Abandoned in the Sky Blue

Abandoned in the Sky Blue

         The car died. In the hundred-degree air, in the upscale hotel parking lot, the car died. Ocean waves they could hear so close.
         “I lost the bet, didn’t I? It didn’t last thirty minutes!” Iris laughed at their current misfortune ad let her hands fall from the steering wheel.
         “I say we ditch the car and walk to the pier. It’s a cheap thrill on this steamy Saturday.”
         “Callista, that’s at least three miles away!”
         “Your point? Let someone else tow the car and we’ll walk oceanside and soak up the sun. We’ll get our vitamin D for today.”
         “I didn’t have a point. Enough useless information, please!”
         “If you grab the phone and dinero, I’ll grab the cigarillos and Orange Crush.”
         “Deal. Are you rationing our cigs now?”
         “Better believe it.”
         Iris and Callista walked barefoot along the gulf’s edge, sipping the Crush and smoking the occasional cigarette. “I feel so alive!” Callista’s sudden outburst gave Iris a mild shock.
         “Yeah, it has been awhile, hasn’t it?” Iris took a deep breath of the salty air.
         “Can it get any better than this?”
         Iris smiled as though it came straight from her soul. “Maybe.” She took a drink and laughed as if someone had told a joke. “I can’t believe we’ve been living on sugar cookies and wine coolers for as long as we have.”
         “Nothing else sounded good.”
         “There wasn’t anything else there anyway.”
         “True enough.” Callista held a contemplative look.
         “And what was with you this morning? I’m sitting at the table reading the paper, drinking a cooler and from nowhere I hear you screaming.”
         “I was trying to sleep and I was invaded by this bad feeling I couldn’t shake. Screaming felt right, okay?”
         “Remember the first day we really met?”
         “Unfortunately I do.” Callista’s head bowed in make-believe embarrassment.
         “We were doing some project that involved countries with names we couldn’t say and maps, right?”
         “Something or other.” Callista looked up above and stared at the seagulls flying overhead. “I swear we’ve been here before.”
         “We’ve lived here our whole lives, Callie.”
         “No really. It’s déjà vu.” Her eyes went straight to Iris’.
         “You’re serious aren’t you?”
         “Brainchild, what do you think?”
         Any peace that lived then broke. All noise went faint. The sound of the ocean rose until Iris and Callista covered their ears to muffle the roaring. Silence occurred, the roaring dissipated as if it had never been.
         “You can uncover your ears and open your eyes.”
         Iris and Callista did as told and looked at the man who stood before them. “Who are you?” Callista asked.
         “My name is Simon.”
         “Well, Congratulations.”
         “Sarcasm doesn’t make a pretty face, Callista.”
         “Iris, I knew the world was wrong. I say déjà vu and we’re in a sky-blue room.”
         “On the contrary, this isn’t a room.”
         “Then what is it, your Highness?” Iris spit fire at Simon.
         “Which version do you prefer?”
         “Simon, just give it to us. Straight no chaser.” Callista felt ready to implode.
         “Well then. Simply, you’re dead.”
         Iris choked on her words, “We’re dead? We were just walking on the beach! We’re not dead!”
         “If you’re not dead, where are you? Answer me that, Iris.”
         Words didn’t escape either her or Callista’s lips. Their faces were painted like those of lost children abandoned in the sky blue.
         “You are here because you died parallel.”
         “Parallel?” Callista questioned.
         “I didn’t stutter. Over the course of your lives, trials have set you apart. You moved far from each other, led separate lives. However, you never realized the bond you had. You let it die. Do you remember the last moment of your life?”
         Callista and Iris’ memories slipped from them. Life as they had known it such a short time ago disappeared. Replacing it was the fourteen years that separated them.
         “I remember.” Iris’ tiny voice spoke. “I had just checked the mail. I walked into the house and opened a letter with just my name on it. Inside was a piece of blue paper with the word REFRACTION written on it.”
         “That’s the last memory I have, except my paper had REFLECTION written on it. What happened to us? Simon, what happened?” Callista pleaded.
         “After reading those words, you died. It would appear that your hearts simply stopped beating. No pain. No signs whatsoever. You died on September 5, 2014 at precisely two o’clock in the afternoon. Both your wills stated that your bodies were to be cryogenically frozen. No reason was given. Your bodies survive on parallel places on the earth.”
         “Then why are we here? What are you? You never did say where we are.” Callista badgered Simon and tried not to let fear get involved.
         “First, I am one of the snakes of the caduceus. Never would have guessed, right? We are in a meeting realm of sorts. I have been trying to get Zeus to supply something roomier, but a blank space is all a snake can get. This isn’t heaven and I do not have wings. You, Callista and Iris, are here for me to inform you that there is a way to live again.”
         “Why did we have to die in the first place?” Iris asked.
         “You died because of the separation. As I said before, you two have an extraordinarily strong bond to one another. When you separated in life, it set off the balance.”
         “So we’re here to bring everything back together?”
         “Elementary, my dear Callista.”
         “Please don’t ever say that again. So how do we mend this lovely situation? We’re dead! Well, sort of...”
         “If I may finish without interruption, I will explain. The only way for you both to live again is by remembering the five-hour joke.”
         Iris’ hands flew up in frustration. “A joke? We are dead and it is all over with a joke? What happens if we don’t remember the five-hour joke?”
         “You will spend eternity caring for Cerberus. It is similar to Monopoly. If you roll doubles, you are out of jail, correct? If you remember this joke, you are free. If you do recall the joke, please do not separate yourselves again. Live close and die close.”
         “So do we stay here and strain ourselves until we remember?”
         “No, Iris. You and Callista are going to be sent to another realm-The Realm of Doors. Each door leads to a place with a clue. Some doors lead nowhere. They are the black rooms. Do not go in there, and make sure you knock first.”
         “So if we don’t knock first, will a dragon eat Callie and me for brunch?”
         “Something like that. I advise you both to follow the path set out before you and not question everything. That might be why you separated and died. So, just do as I say and everyone will be content. Well, except for Cerberus...And one more thing before you go: gnothi seauton.”
         “Check it out Iris, the snake has a sense of humor.”
         “How adorable. And the exit door would be where?”
         “To the left is the beginning-or the end. I bid you farewell and an enlightening journey. Gnothi seauton!” Simon disappeared within the sky-blue room. The blankness switched with The Realm of Doors. The walls, doors, floor, and ceiling were made of amber glass.
         ”How about a pair of shoes like this, Iris? It would match your hair.”
         “I hate my hair. It looks like dead grass.”
         “But at least your shoes would look cool.”
         “Whatever you say.”
         “This is trick glass. We can’t see through it, but whatever is in the room can see out.”
         “Happy, happy. Joy, joy.”
         “Are we going to stay together or split up?”
         “Callie, what do you think? At some point, we lost each other because we separated. I’m not doing that again.”
         “Don’t bark, okay? Chill.”
         “Sorry. I guess we will hit up door number one. I’ll knock.” Iris knocked on the first amber door. From it, a voice came through. “If you must.”
         Iris opened the door and saw an old withered woman sitting pert with a cello between her knees and a bow in hand. “Simon sent us. Do you have something for us?”
         The old woman set aside her cello and smiled. “Simon is such an intelligent soul. He told me that I would have visitors. He always tells me ahead because he knows I like to play a little piece for visitors. I do have something, though.” From her dress pocket, she removed an envelope. “Here you are, dear.”
         Iris took the envelope and broke the seal. “It’s another word, Callie. It says PRISM. One-word hints could take us forever!”
         “Don’t fret your pretty heads. You are in Simon’s benevolent hands. Though he loves puzzles, he won’t give you an objective too difficult.”
         “Thank you for the reassurance, madam. I hope you’re right,” Callista said.
         “Shall I play for you a minor piece?” Both Callie and Iris agreed and listened intently to the cello. The music calmed their wrinkled foreheads and minds for the time being.
         They left room one and knocked on door two. The door opened to a rave. An absent man stood before them. “Come with me!” he shouted as he pulled them inside. Familiarity struck Iris. The man led them to the center of the floor. Without words said, the people formed a ring around the center. “Look at the floor!” At their feet was an intricately painted eye. At four right angles on each side of the eye was a letter. Clockwise it read COTE. When recognition hit their eyes, the people took the center again. Iris and Callista ran to the door and slammed it without ever looking back.
         Callista screamed, “Damn you, Simon!”
         “Why is he digging up the past, Callie?”
         “To prove a point? To make us remember?”
         “We don’t need to remember!”
         “Calm down. We’re okay. We don’t have to go back.”
         A woman resembling a Viking opened door three.
         “Grandma!” Iris recognized her grandmother and grabbed hold of the old woman. “Why are you here?”
         “Iris, you already know why I’m here. I’m helping you and Callie get back home. You should have listened to me when you both were young. Iris, since you confided in me I told you to always trust your intuition. You could never trust anyone else, so trust what you know is right.”
         “I tried to Grandma! What I thought was right never turned out right!”
         “You only followed what you wanted to be right.”
         “And by doing that I killed us, haven’t I?”
         “Yes, but you’ve been given an exit. Trust yourself this time. You have Callie. You’re not alone. I can only give you one piece to this. I know you don’t want to go back there, but your childhood holds the answer.”
         Leave three and knock on four.
         The door opened itself, or appeared to. A woman with black hair to her waist stood before them. “Shut the door.” She glared at them with the blackest eyes. “Look deep. You both know me. I’ve lived in your dreams. I lived in your house, Iris. You know me well.” Her rose lips parted in an apathetic smile.
         “What do you want from us now?” Callie’s shaking voice asked.
         “I want nothing from you. I am only here to remind you of the circle and what you wanted the circle to accomplish. Unity was important, as well as trust. Unity is your world.” The woman disappeared after these words. Callista and Iris left without saying a word.
         In the corridor, Callista sat down and put her head in her hands. “Okay, we have four clues: PRISM, the COTE, your childhood, and finally unity. That reminds me of Operation Ivy...Anyway, we need to think about the relationships here. Everything means something.”
         Iris nodded and sat down across from Callista. “Obviously the COTE and unity go together, but how?
         “We wanted unity inside the COTE, around 2000 especially. I remember drawing it out. We needed more people. There is that quantity v. quality thing again. That lesson took too long to learn. What specifically about unity?”
         “We wanted to unify ourselves, so maybe it’s not what about unity, but who.”
         “That angle we’ll work on in a minute. If that’s true then how does it relate to the other clues?”
         “My childhood is a never-ending possibility. We’re looking for someone...someone we proposed for a spot in the COTE, maybe?”
         “I’m going to try to count off people. My memory is as useful as an iceberg in Cairo. So it was you, Marie, Ruth, Kyra, Patty, Dottie, Connie, Tina, Bobby, Margaret, Jack, and me. I know I’m missing one though. I give.” Callie snickered.
         “Unfortunately, almost everyone is tied to my childhood.” Iris sat covered in disappointment.
         “But which one involves a prism?”
         “This is a game of twisted analogies!”
         “And to that I will sing.”
         Iris cut in as Callie inhaled to begin. “Don’t even! Please!”
         “TRA LA LA, LA LA LA LA LA! TRA LA LA, LA LA LA LA LA!”
         “Now I know why I moved away from you.”
         “How cold, Iris.”
         “I’m cold hearted, remember? My father said that just about every time I offended him.”
         “Everyday, huh?”
         “Shut up.” Iris gave Callie a playful shove.
         “Twiggy, I can still hurt you.”
         “From Toothpick to Twiggy. I hate you.”
         “I know it.”
         The PRE-K argument cooled when Callista proclaimed, “I know who I forgot! Faith! I forgot Faith!”
         “We’re dumb I swear it.” Iris shook her head in disappointment.
         “Drive in the parkway!”
         “Very funny.”
         “Anyway, it’s another link to Star World.”
         “A prism. What kind? What color?”
         “Simon says: CHASE YOUR OWN TAIL!”
         “Callie!” Iris barked. “I could use your help here!”
         “Yeah, yeah. How about a clear prism like the ones in eighth grade?”
         “When we were studying mirages and that bull?”
         “Yup. Concave, convex, reflection, refraction.” Callista kept her face expressionless as she stared right into Iris’ chocolate eyes.
         “Don’t play dense, Callie! You knew where that prism was going!”
         Callie smiled. “They can walk? Oh my, the things that happen these days!”
         “Genius, how does this fit?”
         “Reflection, refraction, and a prism. They all have to do with that little rhyme Mrs. Ross told us. ROY G. BIV, dig? The spectrum. The rainbow.”
         “A rainbow? What are we going to do with a rainbow? Find the pot of gold at the end? Tick off the leprechaun by pilfering it?”
         “Hey, Ice Queen! Melt out! This rainbow is meant for someone in the COTE that was a part of your childhood. It’s your life, so figure it out.”
         “And what are you going to do?”
         “I’m going to door five.” Callie got up from the floor ad knocked on door five.
         “Hello, Callista.” The Hispanic woman opened the door and welcomed her inside.
         “Hi, Grandma. I didn’t expect you to be behind the door.”
         “Well, it was a choice I had to make.”
         “Why is that?”
         Susana took her granddaughter’s hand and led her to an oval table. “Sit down and I will tell you what you need to know. My knees are almost gone now.” Susana winced in pain as she took a seat.
         “I’m sorry about that.” Callie looked at the floor as she sat down. “Why are you here? I can’t see a reason.”
         “Take your time mija. Reasons and answers will come. I am here to tell you why you and Iris separated all those years ago.”
         “I don’t think we really looked at why we moved apart. We just did because the balance was off and we didn’t know how to fix it.”
         “You don’t necessarily need to fix anything. You need to realize why, that is all. Since you were born, I knew that you would be very smart and brave. Though these came with a price, it was your only way to truly live. The price you paid was living too much. Actually, it is like knowing too much. You know each corner of the human mind and the world around you, but it drove you further from yourself. You hid deep inside your mind where no one could reach you. Iris had the same dilemma. Both of you came to fear each other because you feared everything. The separation occurred because of the fear. Seeing each other was only a reminder that neither of you could handle. So you left and did not speak for fourteen years.”
         “How can this help us now?”
         “Be as you were as a child. Stay brave, mija.”
         “No giving in this time, huh?
         “You always were a quick learner.”
         Callista rose from the chair. “I have to go, Grandma.”
         “Goodbye mija.”
         In the corridor, Iris sat bringing up each detail of her early life. For the first few years of her life, she was free from any burdens. Until first grade, life was stable, if she ever knew the word. Multiple rapes took her soul, her voice. Pushing everyone away and denying all trust became life.
         Iris hated the way it made her feel to think back there. She was only five when she met Jack. She spoke to him a couple times a week before she died. He knew what happened to her, and he understood. She didn’t push him away. Something about him kept her near.
         “Iris, behind the door was my Grandma Susana. She said that we drove ourselves apart because we went mad. Knowing killed what was between us.” Iris turned to face Callista.
         “It doesn’t surprise me.”
         “Are you okay?”
         Iris sighed and said, “Of course. I think I know who we’re looking for. Jack. He was a part of the COTE. He made an impact on my childhood, and the rainbow clue we got is the street he lived on. Rainbow Drive, remember walking there?”
         “I leave you for five minutes and you solve the puzzle. Bravo.”
         “But what’s the joke, Callie?”
         “No idea, kid. Let’s keep going though. It’s a joke we need to remember, not Shakespeare.”
         “Yeah, yeah.”
         Door six wasn’t answered by anyone. The only indication to enter was a meow from the inside. Callie and Iris walked in to see a tabby atop a barstool sipping a frozen drink through a straw.
         Iris laughed at the sight. “Is that a strawberry daiquiri?”
         Meow.
         The tabby looked up to meet their eyes.
         “You’ve got to be kidding me here,” Callie said.
         A low growling meow came from the tabby.
         “So I guess that’s a no?”
         “Callie, stop messing with him.”
         Meow.
         “Did Simon leave us a message?” Iris asked.
         Meow.
         The tabby put his nose to the daiquiri.
         “He left us a drink?”
         “Callie!”
         Another grumble escaped the tabby.
         “Okay. Both of you get off the high horse, please.”
         “The daiquiri, or rather the word, is the clue.”
         Grumble.
         “Then what is it furball, if it’s not a clue?”
         He raised his right front paw and tapped his head three times.
         “Is your name Strawberry?” Iris tried.
         Grumble.
         “Is your name Daiquiri?”
         Meow.
         “I win! I win! So besides being your name, is it also a word clue?”
         Meow.
         “Another win for me!”
         “You know if I didn’t care about you I’d kick the crap out of you.”
         “How very kind of you.”
         “I know.”
         “Daiquiri, may I take your drink?”
         Grumble.
         “Fine, fine. See if I talk to you again.” Laughing as quietly as possible, Callie stormed out of the room.
         “Don’t mind her. She’s an original lunatic.”
         Snicker.
         In the hall, Callista leaned against door seven. “He didn’t like me. I’m so hurt.”
         “You’ll get over it. Get knocking.”
         Door seven opened itself. On the floor lay a canary yellow telephone. As they walked in the telephone rang.
         “Shoot you for it?” Callie gave a pleading look.
         “Okay.”
         In unison, “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”
         Iris: paper.
         Callista: scissors.
         “Hello?”
         “Listen very carefully now. Jack got married in a big cathedral by a priest.”
         Click.
         “What did they say?”
         Iris put the receiver back on the hook. “They said Jack got married.”
         “So what? He’s been married for nine years.”
         “I don’t know. Next door.”
         Exit seven. Knock on eight.
         An envelope slid under the door.
         “Okay, don’t let us in!” Callie yelled at the door as she picked up the envelope. “And the winner is: telephone joke!”
         Iris rolled her eyes then focused on the clue. “So our five-hour joke was on the telephone?”
         “Well, that will take us some time to guess. We’ve talked for ten or twelve hours before.”
         “It’s puzzle time yet again. Find a nice spot on the glass and get comfortable.”
         “My bum’s already in pain!”
         “Stand on your head then.” Iris sat leaned up against the amber glass.
         “What joke did we ever tell that revolved around Jack getting married?”
         “You’re the one with the bright ideas, so think.”
         “I’m just playing connect the dots. We told a joke over the telephone that lasted five hours and it had something to do with Jack’s marriage.”
         “And the joke is?”
         “It’s not mine to remember.”
         “You just love pushing the hard stuff off on me, don’t you?”
         “I think we’re missing one more thing to this joke issue. I’ll be back. Door nine calls.”
         Knock, knock, knock.
         “Iris, they gave me another envelope! Here you open it.” Callista sat back down and tossed Iris the envelope.
         “Joke from a dream. That’s the clue.”
         “Your dream, kid. Not mine.”
         “I should’ve written all my dreams down. This would have been easier. Wait a second. Where does the daiquiri fit in?”
         “I was drinking it. We were having a three-way call with Jack. I kept making freezer trips.”
         “Was that when we were put on hold? When he came back, we had just talked about him. That was the joke! Whatever dream I told you while he was on the other line is the joke!”
         “Holy Artemis, think Iris!”
         “I’ll try another door. We’re too close not to.”
         Door ten opened. Inside was a gift box. Iris did not open it, but she took it and left the room.
         “It’s a package or something, Callie.” Iris sat down and eagerly opened the box.
         “An apron? What is this about?” A red apron decorated with tiny white flowers lay in the box. On the underside of the lid, a card had been taped.
         “There’s a card too.” Iris tore the envelope open. “This is a wedding gift from me!”
         “You gave Jack an apron? Poor taste. Tsk, tsk.”
         “I dreamt Jack was making breakfast naked except for an apron. I told you this on the phone when we were on hold. Then Jack came back out of nowhere and all it did was make us laugh.”
         “I remember that. I told you when he got married you should give him an apron. I stared at the ceiling and never laughed so hard.”
         From door eleven came Simon. “Well you will be going home soon. What an interesting dream, Iris. I am proud of you both. Door twelve awaits you. Inside is the way home.”
         Knock, knock, knocking on an amber door.
         “Do come in!” A cheerful voice behind the door spoke.
         Callista opened the door. The amber walls were covered in maps. A prairie dog stood on a ladder at one of South America. Two more prairie dogs sat at a small wooden card table playing poker.
         “Oh my Zeus. What the heck is this?” Callista stared at the scene before her, unable to laugh.
         “You said it.”
         The prairie dog upon the ladder began to climb down and said, “Please excuse my rudeness. I was rather packaged by my work.” Once down he walked towards Iris and Callista. “Hello, my name is Nimbus. I’m the mapmaker that will help you two dears get home again.”
         Iris smiled and gave a sigh of relief. “Is there a catch to this?”
         “No catch. I simply give you the coordinates of your frozen bodies and you get them free. You will both continue your lives together. Simple as that.”
         Callista spoke up. “Who are they?” She pointed to the poker-playing prairies.
         “Oh, yes. I didn’t mean to forget introductions. My manners these days...” Nimbus pointed to the table. “On the left is Nim, who is deaf and can speak by sign language. The right is Nil, who is blind. Nil always insists on playing poker, so we had to invest in Braille playing cards. They aren’t ones for language with strangers. Shall I let you depart?”
         “I don’t know, Callie. I’m a little afraid to go back. We could end up back here again. I do not want to be sucked in like before. We destroyed ourselves. Do we want to chance it?”
         Callista stood silent for a few moments. “I’m game if you are.” She smiled wide. “I’ll take my coordinates if you will, Nimbus.”
         “Absolutely, Callista.” Nimbus handed her a half-slip of blue paper.
         Inside it read: 4°N, 72°W.
         “Iris, take yours please. I’m not going without you and you can’t stay here. You’ll have to dog-sit for Cerberus.”
         “Fine, I give in. You and your logic need to take a break.”
         “I wish you both the best of coincidence.” Nimbus handed Iris her paper.
         The coordinates read: 4°N, 53°W.
         “Goodbye, Nimbus. Peace out Nim and Nil. By the way Nil, Nim’s got nothing so bet high.”
         Exit twelve.