Dante giggled as his eyes glistened. He flipped a few more pages until he got to the table of contents, and there he noticed another note from his mom. It read: If out of time, I could hold one moment and keep it shining, always new, of all the days that I had lived, I’d pick the moment I met you. Love, Elayna.
Dante smiled from the sheer beauty of the sentiment, because she felt it toward the man. He had given so much grief for his inability to let go. Dante never understood his parents' bond, but he felt the strength of that bond as he rubbed his hands over the twenty-year-old ink, then wiped the tears that had gathered in his eyes.
All the while, George had been looking in the rearview every few seconds as Dante perused through his textbook. Dante rubbed his fingers over the words, cherishing them. Then, he noticed a little hand-drawn heart next to Index page 444.
Dante flipped through the entirety of the book to see if there were any other pieces of his mother that she had left behind for him to discover.
He flipped until he felt an odd sensation in his forehead. It felt as though a pressure was building, and soon the sensation was accompanied by a high-pitched whine. Having no idea what was happening, Dante knew he’d soon find something of note. He noticed a white lotus blossom in the top left corner of page 333.
Dante, like most of the planet, thought the lotus blossom was as elegant as it was unique. It wasn’t hard to understand why it was so popular in Eastern philosophy, after reading of how it would burst through layers of mud, revealing its true beauty.
To Dante, it was a beautiful, ironic sentiment that the most beautiful of things can come out of what seem to be disadvantageous surroundings. He grinned and continued to the index page. There wasn’t enough room to write a note, as she had before, but his mother had gotten creative, using the outside edges of the page. From the top of the page, it read: I hope you find what you are looking for…because I was looking for you. Love, Elayna.
“There’s nothing else after the index,” George said.
Dante sighed, shut the book, and handed it back to his dad. And while his father drove, Dante kept his eyes on him.
What should I say to him?
“So, that textbook was amazing, and I loved seeing what Mom wrote….”
“I have a feeling there is a ‘but’ in there.”
I love and want to understand, Dante told himself, before he braved untraversed territory. “Have you ever thought how it makes Amy feel to watch you miss a woman that she’s never met, a woman that she’s always wanted to meet?”
George was stunned.
“Yeah, have you ever thought about how it makes me feel?” Amy asked.
George and Dante were silent enough to hear a pin drop.
“I’d miss her too, Daddy, but I never met Mommy.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
“You see, Dad? It’s not just me who notices it, we all miss her.”
George eased up on the gas and looked in the rearview at his children. “I can’t stop thinking about her, son. We made a lot of promises to each other. It’s just not easy.”
George took a deep breath. “When I look at you kids, all I can think about is her. And to think that I almost lost you too, son.”
Dante was quiet because he knew his dad had endured a lot, but Dante also knew he had been through much. Nothing could be done to get their matriarch back, and nothing could have prevented what happened to Dante and Dawayne.
“There’s something I remember that Mom used to tell me…. She looked down at me with her bright blue eyes and told me, ‘If we are too busy focusing on the past, we’ll never truly appreciate our present.’”
“I didn’t think you were listening. She always knew what to say, didn’t she, son?”
“Yeah, she did,” Dante said, looking at the floor.
“I just figured with as good as your memory is, you’d remember what happened. I just can’t rationalize it.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re supposed to accept things the way they are. Some doors should stay closed, and Mom would want you to honor her by honoring us, no matter what happened.”
“Your mother would be really proud of you, son.”
“Thanks, Dad. I just want to get past this.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Would Mommy be proud of me?”
Dante reached out his hand, grabbing his sister’s.
“Of course, Mommy would be proud of you, my little sugarplum,” George responded.
“Ya mean it?”
“Yes, honey, of course.”
An overall sense of calm settled into the car after everyone came to a mutual understanding, but Dante had gotten quite exhausted from shouldering the emotional loads of his loved ones. Dante’s eyelids grew heavy as he nestled into his seat. Each dip in the road was like a steady rocking, lulling him closer toward sleep. And once his eyelids drooped, the light from the realm of the living began to wane, sending him unto a world of darkness. He began seeing vivid and ultraviolet colors forming into different shapes. The multicolored lights then transfigured into two straight lines beside him and, like a roller-coaster, they dipped, bringing him further into the realm of dreams.
But just as soon as it began, the transition ended, and Dante found himself on the Giza Plateau. The full moon illuminated everything around him, and in wondrous awe, he soaked in his surroundings. Never had he traveled here, neither in a dream nor in the waking world, and upon seeing that he once again had feet, Dante dug them into the moonlit sand.
It was much more lush and alive than he had ever seen, with many palm trees surrounding the plateau. Odder still, upon looking closer at the Great Pyramid, Dante could tell that it was still encased in the polished limestone foretold of only in the books he had read, but to see it up close was nothing short of breathtaking.
Surely this could have been seen for miles around, Dante thought as he walked closer. But for what purpose? Judging by the new pyramid smell, and the overall state of things, Dante found himself many thousands of years in the past. With each step he took toward the pyramid, he felt a powerful energy coursing through him. Dante could only compare it to the feeling of sticking his finger into a bulb-less socket on a lamp—only it left him without the stinging feeling of electricity.
Feeling pulled, he looked up to see a massive pillar of light coming from atop the pyramid's capstone. It beamed into the night sky, illuminating the plateau. Dante remembered reading some conspiracies that talked about the pyramids being ancient power plants, but that couldn’t be true because all the leading Egyptologists said they were grand monuments and tombs to the Pharaohs that commissioned them.
While Dante was in a state of disillusionment, he hadn’t noticed the sand beneath his feet beginning to contort.
The sand opened up to reveal a trap door, and Dante fell through it. His gut tightened with feelings of unease as he stared into the darkness of the pit.
He began seeing a greenish hue glow coming from the mossy walls. A chill shot up his spine, as he knew not where the journey led. As Dante continued falling, he could see that some of the mossy walls had trails of a dark fluid dripping from them.
The walls began to widen until he made it to a massive circular room, where a rectangle slab sat in the very center. The stone slab began to move, making the walls vibrate with ferocity.
Dante floated down and slowed to a halt. Hovering, he watched the lid open to reveal the inside was hollow, waiting to be filled.
Dread began to seep in. He began floating downwards toward the stone sarcophagus just as it finished opening. Inside he was screaming, trying to move with every inch of his being, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t. He kept telling himself, It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real…it’s just a bad dream…. I’ll wake up soon.
Still not able to move, Dante floated toward the rudimentary sarcophagus until he fell in, with the loud thud of his head hitting the stone.
The lid b
egan to close, and Dante’s terror intensified. As the top made its way up to Dante’s chest, the remaining light was blotted out. Then, a very dark, ominous voice said, “With me, you shall remain forever.”
“Ahhh!”
Everything went black.
Chapter Thirteen
Yin & Yang
Opening his eyes, Dante found he was in familiar company, but he had awoken in an unfavorable environment—the hospital. Dawayne had rushed over when he was told of what happened. He grew up to be tall, dark, and handsome like Dante. But he kept his hair shorter, while his build was more slender.
“We thought you were dead,” Dawayne said with a smirk.
“No, we didn’t!” Amy yelled, giving Dawayne a shove.
“Cut it out, you two,” Dante said, sounding like he had a frog in his throat. “Why am I at the hospital? The last thing I remember is being in the car and heading home.”
Dawayne shrugged, then looked to Amy.
“You were asleep, and we tried to wake you up when we got home, but you wouldn’t wake up.”
“It’s okay, Amy. I was just having a dream,” Dante said, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. “So, where’s Dad?” He glanced at Dawayne. “And why are you here, dude?”
“They called me and, you know, I couldn’t turn down a chance to see you comatose, looking so peaceful. But, I’m pretty sure your dad’s talking with some nurse about your preexisting conditions.”
Dawayne had always wanted to be a doctor for as long as Dante had known him. He’d always been the colder and more calculating of the two, so Dante always wanted his perspective, no matter how skewed it seemed at first glance.
Dante heard his dad’s voice getting closer, and soon a dainty hand grasped the curtain to Dante’s little encampment, sliding it open to reveal an attractive blonde nurse standing next to his father.
The nurse looked George up and down. “Well, I can see where your son gets his good looks.”
“It sounds like she wants to show you her bedside manner, Mr. Luciano,” Dawayne said.
The nurse blushed, and while she brushed her hair aside, Dante read her nametag, Elaine. Her name was so similar to his mother’s, Dante thought it was divine intervention, letting it be known to his father that it was okay to move on.
It wasn’t lost on George. “Much appreciated. Elaine, is it? I’m George.”
Elaine nodded her head with a confidant smile, and although Dante enjoyed seeing their relationship bud, he wanted something more—the truth.
“So, why was I brought to the hospital, I was just sleeping.”
“You weren’t just asleep, son. If you were asleep, we could have woken you up.”
“Isn’t that why we used to keep smelling salts?”
“I tried that. I told Elaine here that you’ve had a history of being a heavy sleeper, but this time was different.”
“I haven’t talked to your father about this yet, but the hospital will want to keep you overnight to run a few tests.”
“I really don’t want to stay here, I’m fine. Dad, please come here a second,” Dante emphasized.
George walked to his son’s bedside and hunched over.
“What is it?” George asked.
“I had another dream.”
“Oh.”
“I can’t tell you about it until we get home. I don’t want these people to think I’m crazy and hold me for three days like they did at Dix.” Dante pleaded with his eyes. “Hospital stays aren’t cheap, either. Of course, they want to keep me, their expensive equipment doesn’t pay for itself.”
Dawayne nodded in agreeance.
George turned and told Elaine, “I don’t think it’s necessary to keep him overnight or do those tests.”
Elaine was taken aback. “Well, I hope you’ll reconsider, but legally we can’t keep you.”
“Where do we go from here, then?” Dante asked.
“I’ll just have to go get some paperwork that your father needs to sign, and then you all will be free to go.”
While Elaine left to retrieve the paperwork, Dawayne put in his two cents, but seeing as how he had already been accepted into the pre-med program at UNC-Chapel Hill, his cents were more valuable than the average eighteen-year-old. “Chances are that you are going to need those tests at some point to rule out any neurological issues.”
“I think my issue isn’t a neurological one.”
“How would you know—you’re not getting the tests done?”
“If you shut your yap, I’ll make quesadillas.”
Elaine let herself back in, flinging the curtain aside.
“I brought the discharge paperwork, Mr. Luciano.”
George cleared his throat, taking a few steps toward her, and took the papers. “Call me George.”
With pink gracing Elaine’s cheeks, she replied, “Okay, George,” then leaned in a little closer, pointing to the different places on the page that needed a signature.
“And that about does it,” Elaine said.
“Dante, you and Dawayne take Amy to the lobby. I’ve gotta finish up here.”
Once the three of them left the room, George turned to Elaine. “Taking a shot in the dark here, you want to go out with me?”
“Sure, I’m off at 8:00 on Friday. Let me give you my number so you can go be with your kids.”
“Let me know what works for you, Elaine. It could be lunch for all I care.”
Elaine giggled, showing him to the hall.
Elaine, wearing a smile went back to work, while George made his way to the large swinging doors, pushing them open to see his children and Dawayne sitting together.
“It’s cold in here,” Amy whined.
“Do you know why they keep it so cold?” Dawayne asked.
Amy shrugged.
“It’s to keep the people alive longer,” Dawayne joked.
An old woman with pruney skin a few chairs away turned and chimed in, “I hope it works.”
“And now it’s time to go. C’mon, you three,” George said.
“I’m getting up, Mr. Luciano. It might take me a second, though. The cold made my joints ache,” Dawayne said.
The woman turned around once more. “Tell me about it, young man.”
Dante and George both smiled at her, then everyone made their way to the car.
“Take shotgun, Dawayne. I’m going to sit in the back with Amy.”
George turned, looking to Dante, mouthing the words, “Why, son?”
Walking around the car, Dante felt a shiver run up his spine. He saw an odd glow reflecting in the window. A haunting chill came into Dante, but afraid, he was not. He turned to see a set of glowing red eyes staring back at him in the reflection. The longer he looked, the brighter they became, as if a fire burned within them. Every hair on Dante's body stood on edge, but just as fear was about to seep in, he felt fierceness come unto him.
Dante turned to meet whatever lecherous creature leered behind him. But as soon as he spun around, he saw nothing there, nothing at all.
“That’s what I thought,” Dante muttered as he got in the car.
“Who were you talking to, son?”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
Dawayne looked at Dante, knowing he wouldn’t have said what he did if it was nothing.
Dante yearned for any additional perspective that could help him understand the revelations in his dream, the fiery eyes, and the woman his father met that could have passed his late mother's sister. The timing of everything seemed to be orchestrated by an unseen hand, a master hand. Is something coming after me?
A chill ran down Dante’s spine, and a pressure built in his forehead until it was unbearable.
Dante groaned.
George looked in rearview at his son, seeing he was still recovering from what happened. “Hey, guys, how about I buy some pizza tonight?”
“Dante already bought my silence with quesadillas,” Dawayne said.
“Pizza sounds good, Daddy.”
/> “Okay, so we got two votes for pizza. It’s up to you now, son.”
While Dante stared at his dad, grateful, Dawayne stared at his friend, hoping he’d tie it up for team quesadilla.
Chapter Fourteen
Amour Fou
“Wake up, big guy. Today’s the day I take you to the museum,” George whispered, sitting next to Dante on his bed. Dante stretched, opening his eyes to see his dad holding up a pamphlet that had an Egyptian bust splayed across the front.
“What time is it?” Dante asked.
Amy came running into his room, jumping onto his bed, belting, “It’s wakeup time!”
George chuckled, then stood up and left, unblocking Dante’s view of the clock. It was 9:36 a.m.
Amy jumped off his bed.
“Get out of my room, Amy!”
Amy darted into the hall where George stood at the top of the stairs. “Come on down and have some food with us, son.”
Breathing deep through his nose, Dante stretched then looked at the pamphlet.
Whatever I find there, I hope it helps me figure out what my dreams mean.
Dante put down the pamphlet. Looking at himself in the mirror, he spun his body and shook his arms, just as he had learned by studying Qigong. He took a shower and put on clothes. Wearing khaki pants and a collared red shirt, Dante brushed his hair over with his hand, then headed downstairs. “So, when can we head to the museum?” Dante asked.
“We can leave in less than ten minutes if you’re ready.”
Dante polished off the smoothie his dad had left him, feeling much lighter than he had on mornings when he had eaten bacon and eggs.
Leaping upstairs toward the bathroom, he grabbed the deodorant and slapped some on as he looked at himself once more in the mirror. With his hair still kempt, he winked at himself then ran downstairs. After fetching some water, Dante ran outside.
They were headed to Raleigh, the capital. Today they were headed to the Museum of Art. Dante sat there, happy as a clam with an inescapable feeling that they were going to be getting there at the perfect time. Soon they arrived in the City of Oaks, driving past a sign with a massive acorn.
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