Paris - Timeless

Published by Amanda Paris at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Amanda Paris

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author. This book is available in print under the pen nameEmma Eliot or Amanda Paris at most online retailers.

This book is a work of fiction. Anysimilarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. CoverImage: The Horsehead Nebula, photo courtesy of European SouthernObservatory Accessed 9 December 2010 and reproduced and licensedfrom CreativeCommons Attribution3.0 Unported

CONTENTS

Prologue

Emily

Chapter One: "The Dream"

Chapter Two: "Plunging In"

Chapter Three: "The Quest"

Chapter Four: "Darkness Falls"

Emmeline

Chapter Five: "Dream Kingdom"

Chapter Six: "Reckoning"

Emily

Chapter Seven:"Discovery"

Chapter Eight:"Torn"

Chapter Nine: "Limbo"

Chapter Ten: "Flight"

Chapter Eleven: "Touching Eternity"

Chapter Twelve: "Voyagers"

Chapter Thirteen: "The New World"

Chapter Fourteen: "Encounters"

Chapter Fifteen:"The Ring"

Chapter Sixteen: "Following"

Chapter Seventeen: "Dj Vu"

Chapter Eighteen: "Being and Unbeing"

"Epilogue"

Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

And time future contained in time past.

If all time is eternally present

All time is unredeemable.

What might have been is an abstraction

Remaining a perpetual possibility

Only in a world of speculation.

What might have been and what has been

Point to one end, which is alwayspresent.

T. S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

Prologue

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a sealupon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel asthe grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a mostvehement flame.

Song of Solomon, King James Version

The icy waters engulfed me, pulling my longskirts down to the depths below. The chill reached inside my lungs,stripping the air slowly as I fought the first rush, the greatflooding torrent that overwhelmed me.

I could see her shadow above the water, athousand glittering lights fading as I drifted farther below. Herhorrid brilliance dimmed as I lost consciousness, and a weightpressed down upon my chest, now lit from within by an inescapablefire that tore the last breath from my lungs, shredded by athousand frigid knives.

I saw his face, my last conscious memory akaleidoscope of our lived past, fused together in a radiant burstof careless passion that had led us to this awful moment.

Death loomed. As I felt its icy grip envelopme, a curious peace ensued, despite the knowledge that, either way,I would die. I struggled the first minuteanyone wouldit was anatural, human reaction. But then I stopped fighting it. To breakthe surface, to draw breath, would be to choose another death, amore hideous, violent end. I had my choicefire or ice. And I wouldnot give her the satisfaction of fire. He would come back to fightfor me, would try to save me, and I could not let her kill himtoo

EMILY

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

Chapter One

"The Dream"

And where you are is where you are not.

T. S. Eliot, East Coker

I tried reasoning, pleading desperately forthem to relent. I felt the tears spring forth, though I refused toshed them in front of her. Why couldnt I make them understand? Whycouldnt they comprehend my terror?

Emily, Im afraid to tell you, if you dontpass your swim test, you cant graduate, Mrs. Anderson, theguidance counselor, said. She looked compassionately into my eyesand slowly nodded her gray head in my direction to emphasize herpoint.

I groaned inwardly. Id tried everything toget out of it, but there was no hope that I could see. Id have tolearn to swim. It was a well-known rule that everyone had to passto graduate. Fifteen years ago, someone left a sizeable amount ofmoney to the school after a beloved son, a senior about tograduate, had died in a boating accident. The one stipulation madewas that every student must learn to swim.

Id made the effort to several times, but Ihad an unnatural fear of drowning since I was a small child. To myknowledge, this aversion was completely unfoundedId had notraumas to attribute to it. And yet, anytime my head was underwater, I panicked.

It was perhaps one of the great ironies in mylife that my boyfriend Ben was captain of the swim team atschool.

He waited for me patiently while I collectedmy things and mumbled my thanks to Mrs. Anderson. Much good thatappointment had done me, I thought. I was no closer to getting outof it than I had been before.

What am I going to do? I complained to himonce we were in the hall, out of Mrs. Andersons hearing.

Ben smiled at me, taking my book bag as wewalked together.

Well, you have two options. Either you canstay in high school foreveryou know how much you love cafeteriafood I punched his arm lightly at this.

"Oryou could do what everyone else does andfinally learn to swim, he finished.

It was true. Ben and I had grown up togetherin the small town of DeLand, Florida, not too far away from DaytonaBeach. It was almost unthinkable that I wouldnt know how to swim.Most of the kids in town had long progressed from theirdoggy-paddling days to windsurfing and jet skis. Water surroundedus everywhere we turned. There was the St. Johns River that ranthrough the county and several beaches, including Daytona, lessthan an hour away.

Ben had tried teaching me, starting with thefirst summer after Id moved to town as a kid, but to no avail.

We entered the parking lot, and Ben put hisarm around me to offer some reassurance. I definitely neededit.

Well, Em, where to now? he asked.

Wait, I thought you had practice for theswim meet tomorrow?

Coach gave us the afternoon off. He said wecould use some rest before the big day.

By now, wed reached his red pick-up in theschool parking lot, where our friends, Zack and Annie, waited forus. Zack had longish brown hair, and like most of the students atour high school, very tan skin. Annie, with her dark hair and widebrown eyes, was a little on the paler side, like me. But even shetanned during the summer.

About time. We thought you guys got lostbehind the bleachers, Zack snickered.

Annie rolled her eyes at him. Like Ben andme, Zack and Annie had been together since our childhood days. Wedid almost everything with them.

Dont start, Zack, I warned, smilingnonetheless.

So what did Mrs. Anderson say? Annieasked.

Annies large dark eyes showed real concern,and I knew I could always count on her. Shed been my best friendsince Id moved to Florida over ten years ago.

Looks like I have less than two years tolearn to swim or I wont be going to college after all, I said,not feeling as lighthearted as I sounded.

Really? Wow, theyre really serious aboutthat swim rule. We could practice, you know, at the Y, Annieoffered. She knew I was mortally terrified of drowning and wouldnteven approach the deep end.

Thanks, Annie, but I think its going to beharder than a few tries at the Y, I said, still glad to have hersupport.

I did appreciate everyones concern. Anniethought it was really my intense fear of wearing a bathing suit inpublic. On that point, she wasnt entirely wrong. Being the palestperson in a school where everyone else consistently worked on theirtans was not my idea of fun. But my fear went much deeper thanthat, I knew.