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  “No, I was being desperate. I don’t know if it will let me leave even if it keeps you. We’ll see when you try to leave. I’m going to try to leave with you.”

  I began to feel panicky but just as soon as I began to feel that, all of a sudden I was calmer than I had ever been in my life. This living cave was very seductive.

  Then I thought of something I hadn’t considered before now, “Do you think it can hear our plans. Maybe we should discuss this outside.”

  She shook her head, “It probably wouldn’t matter. Whether or not it can hear our plans, it will keep us if it wants.”

  I walked to the entrance of the cave intending to see if I could leave when I saw Joe coming up the hill toward the cave entrance.

  He saw me and waved. I waved back and felt like he had touched me. This connection we had seemed to be getting stronger.

  Irene invited him inside and she fixed tea for us all. It had a minty flavor but with a touch of clove and I loved it. I hadn’t noticed her brewing it but it didn’t surprise me that it was suddenly there.

  I decided to tell Joe about the cave but the cave wouldn’t let me. As soon as I said, “This cave…” I felt like my throat was stuffed with cotton.

  “Let it go,” Irene said and I pictured in my mind the cotton leaving my throat and almost immediately my throat cleared.

  Once again Joe took my hand and turned it over and lightly ran a couple of fingers over my wrist and once again I gasped.

  I wish I could describe the sensation. It was so much more intense than an orgasm that I knew if I ever had sex with him I wouldn’t be able to bear it.

  When I thought about it everything here was so much better than ordinary. The food was wonderful, I had the best coffee I’ve ever had this morning and I had never slept better or more comfortable than I had since I’d been there.

  I was thinking about all this and not paying much attention to what Joe and Irene were saying until I heard Irene say, “I think she has a right to know.”

  I looked from one to the other and Joe nodded and looked at me, “I’m dying, Ashley. The last implants I had put in were relatively new and were supposed to enhance the sexual drive and sexual attraction.

  “You see, over the years, since we’ve been getting implants we have become more and more asexual. P63G is one of the very few children who have been born in recent years.

  “In fact, it looks like she is the last one. Not one woman has gotten pregnant because most of them are infertile. It’s a side effect of the implants.

  “The sexual drive of both men and women have declined so much that not many people even bother anymore.

  “When they came out with this new implant that was supposed to enhance the sexual drive and increase the sperm count, I was one of the first to volunteer. What they’re finding is that the part of the brain they were trying to stimulate contains some of the hormones that slow down the aging process.

  “In stimulating that part of the brain, some of those hormones were actually destroyed. So, I may not look it but I’m dying of old age.”

  “Why don’t you just have the damn thing removed, in fact, why don’t you all have all those wires and things removed and live like people lived in my time?” I knew I sounded angry but I didn’t care.

  He glanced at Irene then back at me, “There’s an underground movement that wants to go back to your way of life and I believe you were sent here to help us do that. We’re having a meeting here in this cave tonight and I want you there.”

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute, what do you mean I was sent here to help. You mean like a savior?”

  “Yes, just like that. We believe that was why you weren’t born to this world like everyone else and your memory erased when you were born. Instead, you came as an adult and with your memory intact.”

  “When Irene came here the same way you were, she came from a more advanced era. She couldn’t help us. But you came from a time before we got crazy with technology.

  “As soon as I saw you I knew this, I don’t know how but I did. I’ve been spreading the word around to the others, which is not easy to do without the authorities finding out, and they want to meet you. Will you come?”

  “Since I’m already here I’ll stay.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Joe and Irene agreed that I should wait at the back of the cave until everyone had come in and then they would introduce me.

  As I stood watching from the shadows, I was amazed at how many people were at the meeting. I hadn’t seen this many since I had gotten here. I noticed several of them walking very slowly like old people even though they didn’t look old.

  When everyone was seated on the spheres, some half reclining, Joe motioned for me to come forward. I felt very nervous and it didn’t help that everyone was whispering and pointing.

  “Hey, 65G what did you do, rob the museum?” and everyone laughed.

  Joe and I stood in front of the crowd and I noticed that Irene hadn’t taken a seat but was standing off to the side.

  Joe laughed good naturedly, “She’s the answer to our prayers. Her name is Ashley, and no, she’s not a pet. She comes from a time when they had names like that.”

  “She’s beautiful,” I heard a woman whisper from the front.

  No one had ever called me beautiful before and I wondered if I looked the same as I had in my other life. I had seen no mirrors and could see why they didn’t want to see themselves with the shaved and scarred heads.

  One man in the back raised his hand and Joe recognized him. “I’m going to trust that this cave is safe, like you say, and speak my mind. I think what you have in mind for her is to use her as a breeder, is that right?”

  Joe glanced nervously at me and nodded. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was here to teach them about the old ways. No way was I going to be what they had in mind.

  There were murmurings and nods of approval throughout the cave. I assumed that, at one point, I would be given a chance to speak and a choice, so I remained silent.

  Joe raised his hand and things quieted down. He then introduced Irene. Everyone had been staring at her but had made no comment about her. “Irene is going to tell you her story. She has never told anyone yet and she will tell you about this cave, which she hasn’t told me about either. I believe that, between her and Ashley, they can help us.”

  Joe rolled one of the spheres over and we shared it. It fit our bodies perfectly. It felt like the most intimate thing I had ever shared with anyone. I would gladly have sex with him and be a breeder, I wanted more children anyway, but no way would I sleep with anyone else and I would make that clear.

  Everyone was very attentive as Irene told her story and they began to marvel about the powers of the cave.

  When she finished a woman with oriental looking eyes raised her hand, “I believe I can see where this is going,” she said. “You think we can all hide out in this cave and escape the authorities and, what, build a whole new civilization?”

  Irene raised her hand for silence, “As I have been talking, I believe I understand what my purpose in coming here is and why the cave will not let me leave. Now that I understand it, it doesn’t feel like a prison anymore.

  “I believe both Ashley and I have come here in this unusual way because mankind is on the verge of destroying itself. I believe I was sent here as a gatekeeper.”

  “A gatekeeper of what, a cave?” someone yelled from the back.

  Irene smiled and I thought she was beautiful, “There’s something about this cave that I’ve told no one.”

  She spread her arms wide, “This that you see here is only the entrance to the rest, the rest being a city. I have only seen the city from this cave and have not been allowed to enter it. I think I wasn’t ready and had to be prepared in some way.”

  No one spoke for several minutes. I think we were all in a state of shock. Joe stood, “I think we have a lot to think about. I’m going to close the meeting but if anyone wants to stay and discuss thi
s some more, you’re welcome.”

  He looked at Irene, “Would you be willing to show this city, to those who want to stay and see it?”

  It looked like everyone wanted to see the city and no one left. We followed Irene to the back of the cave and as we went deeper it became darker and harder to see. I was beginning to think it was just another cave when all of a sudden I noticed it got lighter and I could see a city up ahead.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It was not like any city I had ever seen and I heard several people gasp. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  “It looks like it took your idea of the houses you build and improved upon them,” I said to no one in particular.

  “We didn’t build the dwellings we now live in,” Joe said. “They sort of grew. We used to have houses like in your time made of brick and wood etc.

  “As we became more and more interested in information and communication and began having the implants in our brains, our houses began to deteriorate.

  “It was about this same time that we started noticing these small strange mushroom shaped things. They grew into what we call dwellings. They appeared to have almost magical powers.”

  “No one questioned these strange things?” I asked.

  “Well, at first we did and some people tried to cut down these mushroom looking things. But one day as I was out hiking I came on one that was the size our dwellings are and I felt it. It felt sturdy and I wondered if I could go inside it.

  “I was mumbling to myself and at one point I said, ‘I wish I could see a way to enter it,’ and as soon as I said the word enter the wall disappeared and I went inside. The opening closed over and I couldn’t see where it had been.

  “At first I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get back out and decided to try the exit which worked. I came in and out using those words several times before I felt comfortable staying in there and looking around.

  “I saw the spheres and started to roll one but when I put my hand on it, it conformed to fit my hand. I decided to try and sit on it and it did the same thing to my whole body.”

  An older man I had noticed before took up the story, “65G told us to let the things grow and he believed we could live in them and so we did and he was right.”

  I realized my mouth had been hanging open and I closed it, “Didn’t anyone ever try to figure out where these things came from? I mean, I would have dug underneath them and tried to figure out if there were roots and where they came from.”

  “We were afraid to do that, Ashley,” Joe said. “We were afraid we would destroy them and by then our houses were all but rotted away.

  “We didn’t realize some of the properties the dwellings had until after we started moving into them. They provide us with things we need.”

  “Is everyone ready to try to enter the city?” Irene raised her voice above the excitement.

  But as we went forward we met with a clear membrane. You couldn’t see it but it just wouldn’t let you get past. One woman tried to dig her fingernail into the membrane and it left what looked like a trail of blood. She jumped back.

  “I guess we haven’t earned the right to go in yet,” Irene said, motioning us to move back.

  I was extremely disappointed. Everything in the city looked so clean and safe and beautiful. I wondered what we had to do to earn the right to enter.

  When we entered the room we had left, Irene motioned for us to have a seat and again I shared mine with Joe and could have stayed there forever.

  She addressed the woman with the fingernails, “Don’t ever try anything like that again. You hurt it. Did you see the blood? I don’t know what we have here but it has given us nothing but good.

  “I believe from what little we know that it has actually grown the dwellings you now live in. I thought that as soon as I saw the buildings in there the first time.

  “I believe there has to be a certain amount of enlightenment to enter the city. I believe I am just now beginning to get that enlightenment after being here over 100 years.”

  “We don’t have that long in this life,” someone yelled.

  Irene held up her hand, “It took me that long because I fought it. I tried to escape. I have learned a lot since I was discovered by P65G,” she said as she looked at Joe.

  “That surprises you, doesn’t it Joe? You see, I could sense your pain when we were talking and I began to wish I could help you. I thought long and hard about how I could help you and then you brought Ashley and everything seemed to fall into place.

  “In the times I saw you before you brought her, you asked me about meetings in the cave and you confided in me about the implants and the lack of fertility etc.

  “When you brought Ashley to meet me and ask me for help, some things started to click for me and I gained a small piece of insight. That’s when I agreed to the meeting. What I saw in Ashley was a fresh beginning for all of you.”

  I looked around the cave and saw several people nodding like they understood. I could see enlightenment in their eyes. I felt Joe relax even more against me, and I knew he understood even more than he had previously.

  Irene spoke again, “I want all of you to go home and think about everything that’s happened here tonight and look within yourselves and see what you can do to gain insight. Ashley, 65G and I are going to try to enter the city again. We’ll let you know.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  We walked along the dark passage toward the city. No one spoke and when we got to the city we walked right in.

  I had noticed earlier that no one wore any shoes so I knew they were experiencing the same sensation from the ground, if you could call it a ground.

  It was the smoothest surface I had ever walked on. It was neither hard nor soft but had an elastic feel to it. It gave just enough to help me spring to the next step.

  There were no defined streets but they defined themselves according to where you wanted to go. The scene around us was hard to take in and hard to describe. There wasn’t a shade or tone of color that wasn’t represented here.

  There were trees that had every shade of green, for example. We were walking toward a peach colored building when Joe fell to his knees. He screamed as he grabbed his head.

  “We’ve got to get him out of here,” I said and tried to pull him up but he waved me off.

  It looked like liquid metal pouring through his fingers from his head and then metal tears poured from his eyes. He collapsed and lay there twitching. Irene and I stood watching but didn’t move.

  We both had our hands over our mouths and tears streaming down our cheeks. “I believe it’s a good thing,” Irene finally said and I stared at her. I was shocked she would think this.

  When I looked back at Joe, he was getting to his feet and he was smiling. I thought he was good looking before but with the new full head of hair he took my breath away.

  His hair was red and wavy and grew far back on his forehead. It barely covered his ears.

  “I feel better than I have in years,” he said. “My head feels light but not in a faint way. I didn’t realize my head felt heavy until now that it’s light.”

  I followed his gaze to the ground and it looked like puddles of metal. “It’s like I bled away the implants.” He felt his head. “I now have hair. How am I going to go home and not get picked up by the museum authorities?”

  “Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s continue our journey,” Irene said as she led the way.

  Joe took my hand and we continued on toward the peach building. I have never felt so at peace. I could have lived here with Joe for the rest of this life and been happy.

  As we walked past a tree with multicolored flowers I stopped and tried to pick one but it wouldn’t let me. It held on tight. I had to run to catch up with the other two.

  I was surprised that the peach building had a regular door with a lock and a key in the lock. Other than that, it looked like the buildings I had seen before. Irene turned the key and opened the
door and we entered.

  What we saw inside was so beautiful it took my breath away. The spheres were clear instead of opaque and they were every color and size imaginable. They were in piles so that they resembled bubbles in a bubble bath.

  I rolled one over towards me and stretched out on it and I couldn’t believe it but it was even more comfortable than the ones I had tried out before.

  Joe came over and joined me and we gazed into each other’s eyes. It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me. I had forgotten about Irene until Joe said, “Irene’s gone.”

  We got up and looked around both inside and out and she was nowhere to be seen. We decided to go back inside and enjoy each other’s company while we waited for her.

  When we got back inside there was a small table I had not noticed before and a note that said, “You are both to stay here for awhile. This will be your home. I will be in the lime green house down the way. That is my house.”

  She had left the key on top of the note. Joe and I looked at each other and a slow smile spread over our faces. He took my hand and led me over to a larger sphere. This one was a clear dark purple.

  He took my robe off and then his own and neither of us was wearing anything underneath. I have never been so attracted to anyone and I have never been so completely satisfied after sex than with Joe.

  Afterward, we walked down to the lime green house to see Irene. I was head over hills in love. I would have gone anywhere with Joe.

  She opened the door before we got to it and smiled at us. “You both look wonderful. I believe you have made the first step in fulfilling your destiny. I believe it will be a fruitful union.”

  I could feel myself blushing and smiling at the same time as I realized she knew what we had been doing.

  “Are you two hungry?” she asked changing the subject and I realized I was famished.

  We sat at a table the exact right size for the three of us and had all kinds of vegetables and breads with roasted chicken and the best wine I had ever had.

  After dinner we headed back to the entrance of the city while Irene explained to us what she believed.