The Light of Avalon

Unfortunately, the next morning started with a violent thunderstorm and the waves only got higher. Brad had spent all night at the wheel and was weary. Since Jessie's death, he hadn’t had anyone to whom he felt confident to safely sail the Dragon Queen in such bad weather. That's why he pulled himself together. The ship lurched violently, and it brought up unpleasant memories in him. Brad bravely steered up and down the waves. Except for him, there was no man on the bridge. Jane, who had always been with him in the big storm, lay completely debilitated in bed. The wild sea didn't do her any good at all. Brad felt overwhelmed and lonely, infinitely lonely. The fate of his passengers weighed heavily on his shoulders. He knew if he made a mistake, they were all lost.

And then something came towards the ship that made the blood in his veins freeze. It was the most gigantic wave he had ever seen in his life. It was as tall as a huge mountain, deep blue and seemed to glow from the inside out. Brad was paralysed. Clutching the steering wheel, he stared at the glittering monster. His head was nearly empty and only a single thought hammered in his mind. “This is the end!”

The wave came closer at a frenzied speed and suddenly Brad awoke from his torpor. “I have to somehow get up the ridge of the wave obliquely, then maybe we have a chance,” he told himself. Desperately, he tried to steer the ship into the right position as far as possible, but the Dragon Queen was too slow. It was impossible to manoeuvre the long sailing yacht in such a short time. They were still at the foot of the wave when it broke right over the ship. Brad closed his eyes, but he still held on to the steering wheel. His thoughts were suspended, but then something unbelievable happened. An absolute silence spread around him and in him as well. “Am I dead?” he wondered.

He felt a burning pain in his hands and opened his eyes. His hands were bloody from gripping the wheel so tightly, but he didn't care. Brad no longer knew what to think. Mysteriously the Dragon Queen was gliding silently through a huge wave tunnel. The glow he had previously perceived was now a bright white light, and the ship seemed to be steered by ghost hands.

“This must be a hallucination.” He tried to explain the impossible to himself. He had heard about drowning people having hallucinations. But the ride through the tunnel continued. “No man can drown for such a long time,” Brad realized slowly. He looked through the window at the bow of the ship and suddenly he saw dolphins again. They swam and happily jumped in front of the ship as if it was the most natural thing in the world and it seemed to him that they knew the way.

Brad took a deep breath. He let go of the steering wheel, which he still clutched tightly, wiped the blood off his hands and ran outside. Here too, except for a quiet, melodic buzz, it was perfectly silent. Brad rang the bell. The wave had to have captured the ship very early in the morning because everyone still seemed to be asleep. They gradually came out of their cabins and no sooner were they on deck, than they stared at what was before them and gasped with amazement. Everyone looked so startled that Brad had to laugh.

“What is this?” Katie yelled. “Brad, where are we?”

“If only I knew that.” Brad shrugged. Now everybody surrounded their captain as they continued to gape at the blue tunnel. “A monster wave broke over the ship and then we were in this tunnel. I have no idea what that means,” Brad explained to them.

Tom arrived with Archie a moment later. “Wow, a wormhole,” called Archie excitedly. 

Now everyone was gazing at Archie.

“What do you mean by that?” Tom inquired, uncomprehendingly.

“Wormholes are tunnels that connect different levels of time and consciousness,” Archie patiently explained. “I thought you knew.”

Tom looked at him with wide eyes. “This is all new to me,” he muttered.

“I know these tunnels from my dreams,” Archie recounted. “I've travelled in them many times before. If you don't specify exactly where you want to go, they will take you to where you can learn the most and where the next stage of development is best reached.”