Sojourns In Time

        By Atonia

Chapter 3

Philly was afraid to move any closer to him. He was dressed entirely in black and only his face and a trace of his hands glowed in the moonlight with translucence not entirely due to the moon.

“You are lost and a long way from home.”

“Y-es, I certainly am. That was…nice, what you did for Aceton.”

“His usefulness as a stag was finished.”

“Could you send me home like that?”

“No, I cannot pass through to another dimension.”

“Another dimension…where am I exactly?”

“Earth.” He began to move about and his energy force appeared to settle within him.

“Same place different…dimension. Well, to be perfectly honest with you…I’ve about come to the edge of it. I can’t go back to Ceelake or I’ll have to marry. I can’t go forward because…there is no forward. It’s a long way down.”

He moved around the time machine. “You came…in this…this time machine?”

“You know what it is?”

He glanced up and the moon caught the greenish glow of his eyes. “I know everything.”

“You did not wish to marry Cowan and live in peace and harmony.”

“No…I mean I’d just met him. I don’t want to stay here in this dimension or wherever I am. I want to get back to where I came from.”

“Why don’t you get into your machine and…go?”

“I thought you knew everything. I…don’t know how to make it go.”

“You’re afraid.”

“Yes. I know enough to know that machine can be dangerous. It’s against the law to have one…in my world.”

“How is it that you have one?”

“It’s not mine. A good friend of mine built it. He was going to…to travel and to stop him I jumped into it and thought I was turning it off. Instead…well, I’m here.”

“You are both very foolish humans.”

“I suppose I am.”

“Tell me of the place from which you come.”

“New  York? It’s a big city, crowded and noisy…alive. The buildings are tall, very tall and are called skyscrapers. There are many good restaurants and a park, Central Park. I go there on weekends and walk around. I work in a museum, The Metro Museum. I’m a painter. I restore old works of art. I wasn’t born there. I was born in the south in Atlanta.” She didn’t know why she was telling him all this. He listened quietly, completely focused on her. She felt the impact of that focus as if he could get inside of her and maybe he was.

He stared at her until she became uneasy. “What happens now?”

Instead of an answer he held out his hands and she felt that energy surround her again. She kept her eyes on him.  He turned in a circle with his eyes closed, strengthening his energy field. He glowed and then in an instant she felt herself whipped up into the air.

She came down in a marble palace. Arches led off to rooms upon rooms. The floor was laid in an intricate pattern with different colored marble. Fishes and strange animals, suns and moons decorated the floors.  There was seating around a large central fire and with a flick of his hand it roared to life, sending warmth around the room where she stood. The walls were frescoed with alternating scenes of battle and oceans and green hills. It was beautiful, it was overwhelming…it was surely the home of a god.

He stood before her with all signs of his energy hidden. She could see his features clearly now. He was compellingly handsome, his eyes green like sea glass and his face not as pale as she thought in the moonlight. Thick waving dark hair framed his face and brushed his shoulders.  His black coat was fitted at the waist and fell to below his knees. He was tall and powerfully built. There was a strength about him even now without the special effects. Should she fear him? Something about him made her think of it.

“You still haven’t told me who or what you are.”

“Is it not enough that I am? It will be dawn soon. There in that alcove you may sleep. Your needs will be tended to.” He turned to leave her.

“What…what am I to call you?”

He stopped and turned slightly. “You do not call me.” With that he strode away.

There were two women in the alcove and she soon found out they did not speak a known language. They brought her bread, goat cheese and honey, hot tea and soft robes . She slept until midday. The women fed her and led her to a hot springs filled bath. It was heavenly and she swam about in it for awhile. Dressed in the elaborate robes she’d been given, she began to explore the marvelous palace. At the end of one hall she came upon a very lifelike statue of the man-god. She walked around it, a little embarrassed at first for it was a nude statue. “Beautiful,” she said under her breath and walked away from it.

There was so much she wanted to know about him but there wasn’t anyone to ask. The palace was silent except for the birds that flitted in and out. The center of the great room had a hole in the ceiling for the smoke to escape and birds to come inside. She caught glimpses of servants coming and going but none would speak to her.

The thought came to her that she might be a prisoner but, if so, it was a lavish prison complete with hand maidens.

The outside gallery looked down on a valley with a wide river running through it. Clouds lay low in the distance, blocking the view but high up on the mountain where the palace sat the sun was shining and the sky a bright azure blue. She looked up at the sky and thought of September skies in New York. In the park she would spend her Sundays. She closed her eyes and thought of Artie. How he must be anguishing over her, probably beating himself up over the time machine. She wished she could tell him she was okay. Again she looked at the valley and the hills surrounding it. She counted them…seven.

“Oh, my God! It’s…Rome.” But it wasn’t Rome, not here in this dimension. It was farmland, vineyards and animals. It was a place where goddesses could turn a man into a beast. Where strange people lived. A place where a man-god could radiate enough energy to light up a city. It was not a place Philly wanted to live. “I’ll take my world, flawed and scarred as it is…not this one.”

When she retired to her alcove she had not seen him all day. She was restless in her sleep and finally resolved to get up. When she opened her eyes she was aware she was not alone. Standing just inside of her archway against the wall was the man-god.

She lay there a moment and looked at him. “Why are you here?”

“Watching you sleep.”

“Don’t you sleep?”

He didn’t answer.

Her arm was on the outside of her cover and she turned her hand over and opened it. It was an inviting gesture and she’d done it unconsciously.

“Are you well?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

He came to the side of her bed and sat down, taking her upturned hand in his. She immediately felt a warmth up her arm and flooding her female body.

“You are restless. It is perhaps your desire to be away from here.”

“Yes,” she said just above a whisper.

He leaned over and barely brushed her lips with his. “Yes,” he whispered.

Her heart picked up a beat. What was he asking? Was he asking? “Yes.” Because she did want him.  His lips were warm. He was flesh and blood after all.

They came out of their clothes and he slipped in bed with her. She had a flash of the statue go through her mind and felt his lips smile on her neck.  The tickle of his beard sent shivers over her body. He seemed to know just where to touch her and how much she could take before he finally entered her. He filled her, blocking out everything else. She wanted to please him as he was pleasing her, and she was. She could feel what he felt. She never wanted it to end. The end came in a crashing crescendo that took her where she’d never been before. Slowly they came down, near breathless and still not willing to let the other go.

She felt confused…her mind running away with itself.  He kissed her and her mind cleared.

“Now, you will sleep,” he said softly and he left her.

When she woke the sun was high in the sky. She lay there in the bed and went over the night. It was almost like a dream but it had happened. He’d made love to her. It hadn’t been a quick fuck for fuck’s sake…no, he was attuned to her. No one else had ever taken the time to pleasure her  as he had. She didn’t know what to make of it…she didn’t even know his name.

She didn’t see him again for three days. During that time she continued her exploration of the palace. It did appear he lived there alone except for servants, who were mostly unseen. Large rooms intended to hold many people were empty. She found other statues…maybe of past occupants of the house. There was no way to know as they were all nude and no manner of dress was suggested. It occurred to her that he must be very lonely in his marble palace.

She studied the frescos and determined there had been great wars in this world and times of peace represented by the rolling oceans and landscapes.

On the third afternoon he came into the great room with another man. He was elderly and walked with a shuffle and a cane.

“Philly, this is Homer. Homer has been with us for many, many years. He has been happy here and had a good life. He has a wife still living and many children and grandchildren.  He does not hear so well now but he came from your world as a young man in one of your time machines. I found him after much searching and brought him here. I think he may know how to get you home.”

“Home…but where is the time machine?”

“It is here. He has examined it and discovered the problem lies with a key. The key is missing.”

“Ah…the key. I have no idea where it is. I…I don’t know how to set it to get me home.”

“Reverse,” Homer said. Cupping his ear he’d heard part of what she’d said.

“Reverse…just reverse? Well, thank you, thank you very much, Homer.”

“I will return him now to his family and…I will see you later.” Man-god smiled at her and left with the old man.

Home…Philly wanted to go but now HE had mudded the water. She went toward the fire  to warm herself. He returned to the room within fifteen minutes. Silently he came up to her.

“I am having a key made for your machine. It is a simple matter.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.

“You are not as happy as I thought you would be about leaving.”

She turned and looked into his eyes, green and deep. “If you know that then you know the reason. You can read my mind, can’t you? That bit about Homer living here for many happy years was for my benefit.  You did it on purpose you..."

“No, I did not come into your chamber to seduce you. That was not why I came in there. It was your troubled mind and restlessness. It was by your invitation that I stayed.”

“So it was my fault? You’re probably sorry now.”

“I am not sorry. I will come again if you will have me.”

“If I’ll have you…oh…you!” She put her arms around his neck. “You’ve ruined me. No one else will ever..." She rested her forehead on his chest. “I can’t stay here…I don’t belong here.”

“I understand.” He set her apart from him. “Will you share a meal with me?”

“Yes,” she smiled. That one word got her into the trouble she found herself in. With one word her whole outlook changed.

It was a meal fit for a god.  Good wine and many delicacies. It was served in his private chambers.

“Have you always lived here?” she asked.

“Yes, I was born here.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“Yes, many.”

“They’ve all gone now? Why…why do you live alone?”

He took a drink from his wine glass. “I was waiting…for you.”