ATLANTIS RISING
Corbitt Taylore


"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.

"I don't think I want to hear any of this."

"Karen, you said it could be dreams or past-life memories. What about time travel? Maybe I am 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!"

"And what about all this quantum physics stuff... Maybe---"

"Lisa 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 writer's imagination? Think about it. How long have you been trying to come up with something new? You even said yourself that 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. I can't believe you. Damn it!"


"Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean...Maybe you should---"

"Maybe I should what?" Lisa challenged.

"Maybe you should see someone. I'm sorry."

"You mean seek professional help?" She shook her head. "You know, Karen, 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 what telling her? Instead she kept falling into the 'left brain, show me, if I can't see it then it doesn't exist' society. A very limited and closed-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.



Chapter Five

"Jenielle, last time I was here you said something about experiments written in code," Lisa said as they walked to the bathing area. In the back of her mind she was thinking about bringing something back as proof, if it were at all possible.

"Yes. The experiments are recorded in the journals. But they are coded. The information contained within them could prove dangerous if they were to fall into the wrong hands. Only Sylor knows the codes. He wrote them himself, and he will allow no one access to them, which is his right."

"But what about these experiments?"

"There are certain experiments, experiments that must be done with right use of mind, and purity of heart. The energy is neutral. What is manifested depends on how one directs and applies the mind's energy. If used in a positive-mind fashion they could benefit the entire planet. If one has intentions otherwise, the same experiments could bring disastrous results."

Lisa shivered. Somehow she knew what Jenielle was saying was absolutely true.

"The scientists press Sylor for this information, but he will not comply. You and the others feared one day Sylor would be overruled and his fellow scientists would seize his journals. It would take much time, but the codes could one day be deciphered. That day may soon be upon us."

Knowing that this is probably what would happen, Lisa thought Sylor should burn the journals. But even if he did, he would still retain the information. What would the scientists do to get it from him? Her hair stood on end with that thought. She knew his life would be in danger and that he should leave Atlantis.

"In his bigness," Jenielle continued, "Sylor believes his word is law and no one will overrule him. There is still time. He still has the power to stop this, to send the scientists away, but he will not believe. But now, you are from the future, and you know what has taken place. You must convince Sylor to put an end to this before it is out of his hands. It is up to you now. This may be our last chance. You must convince him!"

"Me? I must convince him?" Lisa felt very put upon. Why was this suddenly her responsibility? "If he didn't listen to me then, why would he now?"

"Because you have seen. You have confirmed this. You say there is no Atlantis. You are proof."

"I'm proof? Oh God! I'm proof that Atlantis doesn't exist?"

"Yes."

"Oh God, this can't be. This is nuts. I was hoping to be able to take something back with me today to my reality, to convince myself that Atlantis did exist, and that what I'm experiencing is real. I need to know that I am not going crazy. And now I'm here as proof to you that Atlantis does not exist?"

Lisa felt like the figure in Evard Munch's painting, The Scream. It took her several minutes to get her bearings.

"Jenielle, I don't think Sylor will believe me even now if I tell him. He won't believe me. I can feel it. He'll just think I've come back with more of the same."

"Then we are doomed."