Atlantian

Becoming Atlantian - Chapter 1

Everything ached. 

A low groan escaped her cracked lips as dull pains shot through the muscles in her arms and legs. It was like the growing pains which had plagued her childhood and yet, it was worse. Each of her bones from her skull down to her toes felt sensitive - new. 

Peeling open her eyes, Aubrey was met with gloom. Slivers of light crept through the gaps in the woven box she was confined in but, by some miracle, she could make out every detail of the space as if it was lit up like a Christmas tree.  From the tacky pink coating her now perfectly manicured nails to the individual fibres and imperfections of the woven casket, she could see it all. It was a surprise. The familiar weight of her thick framed glasses were conspicuously absent therefore it was a miracle she could see anything other than a blurred smudge.  

It was so right that it was wrong. Normally she couldn't see her hand in front of her face without her glasses. Now, she could see everything in a way she never had before. It was as if she had woken up in a bright and shiny world she had never known before. 

Her hands pressed against the silk covered siding and she was relieved when the material gave a little under her touch. It was times like these that she was grateful her parents cared more about composting and saving the planet than their own daughter. If she was in a traditional coffin, there would have been no chance of getting out. Unless you counted her ability to handle a sizable stack of books, Aubrey had no upper body strength to speak of. 

Aubrey frowned.  Why was she even in the coffin? She remembered the orange car hurting around the corner and mounting the pavement she had been standing on. She could still hear the screech of breaks - feel the pain as her body crumpled into the bonnet of the car. 

In brief moments of lucidity, Aubrey also remembered being taken straight into surgery, those masked faces shouting over her head as they wheeled her down blindingly white corridors, their eyes were the only sign that they were panicked. Yet, Aubrey could not figure out how she ended up in a coffin. Surely they would have checked I was dead before calling me a corpse and shoving me into a bloody box like a dead hamster.

Reaching up her fingers, Aubrey traced the beautiful pieces of ribbon woven into the top of the casket. The different colours were crafted into the pliable material to form an intricate design. That wasn't what struck her though because although the pattern was pretty, the symbol weaved into the centre held her entranced. She had seen it in many books over the years, the circle split in half with one side coloured darkly and the other coloured light to show balance. It was the yin and yang symbol. 

Why the hell is that there? Her parents certainly wouldn't have put it there. 

Choosing not to linger on the question for too long, Aubrey placed both of her palms against the lid of her coffin and pushed. It popped open with ease but for some reason, Aubrey hesitated to open it full. Clenching her stomach muscles, she lifted slightly to peer through the gap.

She inhaled sharply as she came face to face with herself - all in giant and frozen glory. 

The giant photo showed an old version of herself. More precisely, it was the her from six years ago when she still had braces and wore that ghastly green school uniform. It took less than six seconds to wish her vision had improved quite so much.  And beside it... 

Her heart squeezed painfully as her gaze landed on the array of heavily perfumed floral displays lying beneath it. Aubrey gulped. Somehow, the flowers made it all real. They all think I'm dead.

Her stomach churned. Aubrey forced her eyes away from the morbid display. 

Turning her gaze to the front pew, her heart lurched within her chest. Her mum sat there, head bent, fingers curled tightly around a bible as she cried. She hadn't heard it before but now that she had seen her, all Aubrey could hear was her loud gut wrenching sobs.