NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 118

I shove a random coin into the slot and hope for the best. The door opens to a field of orange lilies. A hand grabs mine from beneath them. Soon we're above it all, the lilies, tiny houses, the turquoise blue water and now the Karmic Islands – a cluster of islands connected by bridges. Lights start coming on. They reflect stars from heaven. The ocean tumbles in between. With each of its glorious roars, a power calls out to me. Then I see red rushing in from all angles, running from the darkening moon. And it is amidst this phenomenon that she drops me.

"Ahhh!" I scream my way down.

Now another one comes out as I hit the Bloody Sea and remember I can't swim.

My feet pierce what I expect to be my last resting place. Well, Mary, you asked for it. You wanted to be one with the ocean and make its power your army. Now here's your chance. Then my head gets wet and I think to myself: it's all over, Mary. Give it up.

"Not yet," the voices whisper as they bump into me. "We need you to live and set us free."

"Set you free?" I say in my mind. "Who on earth are you?"

"Don't you know, Mary? We're your friends. You need to set us all free."

"How the hell am I going to set any of you free? I'm down here just like you."

"No! You're in the orange room."

"Lies! I'm down here with you," I insist. "Some crazy woman dropped me from the sky."

"You're in the orange room with Raea," they say in unison. "Mary, you need to free us."

"Free you?" I ask, feeling their immense presence. "Just how many of you are there?"

"Sing with us and we'll show you," they respond in unison.

"But I don't know any songs."

"Such a shame!" Their voices echo each other. "Well, we know a song."

"Then sing it before I drown."

They gather around me with their silly happiness. It's almost as if I'm an honoured guest at a party I never agreed to attend. Now they start with their singing, one after the other, like they're taking turns starting one word apart. It's madness to my ears to say the least. Yet as they go on the words are becoming clearer to me, clear enough to hum along.

"YE-MA-YA; be one with me," they sing eerily. "Take my hand and mount the sea. Carry me where I long to be. Inside the storm. Beneath the sea. Come and join me in this dance where Ki meets Chi. Take me down and cover me. Fill me with grace and harmony. Then take me in your arms and fly with me. May the drumming of the waves empower me. Make me queen above the seas. Power in my hands. Power in my feet. YE-MA-YA. Come forth!"