A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Ticket to Atlantis

Photo Credit: u/Vaulk9designs on Reddit

In all honesty, I probably should have seen this coming. Hell, the second I walked into that dusty old bookstore, I should have turned around and walked right back out. But I didn't.

I couldn't. Or rather, I wouldn't. Or... maybe a bit of both? It wasn't everyday that you ended up somewhere you'd visited before in a dream. And that made it hard to leave.

So I pushed past both the alarm bells ringing in my head and the heavy wooden door of the shop. My hand came away dusty, as if no one had entered this place in ages. And yet when I craned my head back through the door frame, a flickering neon sign clearly flashed the word "OPEN".

Here goes nothing, I thought and ducked fully inside.

The urge to sneeze hit me in the face and I wrinkled my nose at the realization that everything in here was just as dusty as the door. I was just about ready to leave the way I came, dream or no dream, when I finally saw someone else appear.

He was a young man, fresh out of college if I had to guess. Wearing a pair of delicate reading glasses which seemed right at home against his sweater vest and khakis. Curly brown hair fell down over his face as he came out of the back room, sipping a coffee and reading a thick book in his hands.

Awkwardly, I cleared his throat and he looked up abruptly.

"Oh! It's you." He said brightly as his eyes lit up and he tossed the book he was reading onto a nearby desk without marking his spot. His voice felt almost too loud for the place we were standing in.

I blinked,  caught off guard, and tried to match his energy. "Yes, it's- me? I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He laughed, "No. But I was expecting a visitor today. Pardon the dust, we don't get many of you in here these days."

I gave him a look of wary confusion, "Visitors?"

"Exactly," he agreed, "But you had the dream, didn't you? Creative type I bet? Those are usually an easier sell."

"Umm," I took a sharp breath, trying to keep up with everything he was saying. "Yeah, yes. To both of those. That is, I'm a writer. But how did you know? The dream, was that real?"

He laughed and waved his free hand dismissively, "Oh never mind that. My name's Riley. Pleased to meet you." He held his hand out and I took it without thinking.

Before I could even get my name out, a wave of nausea hit me. So powerful that I staggered backwards and dropped his hand. But the feeling lingered, making my head throb.

Riley gave me a sympathetic look, "Headache? I'm sorry, I get migraines too. I think I have some Advil here actually." He dug around in his pockets for a moment and procured a standard looking pharmacy bottle. "Want one?"

I really shouldn't have said yes. But I wasn't thinking straight. My head hurt like hell and I wanted it to stop.

So I let him tip a pill into my hand. And like a fool, I swallowed it.

The walls fell away around me until Riley and I were left standing in a dark void. I blinked, trying to focus on him and it felt like I was staring through an aquarium. The air seemed to ripple and reflect light that didn't exist.

Riley grinned. "I was right, you feel it. Don't you?"

I shook my head, "The only thing I feel is like I'm losing my mind. What did you do to me?"

"You did this to yourself," Riley scoffed and reached into his pocket before fishing out a silver key. A thin silver chain was shimmering at the end of it, eventually attached to a strange silver pendant.

Riley handed the pendant over to me and I took it almost involuntarily.

It felt unnaturally cold in my hands and looked to be a strange cluster of crystals and computer chips. Held together with twisted metal wiring. "This is a piece of trash."

Riley had the audacity to look offended. "Try and get rid of it then," he said, "I dare you." And with abnormally fast movements, he grabbed my shoulder and shoved the key into my chest.

A strange, distant chanting started up, which began as something garbled and incomprehensible. But as Riley twisted the key, the words switched abruptly to English. Or at least something that I could understand. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh- creature, raising westward flags. Praise morning's creature, raising westward flags."

I woke up on a bench in the back of the bookstore.

An unfamiliar woman stood off to the side, shelving books and humming to herself. Her head snapped over to me as I groaned groggily. "Oh good, you're awake," she said, "How are you feeling dearie?"

"What happened?" I mumbled, trying to clear my head. "Where's Riley?"

The woman shrugged, "He went home an hour ago. Told me that you had a migraine and wasn't feeling well so I should just let you sleep for a bit."

I got shakily to my feet and took a deep breath. "Can I go?"

She smiled sweetly, "Take care."

So I was left, wondering if all that had truly been just a fever dream. Until I found it. That pendant Riley had given me, with its hypnotic tendril pattern and its computer chip core. I tried to get rid of it, I really did. But it kept. Coming. Back.

And it started making me do things. I think. I mean, I definitely wanted to do the things but it wasn't anything I normally would have wanted to do. Like manipulating my partner. Or shoplifting. So I cut ties with everyone I could. And I stopped going outside unless absolutely necessary.

I kept wanting to do harm though so now I'm leaving town for a week. To try and clear my head a little. Or maybe it's still the pendant talking.

Who knows.

All that I can think about right now is that I need to see the ocean. Maybe my problems can be drowned.