Asunder Chapter 13

Chapter 3.3 (13)

The Woman

Valley Of Dreams

“I miss Papa. I miss his beard, his soothing voice, his high-pitched laugh. I hope he is alive out there looking for me.” Journal of Jane Rose - Entry 112

- Present Day -

- The year 2296 -

The moon rays spilled onto the expanse before her—converting the dunes and brushland beyond to a deep bluish-purple hue. The tips of the dunes peaked with bright white light, echoing their reprieve from the hot desert sun. As she scoured the advance, taking in the details of her surroundings, she could feel the cool desert winds whip at her unbound hair. The clouds passed slowly overhead like a thousand wings whisked them off to their new destination. Bringing the much-needed shade to the dwellers of this valley come morning time.

Majestic mountains dotted the horizon and jutted their purple pinnacles into the sky like the jagged teeth of a lion. Each formation was scarred by eons of erosion, creating beautiful intervals of streaks like those along a fish's scales. The range's ridges stretched in every direction, blending into the horizon and making the valley appear as a tremendous sand-filled basin.

The sand flowed through the valley like turbulent waves, frozen in place. Enormous heaps of sand piled high into the sky. After some time, Jane realized she stood upon one of the great heaps of sand—the massive dune. The fatigue of her journey pressed into her bones. But what of her trip? She could not recall her voyage to this place. Though she felt the expedition’s imprint of pains in her joints, as well as scrapes and bruises across her shins, she had no recollection of the route taken. The cold wind felt heavier once this realization came upon her. Panic began to settle. Where did her memory go?

Her eyelids felt heavy, and the earth pressed into her heels like the planet focused all of its gravity on this one spot bearing into her body. She arduously lifted an arm to shift her cloak falling from her shoulder. Her shoulders ached and strained with each movement. She felt like she was using all her energy just to keep herself standing in this very spot.

She peered along the dark horizon, searching for an answer as to why she found herself in this beautiful wasteland. Then, unexpectedly, one of the moonlit dunes before her began to flash and glow intermittently. Entirely different from the other dunes, which stood still in the night. Intrigued by the asymmetry of the pattern, she held her gaze. The light felt as though it was communicating with her. It sleepily danced into her mind, sparking remembrance—a nostalgic sense. On the verge of Déjà vu. Not of her journey, though. But of her father.

The memory sprung forth into her mind’s eye.

She was sitting next to the fire late one evening. Her father worked at his table along the wall beside it. He had turned and looked down upon her and cupped his hands around her cheeks.

“Alright, my love. We finished it. Did you do your reading like I asked?”

“Yes, papa.” She responded.

“Good… now what makes the letter ‘A’?”

She shuffled her feet along the floor, peering out the window at the rising quarter moon, squinting her eyes, bearing her upper teeth, deep in thought.

“Dot dash!!” She blurted out excitedly as the answer appeared in her mind.

“Wonderful!” Her father cheered with glee. He grabbed the Morse codebook from the shelf.

“Now, my little bird, as I told you before, this alphabet is a glorious tool we can use to communicate silently across long distances. If we ever get separated, we can still speak to each other.”

He turned back to the flash box he had been working on and pointed it toward her for her to see. He slid a small wooden panel from the front of the box, revealing a candle.

“Do you know how far the human eye can see a small light like this at night, my love?”

She shook her head “no” with her jaw hanging loose as a child does when confused.

“About a mile and a half!” He said excitedly. “Isn’t that wonderful!?” He stared at her wondering eyes and then chuckled and furrowed her hair with his large palm, then turned back to his table, setting the flash box before him. “Now we must think of the first message we will send each other…” He scratched his head in thought.

“Be a good one.” She stumbled out. It was all she could think of.

“Be a good one?” He asked, looking at her puzzled.

“It’s what you always tell me when I’m running out the door.”

“Hmm… I like it.” He responded in a satisfied tone.

“And you respond with…” He waited in anticipation for the answer.

”Always,” she grinned.

“Exactly!” He placed his fists on his hips and leaned toward her with a smile. “So that’s what it will be. Our starting message will forever be those two phrases.”

He held out his hand for a handshake. Little Jane reached for it, and both firmly stated in unison, “Deal.”

He turned back toward the flash box and began practicing the signal. She stared at the light emanating from the box, broken by intermittent rapid closings of the door and opening, creating dots and dashes.

She broke from the memory. The light still flickered before her in the distance. With its flicker, she noted a light blinking from within her as well. She looked down at the stone necklace her husband had made for her. It was glowing immensely at the same intervals. Both of their intervals were all too familiar. The pattern slowly emerged, and she could see it now.

Dash dash dash stop- “O.” Dash dash dash stop- “O.” Dash dot dot stop- “D.” Dash dash dash stop- “O.” Dash dot stop- “N.” Dot stop- “E.” Then a long pause. The message began again. Dash dot dot dot stop- “B.” Dot stop- “E.” Dot dash stop- “A.” Dash dash dot stop- “G.” Dash dash dash stop- “O.” Dash dash dash stop- “O.”

The message appeared to be repeating from when it first caught her attention. Someone was signaling, whether to her or someone else. She began to put the message together.

OODONEBEAGOODONEBEAG.

It couldn’t be? She thought.

BE A GOOD ONE.

She scrambled to find her flashlight. Perspiration began to trickle down her brow. She fumbled around her belt until she secured the flashlight in her hand. She pointed it to the ground and clicked the power button. No light came forth. She swore under her breath and looked into the distance. The blinking light had stopped. Her heart pounded in her ears. She needed the flashlight to work. She began slapping the flashlight into the palm of her opposite hand, muttering, “Please, oh please work!”

The light suddenly flickered on. Jane yipped for joy and then quickly composed herself and pointed the flashlight into the distance, pulling from the reaches of her mind the specific response. She clicked the button on and off to ensure the light would come back on. Luckily, it behaved normally, so she started to answer.

Dot dash stop -“A.” Dot dash dot dot stop- “L.” Dot dash dash stop- “W.” Dot dash stop- “A.” Dash dot dash dash stop- “Y.” Dot dot dot stop- “S.”

She paused and prayed under her breath, which fogged around her now as the night grew cooler. Then suddenly, the light in the distance returned flashing rapidly, meaning it accepted her response. She quickly set her pace toward the distant dune. He couldn’t be far. He was clearly within the 1.5-mile distance he taught her.

To help keep the proper course, she intermittently flashed her light on and was met with a mirrored response. The light In the distance grew larger with each minute. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her abdomen pulled at her lower back muscles, slowing her pace to avoid the pains that came with growing a fetus. She trundled down the slope of the dune. Her feet sank into the sand, trying to avoid the stumbles guaranteed to befall her. After reaching the trough between her dune and the next, she lost sight of the flashing light, as well as the surrounding mountains she had been using as landmarks.

The dune she had just descended was not nearly as ominous as the mountain of sand rising before her. She lifted her right boot and pressed into the inclined sand at the base of the looming hill. Her thigh burned, and the fatigue bore straight to her bone.

Where did this fatigue come from? Why was her memory of recent events so hazy? How did she end up in this forsaken place?

She lifted her left leg and, with all of her energy and strength, began to ascend. Each step required a focus and determination beyond anything she had experienced in a very long time. Her reserves dwindled quickly, and she felt like she was running on fumes. She pressed forward, but her resolve began to crumble like the sand beneath her feet. She felt like a salmon swimming upstream. Every step propelled her slightly further, but only inches compared to the astonishing effort used to accomplish the endeavor.

She had only traversed a mere forty feet compared to the 150 more ahead to the dune's peak. Stumbling to her knees, she wiped the tears around her cheeks. She so severely missed her family, especially her husband’s bright smile, the sound of her brother’s laugh, and the smell of her father’s shirts. She wished so badly to be over the dune and at the source of the light—to know who was there, waiting for. Only a few people in their community, let alone their family, knew of her and her father’s code phrase.

She had no strength left and suddenly collapsed into the sand below. Her mouth strained for moisture, and her head pounded. She struggled to keep her eyes open. How had she become so fatigued? What force was working against her?

She felt as though she were in a dream, working with all of her might to move through a fuzzy, thick atmosphere. Her arms were like lead weights, digging further into the sand. Then, unexpectedly, she felt her body heaved up with might and energy. Not of her own, though. An arm slipped under her shoulder and knees. It grasped her tightly and pulled her into a cradled position. She strained to look up and see who or what had caught her. Her eyes fell to the ground, and there, half buried in the sand, was an all too familiar flash-box.

“Hello, little one.” A voice, quiet and calming, rang through her mind.

A familiar voice. A voice Jane had not heard in many years. The voice had not transcended her ears but instead her mind. Like the voices of the animals, she communicated with.

“It’s been so long, my love, and boy, how you’ve grown.” The voice echoed.

A surge of energy whelmed within her, and she lifted her head. She gazed into his bright green eyes. His beard appeared much fuller than she had remembered, streaked with white and gray. Crow’s feet lined the corners of his eyes, and smiled wider than his lips, just as they always had. His shirt smelled familiar—a deep, soapy fragrance. It was her papa. She struggled to expel a word from her mouth, any word, but her lack of strength preceded her.

Looking down at her without moving his lips, she heard his voice ring again in her mind. “It's okay, baby girl, don’t push yourself. It's time to rest. You have a long journey ahead of you.”

He shifted his weight from his knees to his feet, and they began to ascend the dune. Jane bobbed up and down, taking every second she could get with him.

How did he survive?

She thought he had been dead all these years. Her mind raced, going over every scenario in her head of the day when the machines came and ravaged her home.

Had they captured him instead? If so, how did he escape? How did he end up here? How did she end up here? Where was “here”?

“I know you have so many questions, my love, and I will answer as much as possible. We don’t have much time. You will wake in a few hours, so we must reach our destination quickly.”

Wake in a few hours?

Where are we going?

She was still in a great deal of pain, and her mind felt foggy.

“Where have you… ’cough’… been?” She managed to croak out in a whisper.

“Oh my. Hmmm. Well… let’s see…” He shifted her weight in his arms, grunting in her mind.

“Well, you see, my love, this is all fairly new to me as well.” He hesitated.

“What happened to you that day, Papa? Did they take you?” She asked, not waiting for a response to her previous question.

“Yeah, baby, they did.” A stone-cold look crossed his face. All life drained from his skin as he appeared lost in a memory. Then, suddenly, he shifted his thoughts back to the current situation, and a smile crossed his face again.

“You look so much like your grandmother. I can’t believe how much you’ve grown. I’ve missed so much through the years, haven’t I?” He spoke remorsefully.

Her voice became more substantial. “Papa, where have you been? How did you get away?” She repeated.

“I didn’t, baby. Well, I did, but not how you think I would have. You really don’t know where we are right now, do you?”

“Papa, what is going on? Why don’t I remember getting here?” She felt so confused.

“It’s a dream baby. We’re in a dream.” He said calmly.

Tears started to spill down her cheeks. Her hope shattered.

“You’re not real, you’re not real…” she muttered in between her sobs, unable to look at him now.

“Oh, honey, I’m real.” He said firmly. A passion appeared to grow inside him, now realizing he needed to be honest about the weight of the situation, as he did not want her to wake.

“My body is dead, honey, but my spirit is alive. This body, right now, is me, baby, I promise.” He spoke with encouragement.

“But it's a dream.” She continued to sob.

“Janey, you listen to me and listen good.” His voice was empowered but gentle.

“Something special is growing inside you, more important than ever imagined. The child is a dreamer, and while you are growing this child inside you, her abilities also flow through you. This is why you are dreaming like this. Like you dreamed with Elijah, doesn’t this feel different from other dreams? Doesn’t this feel real?”

She stuttered, wiping her tears on his shirt. She remembered dreaming with Elijah. He was able, at times, to bring her into his dreams. He often did it to console her. To allow her to see those beyond the grave.

Her father’s embrace was solid and comforting. It had felt real. Her body ached beyond measure, and her throat burned with thirst. She could feel the warmth of her father’s body and the cool air blowing on her face. This occasion was very different from any dream she had ever experienced.

“I remember being in a place like this once with Elijah. I saw others. This place is a dream… but it’s real?”

“Yes! Exactly. This world is a place where souls can communicate. Where the divine intermingles with the temporal. Sorry, I mean to say your dreams right now can bring you to this place. I’m real. You’re real. I no longer have a body, but we can still see each other occasionally. It’s all very complicated. But again, we don’t have much time.”

He was peering into the distance, searching for something while he spoke to her mind. His breathing was deep and labored, and sweat soaked his arms. His mouth remained unmoving.

“How come I can hear your voice? I wasn’t able to do that before?”

“It’s because you are a speaker like me, honey. Because we can speak with the animals, with all living things, you can hear my voice. My soul is living.” He spoke excitedly.

“But you’re dead, Papa? How? Why?” She felt herself welling up with emotion again.

“They captured me that day. That day, they came for us. Your mother is here with me, but she can’t be with us right now. You can see her soon, don’t you worry.”

Her grief began to lighten. Even hearing someone else speak of her mother eased her heart.

“I can’t tell you how good it was to see your mother again. She is so beautiful and loving.” His attention faded to his wife’s memory and then to the present.

“Are the others dead too?” The hesitation in her voice was unconcealed.

“Oh, my love, this is a difficult answer we don’t have time for. You know as well as I do. Some have passed on, and some are still living.”

He looked into the distance again, searching for something. Jane’s mind reared at the thought of some of her siblings still living. Then, his prior words rang in her mind.

“Papa? What do you mean, the child is a Dreamer?”

“Like Elijah, honey.” He smiled.

Elijah!

“Is he there with you? Elijah!?” She belted out.

“Oh honey, I know Elijah very well. He’s a good, good man. You made an excellent choice in marrying him, my love. I’m so sorry you lost him. When I lost all of you, I was inconsolable. But it’s all made right in the end. We will all meet again. You will be with your husband again one day.”

A realization suddenly struck her.

“So when I dreamed of him the other night, he was really there?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” Her father encouraged her.

She drifted back to the memory of Elijah’s eyes when he saw how big her abdomen had gotten since he last saw her. The thought of his child growing inside her showed on his face as amazement and palpable joy.

“I could recently hear his voice in a dream, though, like I hear yours now. But I couldn’t do that before when I dreamed with him.” She speculated.

“It means the connection is getting stronger. Your daughter will come soon.” He spoke reverently.

“She? My child is a girl?” Jane asked hopefully.

“Ha, yes, my love, she is a girl.” He smiled down at her.

She contemplated the thought of raising a daughter. The idea had entered her mind before, but the sure knowledge just provided to her made the prospect more tangible. She would do everything in her power to protect her daughter—to keep her safe from the machines. Just as her father did to her… until…

“Where were you?” She asked, breaking the silence.

“Where was I?” He stumbled in speech within her mind.

“Why did you never come to find me? Find us? Ishmael was with me, you know?” She felt anger growing inside her. Her uncontrolled fits of wrath began to bubble to the surface.

Why did he wait until now to find me? She thought, frustrated.

After he was already dead. Why didn’t he do it while he was alive? Why didn’t he save us from our misery? Her thoughts were overwhelming and even unreasonable, though she knew it.

“Honey, I was imprisoned… tortured… experimented on. They discovered my ability… our ability. Somehow, they knew I had children. After searching for you for years, they finally found out where you were. I’m not sure how. But it is why they came after you. They thought I could communicate with you. They don’t fully understand speaking and dreaming are entirely different things, so they tried every measure to get your location out of me. That is what led to my death. They were desperate, and they tried something new. I didn’t survive it.”

Her anger suddenly transitioned to guilt. Her father was there to help her, and she was acting like an ungrateful child.

“I had no idea,” she said weakly.

“I didn’t expect you to, honey.” His eyes were soft again. She had nearly forgotten he was still carrying her. Memories of recent events filled her mind. She suddenly remembered where she was in the real world—sleeping under a rocky ridge. She had escaped. She had run from the machines. They were looking for her. Panic began to settle in again.

“Papa, I’m lost. I escaped the machines… but I don’t know where to go. How do I get home? Should I go home?”

His eyes brightened. Not just in a sense of gladness, which was the case, but also actually brightened. A deep orange crossed his face, causing his irises to appear like they were on fire. She looked away from him and into the distance, where his gaze lingered. They had just ascended another dune, at which point they now stood overlooking the mountain-flanked valley. The sun rose along the mountainous horizon, creating the brightness in her father’s eyes. The dim light warmed her back.

“We’re here.” He exclaimed triumphantly.

“Where are we?” She stretched her neck and looked around.

“The place you are supposed to go. This place is north of your current location. A good ten-day journey by foot and in your condition.” He spoke reassuringly.

“But how will I know how to get here?” She was just as confused as ever.

“Just follow the river leading north. Most of these mountain ranges will do the same if you don’t head too far east or west. Remember how I taught you to navigate. Be cautious, and avoid direct contact with any highway. The machines patrol the highways looking for deserters and freeborns.” He pointed to the south, and a glimmer of a river reflected the morning light. “You follow that river, you hear?”

“But how will I know I’m at the right place? Why am I coming here?”

He shifted his weight and gently knelt, resting her softly into the sand and knelt beside her with his hands on his thighs, panting heavily. His eyes squinted now, his upper lip curling, bearing his beautiful pearly teeth. He wiped his brow and, with the same hand, pointed into the distance.

“After you follow that river, it will bring you to these dunes. Once here, look for the lake.” He pointed south for Jane to see. “That lake. You must remember that lake.”

She grazed the valley lying before her. A shimmering lake reflected the orange sky, nestled against the lower base of the dunes.

“You see it?” He asked hopefully.

“I see it.” She whispered.

“When you see it, I want you to go there.” He reaffirmed his statement and pointed at the lake.

“Why there, Papa?”

The sun was rising quicker now, and her vision was beginning to blur. The sky was starting to shatter around her like billions of dusty flakes. A distant, foggy voice swirled in her mind.

“Because… it is where you will find your brother.”