Catch up!

Pinch paused, awaiting a grand and awestruck audience response. When none came, he continued his rambling speech. “My crew and I have traveled many leagues to reach your city. King Altern sends regards.” Still no response. Pinch grew frustrated and insecure. Yet, he continued, “As you know, the good King is quite interested in welcoming Tiskaloo to the kingdom.”

“None wish for such welcome,” called one of the water-folk.

“Where is the child?” cried another.

This caught Pinch off-guard. He hesitated for a moment before leaning over to chirp orders to a waiting urchin. This urchin turned to chirp orders behind and so the urchins relayed Pinch’s message along the manta’s back until it got to Adam, who was calmly waiting for his cue to make an appearance. A tiny, bright-purple urchin rolled to his feet and piped, “Admiral Pinch needs you.”

Adam floated off and swam toward the urchins up front. Pinch saw Adam approaching and yelled loud enough for all to hear, “Hurry, hurry, dear child. Your people are anxious to see that we have safely delivered you home.” Adam paused for a moment then continued to swim forward and into view of countless Tiskaloons and their bubbly, eruptive hurrahs.

Chapter 10
The Underwater City

Adam examined the crowd of water-folk. Their faces were grim and determined, proud and ancient. They waited patiently for Adam to speak. Adam turned to Pinch. Pinch just looked at Adam and then back to the crowd.

“Hello,” Adam finally spoke and his voice was the call the Tiskaloons were waiting for. Immediately, a brigade of water-folk riding atop over-sized seahorses spurred their steeds to action. The water-folk hastily swam up to form a line in front of Adam, Admiral Pinch, and the Urchin Army.

“We will take the child,” spoke one of the water-folk, his long, blue hair flowing freely about his head.

Catch up!

The spire never seemed to grow in height, only in width.

The closer they got, the better Adam could see that the spire top wasn’t a skyscraper, not even close. It was something else entirely that almost breached the surface of the ocean. Strangely though, no matter how close the manta came, Adam remained unable to the see the spire’s base. All he knew from this distance was that the spire was chalk-white, wide, and incredibly tall.

The closer the manta swam to the spire, the more details Adam could make out. Around the bottom of the spire were three small, cone-shaped, points. The points were each a different color: blue, pink, and yellow. They must be coral. What a strange reef, Adam thought. The formation fascinated him and although the manta was still a fair distance away from the spire, he couldn’t keep his eyes from it.

When finally the manta was close enough for Adam to understand what he’d been seeing all along, he still didn’t believe it. The tall, white spire did come close to breaking the surface of the water. And, yes, there were three, different-colored, pointed formations situated around the white spire. What Adam could now see, as the manta swam next to the lip of a deep, ocean rift, was that those three points were the tops of three other, individual spires. And all four spires extended down to the rift valley floor. The white one, the largest, rose up from the ocean bottom taller than five radio towers stacked one on top of the other.

At the bottom of the rift, Adam could see the city of Tiskaloo teeming with light and movement.

Catch up!

What am I going to do when I get to Tiskaloo? Am I going to have to trick the water-folk like I’ve tricked the Urchin Army? How am I going to get home? This last question pressed upon Adam more than any other. Adam hadn’t seen for himself or heard anyone talk of land since he’d arrived. Do I even have a home anymore? These thoughts spun out of control. As long as the manta swam through deep, dark waters nothing captured Adam’s attention like his own nervous thoughts. Finally, he fell asleep.

Chapter 9
A Second Dream For a Flooded World

Adam dreamed of a large city brimming with people. He dreamed of a a city loud and bright. He floated over this city, watched cars moving, people crowding sidewalks. Adam heard traffic horns and emergency sirens and he floated up above it all. He soaked up all the people and the way they moved, one leg in front of another, then behind, one arm swinging forward while the other swung back, and he tried his best to keep focused on everything at once. Then Adam heard somebody scream. Ah, but in a city this large there was bound to be someone or another being hurt or frightened at almost every given moment. But then Adam heard another scream, and another. Soon, an entire chorus of screaming people burst forth from the rest of the city’s soundscape.

Adam saw why: flood waters. The first people to notice the water probably thought a water main somewhere had burst or that some punk kids had wrenched open a fire hydrant to soak themselves under the hot, noonday sun. As Adam watched, however, he saw the people realize what Adam already knew – the water wasn’t going to stop.
Flood waters rose to trap people driving in their cars. Those without power windows could swim out if they were quick enough to act. Many people ran into buildings and climbed onto a rooftop, but the water climbed right along with them.