Green Opal Gateway
Brigit's Flame March Week 2, "What worlds may come". Fiction, no warnings, about 588 words.
Image credit: http://kamayojewelry.com/gemstone-colors/green-gemstone-names/
The metallic bowl was set, filled just barely to the top with some of the purest salt water. Now came the tricky part: gently dropping in the tumbled green opal stone without disturbing the surface too much, or worse yet, displacing any water. The surface of the stone was smooth and difficult to hang on to, but I had done this many times before - though sometimes I still had to do it more than once to get it just right. I slipped it into the center of the bowl, careful not to touch the water with anything other than the stone.
I let go and the gem sank gracefully to the bottom, where it settled. The sunlight angling through the window sent prisms of green and blue reflecting within the bowl as the water stilled. Carefully, so as not to disturb the water, I placed a hand along the rim of either side of the bowl and leaned over it. Peering inside, I ignored my reflection and focused first on the gem in the center, how the water and light flowed through and around it. Then I let the refracted light in the water fill my vision, and my mind wrap itself in the gentle undulations of color.
With my lips barely parted, I vocalized the song I had inherited, the words forming only in my soul:
Beneath the deep blue sea
I see you and me.
Varicolored light flashing
Around us as we’re splashing.
Embrace this feeling: we will see
What worlds may come to be...
The song echoed in my ears as the surface of the bowl rippled faster and faster, the sound of waves breaking into each other growing louder. The first small waves crashed into the sides of the bowl. I dipped my thumbs and forefingers over the edges into the water, and tugged gently.
With ease I stretched the sides of the bowl apart as the water expanded, the gem within glittering in the sunlight as it began to sink. Once the edges were pushed out as far as my arms could reach, the waves crested higher, splashing my face with their spray -
- and the next moment, I was in the open ocean. I gave my tail a powerful kick and dove, my outstretched arm catching the green opal before it sank out of sight. I tucked the gem into the only other item I had brought with me, a small purse with a strap that went across my body and another strap about my waist to secure it to me in the ocean currents.
I pulled in a large amount of water through the gills on my neck, re-familiarizing myself with the sensation. No matter how many times I came here, that was always the one thing I could never quite remember exactly, even though my body did it automatically. Or maybe it was exactly because I did do it automatically that I couldn’t remember it. The very next moment, a shiver vibrated from my head to the tip of my tail as the last synapse connections were made, and I was truly ready to continue.
Without bothering to glance back up at the world of the sky, I dove down, instinctively angling my descent to not only avoid the bends, but also to head directly for the shoal. Though they moved around frequently, I could always find them. My song was their song, and their souls reached out to mine, guiding me unerringly to them as I swum into the depths.