The Prophecy of Atlantis

Anna

      The clock has just struck midnight when I hear someone weeping. When I open my bedroom door and venture out into the hallway, I discover that the sound is coming from inside the castle walls. As I wander, I run my hands along the walls to see if I can find a way to a secret passage. As each second ticks by, I become more and more desperate to help this person. I'm so wound up in my anxiety that I nearly jump out of my skin at what happens next.

      I have to remind myself to take deep breaths as I realize I panicked over nothing because it's only my mom walking down the hall, her glasses askew. Multiple books are tucked underneath her chin. My mom is a librarian, keeper of some of the rarest books in the world. It's a secret that I was never able to tell anyone for fear of someone discovering them and stealing them for their own personal gain.

     She enters her office, and I slowly take a step into the foyer. As soon as I can catch my breath again, I clear my throat. She looks up from her work, then frowns when she sees the distress in my eyes that I thought I'd concealed.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asks gently, laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Did you hear that noise?"

    Mom tilts her head, worry lines creasing around her eyes. "No. What did you hear?"

   I decide then not to tell her anything. I would just sound insane if I did. I rub my eyes, pretending to rub sleep dust from them. "Must've been a dream," I shrug. "I'm going to head back to bed. Goodnight, Mom." She smiles and goes back to her work. When I get out of her sight, I slump my shoulders in relief.

That was close.

***

   I wait to resume my search for a hidden passageway until I'm sure my mom has gone to bed. As I'm turning a corner I notice something odd out of the corner of my eye. I look back and there's a shimmering light on the wall beside me. I've explored this castle so many times and had never noticed it until now. I decide to test it and see if my hand will go through the light and into the wall. My hand disappears for a moment until I pull it back. I gather up all my courage and walk through the wall which brings me into a dungeon.

    Inside the dungeon is a man who had cried himself to sleep, the tear stains leaving their tracks like a tattoo. I would know that face anywhere. His dark curls, the star-shaped birthmark on his nose which was perpetually smudged with dirt even back when I knew him. I know the almond shape to his eyes, know behind them are the most piercing gray I've ever seen. I hadn't seen him in six years.

    His name is Julian, and he was my childhood best friend. We'd been inseparable. I had always loved him but never told him in case my feelings weren't reciprocated. We'd gone to school together from elementary school till halfway through high school. One summer he seemed to disappear out of thin air. He left without saying goodbye, and I wondered every day since why he wouldn't tell me he was leaving. My heart had never healed from it.

    I never stopped loving that boy, the boy who is now a man. I want so badly to reach out and touch his hair or squeeze his hand. Before I dare to though, he starts to stir from sleep. I reluctantly put as much distance as I can between us before he wakes. Slowly his eyes open, and they're more beautiful than I'd remembered.

   His eyes trail down from my head to my toes. A chill runs through me as recognition lights up his face, shock and disbelief in those gorgeous eyes.

   When he finally speaks, his voice cracks.

"Anna?"

"Julian, what's happened to you?" I cry out as I wrap my arms around him in a bear hug.