Another excerpt from Atlantis

THE SUN IS WARM on Sam’s shoulders as he walks through a saturated, brilliantly colored field of yellow daisies, touching them with his hands as he goes. The therapist’s voice overlays the scene as if she is watching from above.
“Do you feel the breeze?” she asks.
“Yes.” Sam replies, as if he is both a watcher in this dream, while at the same time living it.
“And the warmth of the sun?”
“Yes.”

In what we would call the “real” world, Sam lays on a recliner in the therapist’s office, traveling deeper and deeper under hypnosis. He is indeed feeling the breeze while he walks through the field of daisies, and he is indeed feeling the warm sun on his shoulders. All of this, while Susan observes his every move, and does her best to guide him to the source of his increasingly intense nightmares, and now daytime visions.

“Up ahead of you, there is a very tall hedge. Do you see it Sam?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Walk to it.” He does. “This hedge is so tall, and long, that you can’t see over it, or around it. But there is a door. Do you see it?”
“Yes. I see it.”
“What does it look like?”
“It’s… heavy wood. Ancient. It has Iron hinges and an iron handle.”
“Can you run your fingers over the wood and tell me what it feels like?”
“Smooth… smooth and weathered.”

“Very good Sam. Now, in a moment I am going to ask you to open this door, and when you do, the message that is trying to come through will be on the other side, waiting for you. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
“Good. Now, when you’re ready, take hold of the handle, and push the door open just a bit.”

Sam in the recliner feels his heart speed up, as Sam in the field of daisies reaches for the door handle. He pulls and the door opens a crack. It’s heavy. He can feel the weight of the millennia-old wood in his hand. He pulls it open a bit more and a brilliant white light streams through. “It’s open. I opened it.”
“What do you see?”
“Nothing… just light… white light.”
“Take a step through the door Sam. There is nothing on the other side that can hurt you.”

But Sam, both Sam’s, feel a wave of fear rush over them. Sam in the recliner is sweating and breathing rapidly. “I can’t. I can’t do it.” Sam at the door, turns back, looking for an escape, but the field of daisies melts away. Then, a voice.
“It’s all right… I’m with you. There is nothing to be afraid of.” The shape of a woman materializes in the doorway and reaches her hand through. It is Miria. “Take my hand.”

The fear melts out of Sam as he once again finds trust in a pair of brilliant green eyes. I know you… I remember you… he thinks to himself as he takes her hand, and she pulls him gently toward her. He wants to embrace her, to feel her arms wrapped around him. He aches for it. But before he can reach her, she melts away. “It’ll be all right my love…” and the air around him grows hot. The white light turns to a fiery red, and the sound of a million humans crying out for help fills his senses. He screams.
“No…no… no!”

HEALING TEMPLE, ATLANTIS. All is dark. A man cries out. Susan’s voice filters through. “Where are you Sam?”
Miria’s voice overlays. “It’ll be all right my love.”
The man, Atar, lies on a stone table, covered by a soft, white linen cloth. On his face, a mask formed out of a single piece of clear quartz crystal, carries the images that flash in his head - a fiery red sky, and a city in the midst of destruction. Miria lays her hand over the mask, and the images fade. She lifts it from his face, and he opens his eyes, squinting at the bright sky overhead, dotted with pure white clouds. They sit in the center of a circular temple, lined with columns, and open to the elements.
“Is it the same dream?” she asks gently.
“Yes.”
“And the city is falling?”
“Yes.”
“Many are coming to me with similar visions.”
“Mass hysteria.” Atar responds, as he sits up and stretches.
“Are you hysterical?” Miria snaps back.
“At times.” He smiles, and gently touches her face. “Can you help me be rid of these dreams?”
“There’s something you’re not seeing.”
“And what would that be?”
“Something you don’t want to see.”