by Don P. Bick
Chapter 1
The speed was beyond comprehension. It seemed he was moving as fast as the speed of light. And it was terrifying! It was also exhilarating! Flashes of white light flew by so fast it was impossible to grasp the nature of whatever caused the brightness. And then there was a vision of stars. A never ending space filled with millions upon millions of stars, all in his mind. The farther upward he traveled through this starry vault the lighter he became. And as he became lighter the less he noticed his earthly concerns, until finally they just dropped away completely. There was no longer any anxiety. No worry. No pain. In fact, there was no place within him for these emotions. What he felt in their place was pure bliss; an aliveness that went far beyond description. A sense of peace filled his entire being. A peace he had never before dreamed existed; never could have conceived was even a possibility.
What was happening to him, Camran wondered. A moment ago he had clutched at his chest, the pain had been excruciating! He had walked out of the apartment to pick up the newspaper. The pain started when he bent down to pick it up. In no time the pain had become unbearable, and then there had been a bursting sensation in his chest. Now here he was on this journey upward, this fantastic journey of incredible speed. But where in the name of life was he going?
I must be dying, or I'm already dead, was his half-interested thought as he continued being propelled through space toward who knew where. He had absolutely no control over his forward momentum. Somewhere along the way he finally resigned himself to the fact that whatever was happening was completely beyond his ability to control.
Camran did believe in life after death, but had never gotten around to trying to define it or figure out what it might be like. He knew it wouldn't entail sitting under a fig tree eating grapes all day. If consciousness remained after death, what does that consciousness do? What is there to think about during this after death time, if there is in fact such a thing as time? Perhaps thinking about memories of the life that had just ended? Perhaps something new and exciting lay just beyond the realm of death? Do we exist in another body, another world? What life after death might be like, if it did exist, he could only guess. These questions flew through his thoughts as he traveled at unbelievable speeds in the ethers of inner space. In any event, he figured he was about to find out the answers to some of these questions first hand.
All of a sudden his forward speed began to slow. Just as quickly as the lightening fast trip began, it ended. All along the upward way Camran had noticed lights streaking by. Now there wasn’t a hint of light at all. None! Only darkness! And such incredible darkness at that! He stopped moving, even more aware of the lack of light around him. He stared deep into the total blackness but no light could be seen anywhere. He was now completely motionless. But he was alive! Even so, he felt like he was in a non-place. Maybe this was just some weird trick his mind was playing on him? Perhaps he was lying in a hospital bed somewhere in a coma.
It took a few moments more to get used to the fact he was no longer moving. After the speed he had been traveling it was like stepping off a fast spinning merry-go-round. His mind was telling him he had stopped speeding, but the rest of him didn't yet believe it. The sensation of traveling at those indescribable speeds persisted in all his extremities.
“Where am I?” Camran spoke aloud, wondering if this was to be his place of judgment and what possible fate might be awaiting him. Although at the moment it wasn't much consolation, he was positive he had traveled upward, rather than down.
He waited for some time trying to guess what would happen next. He didn't have a clue. Nothing in his life had prepared him for such an experience. In fact, this whole adventure left him so mind boggled he had no idea how to go about deciding what might happen next, much less what to do if and when something did.
In the complete darkness a few minutes seemed like hours. The peacefulness and euphoria he had experienced only moments earlier was gradually giving way to feeling the way he was used to feeling; a little apprehensive and unsure of himself. Sure, he still felt on fire with life. It was the anticipation and expectation of the unknown that tugged at his consciousness, dragging him back into those commonly felt emotions of his earthly mortal world.
That's funny, mused Camran, as he realized he was feeling his legs with his hands. Believing he had just left his pain racked body behind, it was a strange feeling. He still felt completely free from it. There was no pain or bodily discomfort. He sat there contemplating how weird it was thinking you no longer were in a physical body, only to reach down and feel your legs. He was also surprised to realize his legs were bare. A quick check confirmed he wasn’t wearing any clothes, very odd, to put it mildly.
When nothing happened, after waiting several more minutes, Camran decided to investigate a little, as much as was possible in the darkness anyway. He felt a floor beneath him. At least there was something solid there. He began to feel his way around where he was sitting, only to discover that it wasn't a flat and smooth floor. Neither was the floor dirt or any material he could immediately identify. Baffled, but finding no hazard as far as he could reach, he slowly began crawling forward, hands sliding ahead of him a few inches at a time.
Parts of the floor seemed to curve gently up into dull points. These points were several feet above the flat portion of the floor and were surrounded by cracks. In some cases the cracks were wide enough and deep enough for him to step down into. This he did twice, fearful he might not find the bottom as he lowered himself down into the darkness. He had to step down into the cracks in order to climb up and investigate the inclines. Both times he learned there was nothing up there but the floor coming to a point. He crossed several more of these cracks as he continued to grope forward in the darkness, all the while hoping that he wasn’t simply crawling around in a circle.
Camran had to believe he was steadily moving away from where he had been sitting. He didn't want to think otherwise. He had always been gifted with a good sense of direction; however, it was so totally dark he couldn't be entirely positive he wasn't actually traveling in a circle.
Slowly he worked his way across the floor, constantly wondering what might lie just ahead of his outstretched fingers. At least he was doing something and that alone kept his mind occupied. Not sure if he was waiting for someone to show up or for something to happen next, he continued to explore. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became of what had happened to him. He had died. There could be no other explanation. He wasn’t lying in some hospital bed; the pain in his chest had been too severe to have survived. But his present circumstance certainly wasn't what he expected to find after dying, if that indeed the case.
Camran was unprepared when it happened. Lost in thought he reached out and felt something in front of his face. It was so unexpected he instantly recoiled at the touch. He became aware he was holding his breath. Slowly, he let the air out of his lungs and took a moment to steady his breathing. Then once again he reached forward, ready to withdraw his hand if need be. What he felt was smooth and soft like fur. Was it an animal of some kind? Camran waited. He heard nothing but the sound of his own breathing, or was it his own breathing? Do you breathe after death, thought Camran, as he listened intently to the empty sounds of the darkness surrounding him? Nothing moved, nor did anything come forward and touch him. His heart pounded in his ears, a heart he believed had quit working. He waited a little longer; regaining a small measure of his composure, then crept forward and touched it once more. Yes, it was soft and smooth. Almost like the fur of a cat, but more like the feel of a fine cashmere coat. Camran felt to both his right and left. He had encountered a wall. It wasn't flat and straight but rose in a gradual curve, higher than he was able to reach. It also extended in both directions, to his right and left, in a gentle curve. He must be inside a dome like structure, or something along that line, he thought.
Camran began to feel his way around the curve toward his left, hoping there was a door or opening in the wall. "
Sure wish I had a flashlight or a book of matches," he muttered, as he continued to shuffle to his left while feeling along the wall. For long minutes he groped his way around the enclosure, trying without luck to peer into the darkness for an opening or doorway. He found none.
An hour or so later, it was hard to gauge how much time had passed, Camran was sure he had made a complete circle. He had probably gone completely around more than once, but really had no way of knowing. The wall had a gentle curve to it but the enclosure didn’t feel so large to him now that he had circumnavigated the outer wall. At least he felt somewhat relieved at knowing his surroundings a little better, even though his investigation hadn’t really told him much. He didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger and that alone provided a measure of comfort.
He decided to go around the wall once more in case he missed something the first time. He had nothing with which to mark a spot. Not even any clothes he could take off and leave in a place of beginning. As he felt around the wall, no where did it feel different than any other. Camran was at a loss as to how to determine the extent and contents, if any, of his newly discovered prison. And he still couldn’t see anything, even though he had been in the darkness for some hours now. There was no light for him to use to adjust his eyes.
The second time around was no different than the first. He could find no door or opening in the wall. All the way around felt exactly the same as everywhere else on the wall.
Apprehensive and shaken, perhaps the first faint signs of panic starting to set in, Camran decided to sit and wait for something to happen. There was nothing more he could do, having explored all he could in the darkness. Still, he wasn't really frightened. He rationalized there was nothing he could do about his present situation, so it was probably best to just sit and wait. Surely someone would come or something would happen soon. He leaned back against the wall and tried to relax.
The silence was total. Camran was more tired from his ordeal than he realized. The longer he sat, the more relaxed he became. Soon he began to dose, and not long after that he fell fast asleep, lying naked in the darkness on the floor of his unknown prison.
The room was dimly lit; shadows flickered eerily upon the walls. Camran stood before a smooth rock wall. He was in a cave. On the wall before him were chiseled some words. The words at the very top he could clearly read - Oracle of the Fourth Order. They were larger than the rest. He couldn't make out the smaller letters, there wasn't enough light. He somehow knew the words were important to him but his feet wouldn't move over to the torch, which lay off to his right, in order to get more light. It was also cold. And he was becoming frightened.
The room began to warm. He felt a presence behind him, although he was unable to turn his head and look. He was paralyzed, not able to move at all. But it was a comforting presence and the fear that had been building quickly evaporated. A disembodied voice, a silver twinkling of words, softly, yet clearly, registered in his ear; "Seek the Bridge of Seven Colors." That was all, and then instantly the warm presence was gone. He sensed it before he felt it.
The room became cold and fear started to set in once more. And then there was another presence near him. Although this time the presence was dark and evil. He tried to scream but was unable to make a sound. Desperately he tried to turn and run, but couldn't move. It became colder, and with the cold he became more frightened. He began to panic as a booming evil laughter filled the room. The voice echoed off the walls and pierced his flesh like icy needles.
Camran cried out in his sleep, yet he didn't wake. His cries were muffled by the furry walls of his confined space, although there was no one near to hear the tortuous sounds anyway. Moments later he settled into a deep fitful sleep and spent the rest of the night without any further dreams.