The World Outside the Shell

Chapter 1

The morning sunrise was my first light on the day the wish of a man, who lived outside of time, became real.

The billowing clouds forming in the distance warned of an approaching storm.

I was behind a waterfall surrounded by an ancient structure, white stones, towering columns, and glittering jewels embedded in the walls.

The ancient building was on the side of a hill, in a forest, overlooking a clearing.

I watched a group of people approach the clearing and stand below the towering ruins. I could hear the conversation, but none of the words were familiar to my understanding of common speech and noticed how one companion spoke in a musical tone different from the men.

The words left me in a loud shout of excitement “Is this a dream?” I looked to see if the outburst alerted the companions.

I called out. “Hi, I’m over here!”

No response.

I remained hidden behind the cascade of water.

The group set up camp in the afternoon on the dense forest floor, while two people approached the ruins and searched for a path, the body language with focused determination.

I watched multiple attempts to climb the hill failed with both losing their footing on the ruined stones of the building. The man and woman argued, pointing to the highest levels of the temple hill.

I tried to remember a time before the morning sun and drifted into a deep sleep. “Tamm was the name of the turtle from another world a thousand lifetimes in the past. If was Tamm, the chronicler for the OTHER, what am I doing here?”

The most commanding of the adventurer’s, a tall man in a white robe stepped into view as the stones of the temple rumbled and shifted to create an opening under the cascade of water as he chanted in a low tone.

The courtyard behind the waterfall supported a large round stone basin, a decorated object with the same interlocking gold and silver ring pattern.

I climbed into the basin, which appeared from my perspective close to the ground, as a large container, positioned under the waterfall to catch the mist.

The sides were not much higher than my view, but it took a few tries to scale the carved edge until I scaled the stone edge and fell into the shallow water with a splash.

In a flash I transported to another ring.

I considered the reverse direction and transported to a pool of water in another part of the temple near the forest floor, hidden behind a tall flowering plant with spiked thorns.

The spikes could not harm the shell and I was grateful to be a turtle.

I watched as two men approached the flowering plant and began looking for something.

The men were equal in appearance, with pale long faces and long hair, but one had two large spears on his back, while the other had no visible weapons.

The robes were various solid colors and embroidered with the same gold and silver interlocking rings pattern as the man in the white robe.

The man who chanted in a mysterious language near the waterfall in with a phrase sounding very much like, “Gromm, gromm, gromm,” which made me laugh because it was miserable excuse for a street food I remembered from capital city. I was startled by the thought from a previous life and looked at the shell, “I appear to be a turtle and should forget about what once was…”

I soon noticed a woman in a green robe, with long black hair tied in three braids. It was the sharp look in her eyes that pushed me back into the shadows.

The woman approached the waterfall with determination, scaled the heights with effortless grace, entered the ruined building set on a ledge on the side of the hill, and vanished.

In time, the woman returned and climbed down to the forest floor, holding a long staff with a large purple stone.

I created the artifact in a past life and realized what she was doing in the forest. I shrunk back into the deepest branches of the flowering plant when she started a melodic chant, waving the staff at the base of the temple hill.

I remained hidden, and she returned to the camp.

The long day of new experiences was fading into a restless night, as the sounds of the forest became a distant whisper.

I was falling into a deep sleep and imagined floating in a shallow pool of water on a summer day.

I closed my eyes and soon realized I was a young man, standing in a room decorated with handmade furniture.

The interior space appeared to be a rural cottage. The inside of the cottage was oval, with smooth walls and a round low-ceiling. The rocking chair, the large table in a small kitchen, and the wood bed frame reminded me of the comforts of home.

The summer afternoon soon turned into a cold dark night, as the sunset glowed through tall trees. I returned to the form of a turtle, choosing to hide in the branches of large flowering plant.

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