They reached the back of the house. Jake walked up to the deck and turned to Ashley. “Sam is a little eccentric, but he’s cool—he won’t ask any questions.”
They climbed up the weathered steps, past a dilapidated old doghouse, and to the dirty screen door. Jake knocked on the wooden edge, five sharp raps. “Sammy!”
A thin, middle-aged man, with bad teeth and leathered skin too tan for its own good, came into view. “Jake, y-you salty dog, w-where ya been?” Sam ripped open the flimsy door and gave Jake a one-armed hug. “Haven’t seen y-you out in a w-while.”
“I’ve been around. I see the stutter is back.”
“Y-yeah only a few w-words. Mostly anything that begins with W and Y.”
“Sam, this is Ashley.”
He extended a hand. “Fine to meet y-you, pretty lady.” He looked her over. “W-what’s a beautiful gal like y-you doing w—w-with this beach rat?”
“Sam,” Jake interrupted. “I don’t have a lot of time, but I need a favor.”
Sam’s face turned serious. “Sure, kid, name it.”
“I need a vehicle, preferably something Jeep-like.”
Sam gestured. “Okay, follow.”
They walked around to the front of the house through some tall grass, to what looked like a scattered used car lot. There were no less than twelve different vehicles, ranging from old sports cars, to large trucks and SUVs.
“Wow,” Jake said. “The collection has grown and shrunk.”
“Y-yeah.” Sam nodded. “I can’t stop buying them. I sold the old Ford pickup, and the two Dodge wagons. But got a nice Spitfire over there and check out by the garage.” He pointed to a yellow and black sports machine. “1970 Mustang Mach One.”
“Wow,” Jake said. “That’s in nice shape.”
“All original, needs some tuning up and a new interior, but otherwise she’s a beautiful runner. Seventy-five-thousand original miles.”
Jake eyed a red Ford Bronco. “What about that?”
Sam nodded. “Nineteen-ninety Bronco, she’s a runner, got the big V8 and the four-wheel drive works great. She’s a beast.”
“That’s just what I need. I’m going off-road.”
Sam nodded. “She’s y-your horse. Keys are in it, and I’ll tell you what. Give me your bike and she’s y-yours forever.”
Jake looked at him, and thought about it for a second. “Umm…”
“Ha, just kidding, man. I know y-you love that bike. But all jokes aside, you like that Bronco, I’ll give it to ya cheap.”
Jake nodded. “I’ll let you know.”
Sam pointed a finger. “She’s all y-yours. Keep her as long as ya need.”
“Thanks, Sam. I really appreciate it.”
“No w-worries, kid, but remember, you break her, you bought her.” He turned away.
Jake headed over to the jacked-up Ford. Ashley quickly sidled up to him. “That was easy.”
“Just like that.”
“Nice guy.”
“He is, just don’t get on his bad side. He’s a rattlesnake when he’s wronged.”
“Well, let’s not wrong him.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They climbed in and Jake fired up the beast. It was big and somewhat burly looking, but it ran smooth and quiet. Jake half expected a big loud exhaust system, but nothing of the sort issued out of the tailpipes. It was just the soft rumble of a V8 engine. And with the soft thump, the truck was in gear and rolling down the unpaved dirt road that led to the main road.
“Where’re we going?” Ashley asked as she fished for the seatbelt anchor.
“Well, if any part of this day has been real, we told Ariel to go to the old surf shop. We need to check if she’s there.”
* * *
Jake navigated the lumpy sand road slowly. Darkness was setting down on the ocean like a blanket, and even the formidable lights of the Bronco were no match for the abyss that lay ahead of them.
“Jake, I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I. But it’s just up here around this clearing.”
When they came to a clearing, the headlights illuminated the side of an old concrete and brick structure. The Palladium Surf Shop was the premier shop at one time in the area, but after a major hurricane washed away the road and half the building, the owners never rebuilt. Eventually the property was annexed back to the town and part of the protected wetlands. Over time it became a place transients set up house, only to learn the dangers of high tide season.
“I’m not sure this was a good idea.” Ashley could not hide the worry in her voice and Jake began to feel the same.
He killed the engine but left the lights on.
Stepping out of the truck, their feet were quieted by the sand and the silence was eerie. Only the soft lapping of waves against concrete and deep whirr of the far off heavier waves kept the night alive.
They made their way silently toward the standing remains of the building, hoping to find Ariel where he’d told her to go.
As they reached the gaping hole in the side of the concrete and looked inside, he saw her face, softly lighted by the beams of light. The same twinkle in her eye had always been there but it looked a little less innocent now.
“Ariel,” Jake said, “you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m okay.”
“Did anyone see you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. There was no one around.”
Ashley raised her nose into the air. “Do you smell that?”
Jake looked at her. “Smell what?”
“Smells like ozone, like rain, only stronger.”
“It’s not supposed to rain.” Jake said, looking at the clear sky. But he did smell it, it was an odd smell. It smelled like ozone with a hint of burning plastic. He looked back to Ariel. Her smile was not quite as bright as it used to be. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “I just have a weird feeling. Maybe I’m just worried.”
“I know.”
The lights on the Bronco went out and they were plunged into complete darkness except for the moonlight.
“What happened?” Ashley grabbed his arm.
“I don’t…” Out over the water, Jake spotted two glowing orange balls of light. He stepped around the building into the clear to get a look. They seemed to be far out over the ocean, maybe a mile, maybe ten miles, it was impossible to say.
“What are they?” Ashley moved up next to him.
He had no answer, but they were definitely coming closer…maybe. Then the two were joined by a third and a fourth, and fifth and sixth, and then two went away, seemingly falling into the water.
“Jake?” Ariel called from the building. When he didn’t answer her, he could hear her splashing her way out of the basement and back into the channel and open waters, following them along the sand.
Jake hadn’t even realized that he’d moved so far down the sand, away from the inlet and almost to the beach area that looked out over the open ocean. But the lights were mesmerizing.
None of them realized that the lights had gotten so close. They were just a few hundred feet away but had seemingly not grown in size at all. They still appeared distant.
Then there was a brief flash of light and somehow, a tall woman was standing with them. “They’re beautiful,” she said in a strange, almost tinny voice.
Jake stopped in his tracks. She was tall, very tall, probably six-foot-three, and very thin. Jake was too stunned to talk, evidently so was Ashley.
The woman motioned her long arm toward the lights. “If you look at them long enough you can see all the mysteries of the Universe right before your eyes.”
Jake swallowed. “Where did you…who—are you?”
“I’m a friend, Jake. But we’ve come to the end of our time here. It is time to put this to rest.”
“What—who…where did you come from?” Jake managed to get out. He glanced at Ashley, who was caught between being mesmerized by the orange orbs and the freakishly tall and slender woman that stood with them.
The woman looked up. “I am Avaroush.”
“What does that mean?” Jake asked, slowly losing his inability to think.
“It is a name, like your names, Jake and Ashley, and my Ariel.”
Jake looked at Ariel, lying in the shadows of the moon. “Your Ariel?”
“Yes, Jake, she is mine. She belongs to me.”
“What? You can’t own a person.”
Avaroush smiled. “You can if you created her.”
“Huh?” He looked at Ashley, both she and Ariel seemed to be in some sort of transfixed state, alert only to the lights in the sky. “What have you done to them?”
“I’ve done nothing. They are in full control of themselves. They’re choosing to notice what they want to notice.”
“They look…” He reached out and touched Ashley. “Hey, can you hear me?”
Ashley nodded. “Yes.”
Jake looked back to the lights. “What are they?”
“They’ve come for my Ariel. We must leave now.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You may never understand, Jake, and that’s okay. Not all things are meant to be understood before their time.”
“Please, I want to understand. I need to understand.”
“What is it that you need to understand?”
“Is this real?”
“Is what real?”
“You tell me. I mean, is Ariel a mermaid? Was she made in a lab? Is she a human?”
“Sometimes the answers you get are not the truth you were seeking. Sometimes things are put in place to give them the illusion of reality, or the reality of illusion. You were shown what you needed to be shown and only that. What makes you so special is that you still cared.”
“You’re not making sense.”
“But it all makes sense, Jake. It all has some truth and it all has some lie. You seek the truth you want to fit the narrative you believe.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.”
“Am I dreaming?”
“No, you are not dreaming.”
“What has happened? What part is real? Which reality is the truth?”
“Everything is truth. Everything is real, Jake. All the magic in the world is reality. It is only when you stop believing that it becomes unreal. Age and wisdom bring with it a fleeting grip on the magic of the universe. It falls through your fingers, as do the molecules of time.”
“I’m dead, aren’t I?” Jake had a gut-wrenching feeling that he was dead, that he’d pulled that trigger after all, and none of this was real. He died on those rocks just down a ways from where he stood now. That everything had, in fact, been a dream, and had come full circle. And now this weird woman was going to snap her fingers and end the dream-slash-nightmare.
“We are all alive and dead at different times, Jake. What we choose to believe is our reality in that moment, in that dimension, in that Universe. We exist and do not exist simultaneously. We are both mortal and immortal. We awake from every dream into a new dream, from every life into a new life, and realities are fluid and evolving and multi-dimensional.”
“I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Yes, you do know. Look into the magic of your heart and you will see all the truth you need. You will never see more truth than you do right now.”
Jake closed his eyes, and suddenly everything seemed perfect, everything made sense. He smiled and nodded. “I think maybe I understand.”
“Jake, you are special. We chose you, to save you, because you need to be the one who keeps our legend alive. You have the wonder. You have the magic inside. But you are young, and you are not ready for that responsibility. We ask of you only one thing. Don’t let the magic inside you die.”
“I’ll try.”
“We will return in time, and you will be ready. But until then we must take our leave of this place.”
The lights were now close enough to feel their heat. Jake caught his breath.
“It is time to say goodbye now.”
“I must know one thing.”
“Yes?”
“Is Ariel going to die?”
She smiled. “No, legends do not die, they just go home.”
“Now, please say your goodbye.”
Jake went over to Ariel and bent to her in the sand. He kissed her on the forehead. “Goodbye, Ariel. I will never forget you.”
Ariel smiled. “I’ll see you again soon.”
Then in a blinding flash of orange light, she was gone.
Jake stood up, looked back to where Avaroush stood, and she too was gone, the orange lights were gone. Ashley was there, and that was all that mattered.