and longing came over her. She may never know who he was. Frustrated, she had to remind herself it was only a dream.“ Here it is.” She held it in her outstretched hand. Karen’s eyes widened, and she took a step back.
“What’s the matter?”

“ Nothing. I don’t know. The shape, like you said, a half of a crystal ball. I could swear I’ve seen something like it before. But for the life of me I can’t imagine where. And it doesn’t glow, Lisa,” she snickered.

"Can’t you see it? It’s subtle, but it’s visible.”

“ Have another cup of coffee, Lisa.”

Later that afternoon, Lisa took a walk on the deserted beach. She smiled radiantly. She hadn’t felt this good in months. She enjoyed the beautiful and unusually warm April day. She felt a new freedom bursting forth inside herself. Life would be different now, she just knew it. She felt in heaven standing by the ocean, and loved feeling the moist salt air against her face. She began thinking about Karen, and suddenly all those wonderful feelings dissipated. She couldn’t shake the funny feeling she had about Karen’s return.

She walked over to her favorite place on the beach, the rocks on the East Side. She climbed up about eight feet into the small cave-like nook that blocked out the wind. She positioned herself comfortably, let out a breath, and began to focus on her life. All of a sudden a man, a strange looking man, who seemed to come out of nowhere, caught her attention. He was about thirty feet away near the water, and was doing a slow jog. He had a full head of gray hair, and a beard to match. From what she could see, his face looked old and weathered, but he had the body of a young athlete. He was wearing only a pair of running shorts. Still too cold for that, she thought.When he ran his whole being seem to flow. His motions were fluid, and like the crystal, he had a subtle glow about him.

“What am I, able to see auras now?” He waved to her. She waved back, dumbfounded. Then he disappeared around the rocks. She quickly made her way down to see where he was heading. There was no sign of him, and there was no where else he could have gone that quick.It would have been no big deal, except there was something familiar about him. He looked like something out of the Bible. Moses perhaps? No. It was something else.She was no stranger to witnessing unusual occurrences although she was always told it was her imagination. She used to think there was something wrong with her. That nagging thought still existed. But she knew she couldn’t have imagined seeing a ghostly figure in her aunt’s attic when she was a child. Then there was that other thing. It happened when she five years old. As hard as she tried she could not remember, but the feeling of it, though not a bad feeling, still haunted her.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising CH.1 Part 4

2008-03-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

They took their drinks, and proceeded in silence down to the beach. For the first time in her life Lisa felt uneasy around Karen. As they walked down a narrow path, Lisa was a few steps behind her. This gave her a chance to eye Karen's slim figure. She really was happy for Karen. But Karen's attitude towards her had changed. Lisa didn't like the negative vibes she was picking up. But then, maybe it her imagination, like Karen used to tell her when she thought Karen was mad at her.
" Breathe in that Cape Cod air." Karen took a deep breath. "It's a far cry from L.A."
" Speaking of L.A., what made you decide to move back after all these years?"
" Well, I've left nursing."
" Somehow that does not surprise me. I remember how your father pushed you into that. So what are your plans?"
" Well," she teased with a big smile, "I'm going to do something I've always wanted to do. I'm going to open up a bookstore."
" That's great! I remember you used to talk about that in high school."
" Well it's not just any bookstore. It's a New Age bookstore. There will be inspirational books, mind power books, alternative medicine, meditation, reincarnation..."
" Reincarnation? I've always believed in that. I bought a couple of books on it a few months ago, after I saw a past-life regression on TV. Remember we used to talk about that stuff when we were kids? I used to say I had been a princess which for some reason would make you mad, and you'd say you had been Cleopatra. The whole concept has always made sense to me. Why did you decide on that type of store?"
" I was going through a bad time. I was still angry about my divorce. Then I was going from man to man looking for something.. .peace of mind, maybe. And even though dad was dead I was still harboring a lot of anger toward him. I finally got my butt into therapy and from there joined a meditation group. I learned a lot about loving yourself. I'm still working on that."
"From what I've read everyone needs to work on that." Lisa took a sip of the luke- warm coffee.
" True. Meditation, visualization, therapy, all these things helped me. I feel they can help others too. But of all the things I've learned I find mind power the most fascinating. A lot of people would deny it, but we create our life by what we think and believe. Thoughts really are things. They're energy, and what a person continually focuses on, whether they're aware of it or not, can manifest in their reality, good or bad. You can use visualization to help create the life you want."
" Sounds great. Where do I sign up? Because life has been the pits lately. And I am totally miserable if I can't write." Lisa gulped down the rest of her coffee. They found a spot to sit in the cold sand.
" Never mind the writing. What about Dave? What happened?"
Lisa figured she should get it over with. "Dave had been cheating on me for months. It's funny but in way it's almost a blessing, I guess. We've been existing together for years. He's away on business a lot, and I have my own life. Many times I planned to tell him I wanted a separation, but I didn't know if I would be making a mistake. I'm still not sure. I needed to think things out so I asked him to leave after this."
" I'm sorry."Lisa wondered if Karen really was. A few minutes passed. Neither of them spoke. She wondered if she and Dave could still work things out, even though she had spent nineteen years in a marriage she wasn't happy in, but just conditioned to it.She blamed herself. She knew she never should have married him. But she had made a commitment, and swore she would keep to it, no matter what she felt, or didn't feel.
" Do you still love him?" Karen asked.Lisa started digging a hole in the sand wishing she could shrink and jump into it. She felt hot all of a sudden, and wiped her brow with her arm. "No. But I do care about him. I always have. I always will."
" So you are going to get a divorce, right?"
"I don't know...I'm not sure. Dave said it was up to me. Maybe we still can..."
" But what do you want?"
Lisa stood up, frustrated, hands waving in the air. "I don't know! I don't know what the hell I want. I feel empty and confused, and I feel like a failure. I mean, I made a commitment and I let him down by not being what I was suppose to be, whatever the hell that was. I don't even know why I feel that way. I feel so guilty to think about ending it. I feel like I'd be making a mistake, that it would be the wrong decision. And I can't stand the thought of becoming another statistic. What are my parents going to say? They love Dave."
" Whoa. Wait a minute. I don't believe what I'm hearing. You of all people always knew what you wanted, and always did what you wanted, you only followed the crowd if it was something you thought was worth doing. You never gave a damn what others thought, not even your parents, who unlike mine always respected you for having a mind of your own. This does not sound like you."
" God, I don't even know myself anymore," she whispered with a lump in her throat.Karen put an arm around her. Lisa felt so needy, and she hated it.
"The only joy I have had in my life in the last few years was my dog, and my writing. I feel like a part of me is dying." She could barely get that out, she was so choked up.
" It's okay to cry."Lisa did just that, uncontrollably. She then jumped up, ran to the water, flung the mug into the ocean, and cried more. Years of holding back the hurt, the anger--the dam at last had burst. According to Karen, Lisa was releasing, and that it was a process of life.
" That felt so good. It felt so good to really cry, to let it all out. I can't remember the last time I've done that. Usually I put on Beethoven's Fifth or Ninth and jump on the treadmill. Then I settle back with Pachelbel's Canon. Music always helps me, but this time..."
" Meditation helps, too."
" I know. It's one of those things I've been meaning to try, but..."
" You can use it to relax, to get in touch with yourself, and you can use it for visualization. I have a basic meditation tape you can use. Don't laugh, but sometimes I even use crystals to---" Crystals? Quartz crystals?"
" Uh huh. I plan on selling them at the store. What's the matter? The look on your face..."
" I found one. About a month ago. Right over there." She pointed to the right a few feet away, near the shoreline. "It's an odd shape. It looks like, well, it's dome-shaped, and it looks like one half of a crystal ball." Chuckling, she added, "It's makes me wonder what happened to the other half. But something strange happened with it."

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising CH.1 Part 3

2008-03-04T10:55:00.001-08:00

" My God Karen, what did you do?"

" I found a new way of life, and lost seventy-five pounds."

" You look absolutely beautiful." She wiped a tear and hugged her best friend, truly happy to see her. "I hope you're staying in town for awhile."

" Oh Ill be staying for a long while. I've moved back. I'm staying at my mother's."

" That's great!" Lisa said, feeling somewhat apprehensive.

She knew she could be pretty intuitive at times, and she was feeling Karen's return was going to create a whole new chapter in their lives, especially her own.They moved to the kitchen, and Karen sat down while Lisa got the coffee going. Lisa noticed Karen had a bandage on her left pinkie finger. That brought to mind how they first met. They were both eight years old, it was summer, and Karen's family had just moved from Rhode Island to Cape Cod.Karen had watched Lisa walk by everyday to go to the little variety store at the end of the block. Too shy to speak, Karen came up with another strategy. She showed up one day on Lisa's doorstep with a beautiful gray kitten in tow. Lose a kitten, make a friend. Lisa had felt honored until she found out there were four more that needed homes. Karen was no dummy.Two weeks later and heartbroken, Lisa had to say goodbye to "Charcoal" because her older brother Kevin was allergic. In those two weeks Lisa and Karen had become inseparable. With an innate knowing that this was for life, they pricked their fingers and became blood sisters.

" So you and Dave split," Karen said dryly. "Where is he now?"

Of course she would want to know about Dave, Lisa thought. "Let's wait until the coffee's ready, then we can walk down to the beach and talk. The weather's been so nice."

" Umm, okay, but do you have any juice? I don't drink coffee anymore."

"What?" Karen related to her that she was into health and wellness. Lisa was stunned. Here she was planning for them to drown her sorrows that evening in beer and pizza. She could not believe she had lost her partner in junk food crime. No more would they be downing burgers and Ring Dings. No more endless cups of coffee and beer binges. Now it was herbal tea and carrot juice, raw veggies and nuts. Nuts? That's how she felt listening to Karen, believing some alien must be inhabiting her now-slim body. Suddenly, she longed for the old days.

" You'll never guess who I saw yesterday."

Lisa shrugged. "Who?"

" Jimmy Rogers, from high school. The one I asked to the junior prom. Remember him?"

Lisa leaned back against the counter, and frowned. She remembered being crazy about Jimmy Rogers for months and had planned to ask him to the prom herself, only Karen had beat her to it.

"Yeah, I remember him. He was a nice boy."

" Well that boy turned into a "nice" man. He said to say hi. Didn't you have a crush on him?" Karen smirked.

"Yes, I did." She pulled a mug out of the cabinet thinking about the issue. She hadn't stayed angry at Karen for very long. She couldn't. She had felt sorry for her because she had such low self-esteem, and no other friends, especially boyfriends.The prom issue was nothing compared to what had happened three years after that, Lisa thought. The thing Lisa wasn't supposed to ever know about, even now. It should have destroyed their friendship but Lisa believed in forgiveness, and she loved Karen like a sister. Besides, that was almost 20 years ago. They were just nineteen and people do change, Lisa affirmed, with a funny feeling in her stomach.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - Ch.1 Part 2

2008-02-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

" What do you mean?" Lisa dreaded the thought of spilling her guts.

" You haven't changed a bit," Karen said sarcastically. "Still claming up when you have a problem. But thinking back on it I don't believe you've ever had a problem in your life anyway.

"Lisa held the phone an arms length away for a few seconds, and wondered what was up with Karen's attitude, since Karen had never talked this way to her before. She longed for a cup of coffee.

" Well, what's going on Lisa?"

She rubbed her forehead. "Oh, I don't know. I.. .I've had writers block for so long, and I hate saying that, it sounds so stupid. My parents finally moved to Florida after driving me crazy for months debating whether or not they should go." She hesitated, and blinked back the tears.. "Then I had to put my dog, Biscuit, to sleep and now, well, Dave and I recently separated. So I guess it's..."

" If things are that bad, I'll be right over."

" What?"Forgetting about the dream, Lisa jumped out of bed and scrambled for her clothes. She threw on the jeans she had worn the day before. She shook her head in disgust when she remembered she couldn't button them, due to the six pounds she had gained, probably from eating too much chocolate. She untangled her purple sweatshirt, and quickly pulled it over her head as she ran to the bathroom.She threw her half-brushed golden mane into a ponytail, and splashed cold water on her face. Downstairs, she picked up some books and magazines that had been lying around for days, and threw them in a corner. She ran a finger across the glass coffee table and grimaced as she rubbed the dust particles between her fingers then watched them drop to the cream-colored carpet.

In the kitchen, she scooped up the half dozen or so M&M'S left in the candy dish and shoved them in her mouth. The dishwasher quickly disposed of the dishes that had been sitting in the sink from the day before.She was filling the coffeepot with water when she heard the knock at the side door. She put the pot down slowly as her stomach knotted up. She didn't like this one bit. She had always been so together, decisive, and strong. She had always been the rock, listening to all of Karen's problems growing up, and helping her as much as she could. Now she was falling apart and hated the idea of having a witness.She took a deep breath to get her bearings. The knock came again and, quickly, another. "Geesh, no patience," she mumbled, then opened the door." Karen?" Lisa stood frozen to the spot, not believing her own eyes.

"Yes, it is I." Karen stepped in passed Lisa, and began prancing and twirling like a model. Karen's body was adorned by a pair of tight jeans, and a light peach, waist-length sweater. Her once long, stringy brown hair was now shoulder length and permed with a light touch of bangs. Her glasses were gone, so was her humped nose. Her blue eyes couldn't have looked more beautiful, Lisa thought.

"My God Karen, what did you do?"

copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising - Ch.1 Part 1

2008-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Cape Cod 1996

Again, she could see only the back of him. The long turquoise robe belted with a fine gold tie, the blonde shoulder-length hair, and his tall slim stature. She kept screaming at him, "Turn around, turn to me!"She could feel his arrogance, his ego in full bloom, as she eyed him up and down, all six feet of him. Again she made her demand. She longed to see his face, the face that belonged to a man that roused the womanly flame inside her.

As he was about to turn and grace her with his magnificence, she abruptly awoke." Damn it! Not again!"She half opened one eye and checked the time: 7:23 AM. She let out a deep breath and moaned. Four hours sleep was not enough. She turned over on her stomach, hugged the pillow, and began thinking about the dream.It had started about a month before, ever since she asked Dave, her husband of nineteen years, to leave.

The dream always left her with an ache in her heart. She could see the robed one clearly in her mind. She wanted so much to stroke his sunlit hair. There was so mething about the strands of shimmering silky light that beckoned her touch.Tears filled her eyes as she recalled standing behind him feeling his highly charged aura. A faint scent of vanilla permeated the air around him, making her breath deeper. She wanted to inhale his breath with him, take his essence into herself.The robe he wore seemed natural, as if he was from another time. Whoever he was, she knew she loved him deeply. But how could a dream, something beyond reality, bring up such intense emotion? How could she be in love with someone. ..she had never seen? Someone that wasn't even real? Yet a voice inside whispered to her that he was very real.

Her petite body jerked when the phone began to ring. She wondered why the answering machine wasn't picking up, then remembered it hadn't been working--like her life. As she reached for the phone her hand brushed against the quartz crystal she had found on the beach the day after Dave left. She shivered, remembering what had happened when she first held it.She had barely uttered hello when a deafening voice sang, "It's time to wake up! It's time to wake up!"Little did Lisa Burke know those words were soon to be taken more than literally.The voice sounded familiar to her but, still being in the alpha state, Lisa's left brain failed her.

"Who is this?"Still singing, the voice quoted Emerson, It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

" Karen! It is so good to hear from you," Lisa said, half lying. Guilt befell her, as she hadn't been in touch with her childhood friend for almost two years.

"Sure it is," Karen said snidely. "I haven't heard from you since your last book came out. Don't you ever answer your telephone? And why haven't you returned my calls? I've left at least a dozen messages in the last three months."

" I know, I know. I'm sorry." Lisa rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. She felt she didn't need this first thing in the morning, especially with so little sleep. But in a way she was glad Karen caught her. It had been too long.

" So what's wrong?" Karen asked.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore

Atlantis Rising Prologue: Atlantis - 10,000 BC

2008-01-26T16:05:00.000-08:00

'You must not bring Hollina back! You know as well as I that one cannot impose their will over another. You are a High Priest. You know it is against the laws."
Jenielle held her hand tightly around Sylor's wrist. Her fingers pressed deep into the turquoise material he wore. Sylor's grip tightened around the crystal he held in his hand. The crystal that would bring his beloved Hollina back to him.

"I will bring her back. She belongs with me!"

"Then why did she choose death? Why did she choose to end her own life by going to the transition chamber?"

Sylor looked toward the ocean and watched a sea gull perched on a rock. A sudden gust blew his long golden locks away from his face, exposing his chiseled features. He closed his eyes and took a breath. He knew he could have stopped Hollina. He knew she had wanted him to stop her, but his pride would not allow it. Not until it was too late.

"Hollina erred. Her mind will change upon her return."

"You selfish fool. The woman you summon will not be Hollina. You cannot reach your hand into the future and bring back the same woman. She will be different."

'Yes, she will be different. A different face, a different name. Only her soul is the same. Her soul is my soul, fused in spirit, only to be separated by two embodiments. One day, when you find the other half of yourself, you will understand."

It may not work. She may not be able to return."

I know that is your wish. I know your true feelings toward your sister, and you should be ashamed. Hollina will return. Do you not remember she mastered teleportation? If I recall you made every effort to deter her from that ability. Because you were not at her level, you proceeded to hold her back. And you will agree one has no control over Hollina."

Yes, one does not. Not even you." Jenielle smirked and released her hold on his wrist.She looked into Sylor's eyes. The threat that emanated from them did not compel her to look away.

She moved in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She kept her eyes locked with his, while her hands leisurely wandered up the sides of his neck. She moved in closer, and brushed herself against him.He swiftly removed her hands, and pushed her away. She purposely fell to the ground and feigned injury. Sylor tried to stir up compassion for Hollina's sister. That's what Hollina would have wanted. But Jenielle's drama left him cold." I am losing patience. I know what it is you desire, and you will not have it. Not now, not ever! Go now and begin preparing for Hollina's return."

" She may not desire to return. She may not even know who you are. Or she may, and wish she did not, remembering the pain you have inflicted upon her, remembering what you have become," Jenielle said sharply as she picked herself up.

" Once the crystal is in her possession she will remember our love, and she will speak of this."

" Ha! You may not like what she speaks of."

" Long ago when our soul split in two, Hollina and I made a promise to always find each other if either of us were to become lost. It is the promise all twin souls make to each other. By becoming lost we must work through many experiences, and move toward becoming one soul with no embodiment to limit us. We must come together to blend, to merge, and be joined in unity with our one source. I will always keep my promise to her, as she would to me."

" You speak of promise, you speak of love. But inside you hold much anger, and little forgiveness. It is not up to you to bring her back. She left for a reason, you know this! You must wait for a future incarnation to reunite. Until then, I can take her place."

" No one will take her place! And I will not wait! She knows where she belongs. When she returns she will stay by my side, and live by my word."

" You are losing your knowledge of the laws. What you do is wrong, and it will have repercussions. Hollina was correct regarding the ideas of the north. Their controlling ways have influenced you. You are not the same. You are a fool!"

" And are you not a fool? Are your desires not wrong? You, too, are forgetting the laws. Your sister loved you, but what you desire for yourself..."

Anxiety colored Jenielle's face. "You will not reveal this upon her return?"

" For Hollina's sake, I am grateful your intentions were shielded from her. No, I will not reveal your desire. I promised that I would not. I do not break promises. Go now and prepare."

Jenielle moved closer to him, keeping her eye on the hand that held the crystal. He held onto it tightly, knowing it was his lifeline to Hollina." Do not fight me! My mind, my heart, and the crystal will bring her back. My eye sees it clearly, and my will is strong. When her feelings surface, the connection will be made. Her desire will be most powerful. Nothing will hold her back."Jenielle slowly circled him, keeping eye contact. One side of Sylor's mouth curled up slightly. She stopped, and again eyed the crystal. She mimicked his expression, then quickly proceeded up the hill to the temple. Sylor watched her. He felt pity for her, but not as much as he knew he should.

He turned to the ocean and for a moment watched the lone sea gull still sitting upon the rock. He closed his eyes and envisioned himself holding Hollina in his arms again." This time she will not leave me," he whispered into the wind.He walked toward the water and stood where there was a distinct line between the wet and dry earth. He moved a few steps forward. Water rushed through his sandals, though he paid no notice.He looked intensely at the orange orb suspended perfectly in the blue that matched his eyes.

He majestically held the dome-shaped crystal up to it. The crystal that had once brought joy, then heartache.It was the crystal he had given Hollina when they were children. It was one half of a crystal ball that contained the essence of his love, his heart, his entire being. She had left it behind when she chose to end her life.Tucked away in his room at the temple was the other half, the one Hollina had given him which contained her essence it was the only thing he had left of her.His eyes watered, the core of his pain clearly etched in his face. He would now give himself to her again.

He brought the crystal to his chest and affirmed in the deepest part of his soul that it would bring her back. It must! For what we hold in our mind and heart, with clear intent, must come to pass.Though he knew his actions were wrong, a higher part of his being knew it could only happen if agreed upon by both parties. Everything fit! He touched the gold pendant that hung at his chest. Was he still worthy of wearing it?He leaned back and eyed the horizon. 'Come back to me Hollina!" he screamed as he thrust the crystal high into the air to plunge it deep within the ocean, where another of nature's miracles would take over. Playing its part, the dolphin grasped the crystal in its mouth, and vanished into the hole in Time.

Copyright 2000 Corbitt Taylore