Read Online The Dreamer by May Nicole Abbey - Free Book Online Page A

and it seemed to beckon to me.
    I felt something deep inside me budding, taking new shape and life, something novel and strange. I didn’t try to analyze it, instinct warning me that dissecting it would surely destroy it, and I couldn’t bear to do that.
    All I know is, I felt alive . And I knew … I knew that I had never been alive before in all my life, my rigid, academic, unfeeling life.
    I leaned closer to him, answering the call.
    After a moment of hesitation, he, too, leaned forward, bringing us very close together.
    My thoughts ceased to exist. There was no time, no earth, or sun, or moon or stars. Suddenly, and against all laws of logic, the universe collapsed, leaving just him and me together. I will never understand it.
    He whispered my name, and just as I was about to close my eyes and surrender to this strange, tangible atmosphere, something flashed below me. I looked at it, my eyes focusing on it in an instant.
    “Captain!” I cried, stooping to look at his belt buckle. “It’s impossible.”
    “What?” he exclaimed, alarmed.
    “Those markings … that’s shorthand. Modern shorthand.”
    *** *** ***
    “Why is it I’ve never seen this buckle before today?” I asked breathlessly.
    By now I had the buckle in my hands. I hadn’t asked him to take off his belt, but when I stooped to get a good look at it, the captain pushed me away and tore off the belt, nearly tossing it at me.
    “Obviously because I hadn’t worn it until today,” the captain answered, his voice something between irritation and resignation. He lay on the bed, a hand to his head.
    “But why not, sir? If I’d seen it earlier, it would have saved me much anxiety.”
    “I only wear it with … particular clothing,” he said.
    “Particular clothing? And what are those?”
    He didn’t answer me. He seemed very surly and cantankerous all of a sudden, when only moments ago I thought him inordinately gentle. I looked at him lying there on the bed. And for the first time, I noted that he wore a jacket of rich, soft red, the cuffs slightly frayed, and pants … breeches, they were called, that were very dark. His stockings were white and his shoes shone.
    “Did your father give you this buckle?” I asked after a moment, holding it out to him.
    He looked at me in surprise. “How did you know?”
    I went to him and dropped to my knees by the bed. I could feel the glow radiating off my face when I whispered, “Captain, don’t you see? This is it! This is the answer . We needn’t worry anymore.”
    “What on earth are you saying? What’s the answer?”
    “This,” I said, holding it out to him. “You know what these markings are? It’s shorthand.”
    He took the buckle from me and looked at the strange markings engraved on it. “This isn’t shorthand,” he scoffed.
    “It’s American shorthand,” I said.
    “What are you talking about? There’s no such thing as American shorthand.”
    “There is. You just don’t know it.”
    I took the belt back, and rubbed it almost affectionately with my fingers. This was it: my calling. This was why I was here. Incredibly … somehow, someway, writings from the future had found their way into the past. Present day, American shorthand wouldn’t be invented for at least another 150 years. And yet, here it was, in my hands, taken from ancient documents that were thousands of years old. The Maharahi Pharaohs reigned well before 2000BC. How could this have happened? How was it possible?
    But it was possible. I was living proof that it was possible. And my mission was clear: I had to unearth this priceless treasure and present it to the world.
    “Oh, Captain ! We needn’t worry about anything anymore. Don’t you see? This is the answer. This solves all our problems.”
    “Would you stop saying that?” he exclaimed angrily. “What madness has affected you now?”
    “It isn’t madness, Captain. Don’t you see what we must do? We will find the treasure, you and me. And never worry about