The Secret World of Maya Alexander

Chapter 47

Maya had driven with such focus to the river. She had not made her way to the huddle of trees on the banks hidden from view, as she usually would have when she needed a moment to escape a life which had always overwhelmed her. There was no need for her to remember car keys or her phone.

She had a vision. A knowing of a path that could finally immerse her in peace. A knowing which once sensed could not be unseen. The mirror had only ever shown her fleeting beauty and calm, but the night before, it had taken her to a river which she instantly recognised. Her secret resting place had always been the gateway. The mirror was just a messenger. The memory had returned to her through the gentle bobbing of water in the shiny glass presented to her as she recovered on the kitchen floor. It had immersed her in a clarity she had not seen before. And so the softness of the liquid had promised to quench her of her hopelessness.

Wading through the waters would not be enough. She knew she needed to plunge herself into its depths to ensure the permanence of her journey to the other side. It was only a small bridge. An almost insignificant walled bump in the road, intended to carry cars and people across the waters without ever needing to get damp.

Maya had sat for a while upon its rocky edge. It was a grey winter's day but she had been certain she could see her face reflected upon the satin surface of the water. It had not been the foreign face that always stared back at her from the sharp delineation of the mirror. The water's surface had been gentle, as it washed over the contours of her edges. It revealed a softness that she longed to make real.

She had not heard the concerned voices calling behind her. Nor felt an arm reach out for hers. Instead she watched the warm familiar face in the river smile to greet her. as she finally let her arms push herself towards it. She floated as she fell.

There was no physical pain as her body hit the sharp edge of the soft illusion which had lulled her from the bridge.

For a brief moment everything was vision.

Unlike the mirror, the journey was not an immediate one. There was a long dark pause of nothing at all. Until. Maya opened her eyes and finally awakened amidst all of her senses.

Winter had vanished and the waters of the river felt warm from what she assumed must have been the summer sun. She found herself in shallow waters, resting between the trunk of a mighty fallen oak and a large rock lodged and rooted securely on the river's bank. She remained still, except for the darting of her eyes, as her synapses ignited in a world of greens and blues. She did not recognise the flowers bobbing on the river bed. They were smaller than a lotus, yet larger than a daisy. The petals were pink then purple then crimson. Her eyes darted around the rim of its orange centre. And as she tried to capture each part of the delicate and unseen vision before her, scents would tickle her nostrils and melodies would linger in her ears.

The world was brimming. It began at the river bed, which meandered like a curious explorer up and beyond a hill instead of down. The verdant mounds which took the river out beyond the horizon were vast with their fertility. Meadowlike, with delicate petals waving amidst its elegant grasses. On and on. Maya's eyes rose beyond the grassy knolls. Her stomach pushed out a gasp of her breath, as she saw that the rolling hills were the feet of a mountainous terrain spanning the entire backdrop of the scene.

The mountains reached beyond the occasional soft cotton wool cloud which served to decorate rather than interrupt the powder blue of the sky. Maya was certain these magnificent rocks were taller than any mountain range she had ever seen in her limited exploration of the earth she had spent 38 years of her life residing upon. She strained her neck as her eyes tried to skim their lofty tops.

Water wooshed and birds beckoned. Maya shifted her gaze away from the mountain, back down the river and towards a city of trees. Like a forest but more alive. They looked not unlike the trees she had seen in various wooded areas during her everyday travels in life, but somehow they managed to appear more vibrant.

Free from the distractions and disturbances of a heavy life, it was as though she had spent years with her eyes half closed. The greens and oranges and golds and burgundies that swayed collectively: with hands shaped like spears and diamonds and hearts, linear leaflets like fingers, ovals and eggs with edges jagged or smooth, were so bright they almost pained her eyes. Like when you try to look at the Sun, even though your man-made eyes were never intended to stop and stare at the full beauty of its light. Yet now she felt no pain at its beauty. The tear that fell from her eye was not of sadness or loss, it was joy. She heard the birds sing in harmony with the rustling of the leaves.  It was a melody without words, but which her heart understood.

'Home'

It soothed her like a lullaby as she rested her head against the bough of the great fallen tree. Its scent perfumed the air with an earthiness and her mind tingled and buzzed, feeling awe at the smallest of sensations which were magnified in this magical land where nature reigned Queen.

Next came the time of the gentle endlessness of the ocean. It whispered into the nape of her neck. Her eyes searched left, right and in front of her but she could only hear, not see the whir of the waves that crashed and burbled behind her. Pulling herself to her feet, she finally turned to the corner of the world that had been hidden until now.

An ocean reached across a sand lawn, long like the sacred pathway to an altar, with grassy dunes, mingling either side like rows of busy pews. A rise and fall of soft music filled Maya's ears as the waves reached further up the sandy carpet before they pulled away again. Maya felt herself begin to sway amidst its gentle rhythm and the water's orchestra carried her down the sandy aisle to the altar of its ocean.

The passing of time set new rules as the sun quickly made way to a clear night's sky. The image of the moon spanned as wide as the mountains, and rested upon the delicate ocean top. A human figure cast a silver silhouette against the brilliant white of the moonlight. It was as though the man in the moon had painted a magical picture with his artist's brush. Framed by the starlit sky.

A  young woman danced with the waves as though she had finally found her destiny. She sent out a shrill of joy to the ocean and together they laughed and leaped. Sound echoed amidst the art. And the sound was peace.