Entering the New Dawn

No one could have predicted what would have happened. A trip in our youth turned to a lifelong adventure. As my mind withers with old age, I begin to question if it was truly real or simply the most vivid experience of lucid dreaming to occur. Am I lying lifeless somewhere, adrift a deep slumber? The truth is of little importance now. Real or not, that night started it all.

In a world where technology has integrated itself into almost every aspect of life, re-establishing a connection with nature is nourishment for the soul. We were twenty-three, in the midst of our youth. My fiancé, the classic high school sweetheart, and my best friend and his girlfriend. The four of us had spent a year exploring the natural wonders of the world and the mysteries they beheld. While others our age ventured off to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, we trailed the mountains of Glencoe in Scotland and the hardened volcanic steps of Ireland’s Giant Causeway. Forty-thousand columns formed over sixty-million years to interlock and become symmetrical. We made our way north to Norway to view one of the most breathtaking sights there is, the Aurora Borealis.

Norway had been the last stop on our trek across the countries. It was supposed to conclude the journey, but only brought a new one to fruition. As we reached the cabin we were going to be staying in, the night sky had been lit up. The full moon’s white glow paled in comparison, like a flashlight to the sun, to the streaming lights of green and undertone shades of red and blue that seemed to dance above us amongst the clouds. The colors swirled and blended in harmony, and the four of us were paralyzed in pure awe. As night grew darker and darker, the lucidity of the northern lights intensified. At the stroke of midnight, however, the lights began to reshape. They began to form a straight line that started from our position, and seemed to reach out for miles, ending by mysteriously diving straight down. It was as if we had been summoned by the lights themselves, as if they were alive or aware. We had been exhausted from the rest of our journey and had yet to rest, but the temptation was too great to resist. With not a single one of us questioning what had happpend, we started our walk towards the light.

Excitement had filled our bones at the prospect of being the first to uncover a mystery. Little did we know how soon that would fade away. We walked for what seemed like hours, but the night sky had grown neither darker nor lighter. The only true indication was the moon, that had seemed to have been locked in place. As we began to reach the end, our expressions quickly changed, as we noticed the light was leading us into an ice cave. We gathered over the ice cave that seemed to drop straight down, debating if we should enter or not. The option to enter, however, didn’t seem to be up to us. The ice right under our feet began to pulsate the very same green light in the sky, wider and wider until it had encompassed all of us. The ice then shattered and we began sliding down along the paths, almost seeming like a paved road to the depths of the earth.

Our bodies all slammed on the floor at once. In an instant, our senses were overwhelmed and our perception seemed distorted. We would’ve all thought we were delusional if we didn’t share the same visions. The Auora Borealis, the Northern Lights, the stream of green that led us here, had coalesced into a crack in the center of the cave. As we hesitantly inched our way closer, the crack blew wide open and we could see it what it was for. A stitch in the fabric of space and time. A bridge to any and all other points in reality. Mesmerized, we each reached our hands out to feel the warmth spewing out. As soon we touched it, it spoke.

“You’re mine”