Awaken

was in store. As the numbness surrounded my mind and I began to feel slightly dizzy, I thought about the day I would have been born. I wondered if my mom would have been in a great deal of pain. I wondered how my father felt and if I was born at night or in the morning. I wasn’t sure why that mattered, but I guess I was just curious. The last thing I remembered was anticipating that floating feeling of my soul lifting above my body and wondering why it wasn’t happening.

Waves of pain racked my body as I squeezed my eyes shut. I could hear voices but they were muffled. Then I realized why. My own screams were drowning them out. Suddenly, the pain receded and my body collapsed. Sweat rolled down my brow and I felt myself smile, although I couldn’t imagine what I had to be happy about amidst all the pain. My breathing was ragged and I could feel the exhaustion hovering over my body.

“It is time to rest,” a voice informed me. Someone was still rubbing my hair, but that definitely wasn’t Finn’s voice. It was a woman. I turned my head to the side and opened my eyes with effort. Long, wavy dark brown hair swept past large green eyes and a heart shaped face punctuated by a wide smile. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath, allowing the oxygen to strengthen my weary muscles.

“How is she?” Another woman’s voice. I kept my eyes closed.

“She’s doing great. Her body will heal quickly,” came the answer.

Footsteps sounded and I felt a strong presence. It was as if it was calling to me; signaling its arrival. Warmth spread from the aquamarine necklace around my neck to my heart and I felt myself smile again.

“She has arrived, my love,” said a man’s voice. When I opened my eyes, a handsome man stood beside the bed I was lying on. His dark hair appeared disheveled as if he’d been running his hands through it and his blue-gray eyes were wet with tears. He exuded happiness, and the joy within shone through his bright smile. Not until I looked down into his arms did I understand what he was talking about. Carefully, he shifted the bundle and transferred it to my outstretched arms. The presence I had felt was wrapped in this soft, silky blanket. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I gazed down into her bright blue eyes; the color of the sea.

Squirming and watching me with wonder; she reached towards my face and my heart broke with the weight of my love for this small being. But why was I holding a baby? And who were all of these people surrounding me? None of it made sense.

“What time is it?” I asked, not sure why it mattered.

“12:15. She was born several minutes after midnight,” he answered.

“My vision was right,” I breathed a sigh of relief, “January 1 st. She is the new beginning.” I looked back down into her eyes and watched in amazement as she observed her new surroundings, grasping the blanket and kicking her tiny legs.

“What have you named her?” a white haired man with a white coat asked. I smiled at the handsome man beside me and then admired the baby in my arms.

“Anastasia Nemertes Theophanides.”

I snapped back to the present with immeasurable speed; sitting up even faster. I heard Finn’s gasp of surprise at my sudden movement and I twisted around to face him. I tried to speak, but unfortunately nothing came out. My expression was frozen in shock; complete and utter disbelief at what I had just experienced.

“What happened?” Finn was observing me with a mixture of concern and amusement. The amusement probably stemmed from the way my mouth was gaping open and my eyes were bugging from their sockets. With the speed of a snail, I covered my mouth with the hand that wasn’t holding the stone. I was hoping that would lessen the permanent deer-in-headlights look.

“What is it? Is everything okay?” Finn had taken the stone from my other hand and threaded his fingers through mine in an effort to calm me. It didn’t work.

“I…” I croaked, “I…was her…”

“You were who?” he furrowed his brow in bewilderment. Tears, churning with every emotion known to man pooled in my eyes and splashed down my cheeks. I had no idea where to start explaining what I had just seen; it was so overwhelming. I simply continued to stare at him like I had lost my mind. His widening grin didn’t do much to help that association. Before completely bursting out into laughter, he grabbed me and held me close, rocking me back and forth slowly. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the shaking that had taken hold of my body. Finally I felt like I could open my mouth without a string of inaudible noises spewing out.

“It was amazing,” I managed. Finn patiently waited for me to continue; allowing me time to put words to my thoughts. “I was her. I was watching through her eyes. I witnessed my own birth.”

My sentences came out choppy and slightly deadpan, but the important thing was that they came out.

Now it was Finn’s turn to be shocked. I felt his breath catch against my back as he released me and I turned to face him. A giggle snuck out when I saw the same deer-in-headlights look on his face.

“You…saw the past?” he searched my eyes; stunned. I nodded. “And you were seeing it through your mom’s eyes?” I nodded again, waiting for him to tell me I had gone stark raving mad.

“Do you know what that means?”

“That I need anti-psychotic drugs?” I guessed, with heavy sarcasm.

“It means you have Antiquity.” He stared at me with wonderment.

“Is that some sort of disease?” I cringed, but when he laughed, the knot in my stomach loosened.

“It’s an ability. An amazing and rare ability, I might add,” he winked at me.

Another rare ability? I was going to end up on the endangered species list at this rate. My face must have mirrored my thoughts because he laughed again.

“The memories of our ancestors are passed down from person to person. But you wouldn’t know it because most people can’t access them. You, however, do have that ability,” he brushed back a piece of blonde hair that had blown across my cheek, “You were seeing your mother’s memories.”

“Her…memories? And you’re saying she passed them down to me?”

“Just like she passed down her eyes to you. Same thing,” he confirmed. The blood drained from my face as I remembered the most important thing I had learned.

“Finn…I know my true birthday,” I said slowly and his eyes widened ever so slightly. “It’s January 1st.” As I said it, an unsettling realization dawned on me. I would be taking my essence journey very, very soon.

Chapter 10

“No, the marshmallow goes on first,” Phoebe declared, as she closely inspected the melting blob of marshmallow on her stick that was hanging precariously above our makeshift beach fire pit.

After my semi-successful afternoon searching for my true birthday, we had decided to celebrate at precisely Smores-thirty with a beach bonfire and blankets. The night was cool and refreshing, with a light breeze blowing off the ocean. The smell of sea grass and salt swirled amidst the embers, tickling our noses with a warm brew of seductive fragrances. The thickening clouds above warned of thunderstorms, but we had volunteered Phoebe to do an anti-storm dance if warranted. We were gathered around the fire, roasting the first marshmallows of the evening while we watched the flames dance and light up the night. The reflections of our shadows flickering across the sand sent my imagination running wild. I could almost picture the first explorers arriving here several centuries ago, cooking their food in this very same fashion. Unfortunately for them, Smores hadn’t been invented yet.

“No, the chocolate goes on first, and then you squish the marshmallow off the stick with the crackers…like this.” Carmen tilted forward and stole the marshmallow blob from the end of Phoebe’s stick between her graham crackers.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Noth amymore,” Carmen grinned as she stuffed the entire sandwich in her mouth.