The Aimee and David Story

we bump along as the truck twists and turns through the forest on a washboard dirt road. low branches occasionally brush their green needles over our heads as we pass through the trees and we giggle quietly hoping the driver doesn't notice us. i reach my hand up and wait for the next branch that i can reach to come along, and as it passes i manage to snap off a dry twig. with a grin on my face, i pull a little package from my pocket and unwrap it. you see that i had saved some strawberries from the train and had wrapped them up in a cloth napkin. i take one strawberry, with the little green leafy part turned downward, and poke it onto one end of the twig. holding it out for you i say, "a rose for you, good sir!" my grin broadening. as you accept my gift, you lean over and kiss my forhead. blushing and quiet, we finish up the strawberries, and the truck comes into a clearing and slows to a stop. we quickly jump down from the back of the truck and kneel down to watch as the driver gets out and walks over to a small building. he approaches three men who are standing beside what appears to be a well. we look on with curiosity as they talk inaudibly with eachother for a moment and then the three men begin to hook the driver into a rope seat and prepare to lower him into the well. they pause to look back at the logging truck, and we can just barely make out their words as the driver says, "well, fellas.... those logs oughtta tide y'all over 'til next time." and the man with his hand on the crank replies, "yup, that oughtta do. you have yurself a fine time down there in finn city, ya hear?" with that, he begins to turn the crank and slowly lower the truck driver into the well.

After a bit of waiting, we see the men crank the now empty rope seat back up. The men start to converse again and one points in our direction. They begin to walk over our way. "I bet they are coming to look at the logs" you say. "True, lets move around the truck and sneak over to the well." I reply. We get to the well, and realise our problem. Who will let us down? We decided to crank the empty seat all the way down and climb down the rope. As we descend into the well, we can see a spot of light at the bottom, and a warm breeze is felt coming up the shaft. At the mid way point we hear the men that were originally at the well. "Hey! Who's down there! Your not allowed down there!" one man yells. We feel the rope starting to move as they begin to crank us back up. Just as we think things are bad, they seem to get worse. We hear a loud "twang", and we can see the rope starting to unravel just above us. "The rope! It's breaking!" you scream. I yell at the men up top to stop, but it falls on deaf ears. Just then the rope finally gives up and it breaks in two with an awful noise. We begin to fall downwards towards the speck of light. As we pass through the bottom of the well, we can see we are above a city and falling rapidly towards it. At fist it appears we are going to hit a road, but it becomes apparent before impact that it is a canal. We both hit the water with a tremendous splash. As I reach the surface I swim over to you to make sure you are ok. You are, and I say "this is one hell of a first date!". With a little grin you say "sure beats dinner and a movie!". A small crowd has gathered on a bridge to get a look at us. A man above shouts out ...

"hey! there you are, you made it!" with a bit of a chuckle, he quickly makes his way down the steps to where the boats are tied. he gestures for us to swim over to him as he steps into a boat and says, "i've been waiting a long time to see you two. and now here you are, both of you... in the flesh! i was beginning to think all the stories i'd heard were just pipe dreams and fairy tales!" he reaches out his hand to help us out of the water and into the boat. we search his face, puzzled, trying to place how we might know him, but although he seems familiar and friendly, neither of us have the faintest idea who this man is. he senses our confusion and offers, "oh, i'm sorry. of course you must be wondering who i am.... how rude of me. my name is issac isola. you can call me issac. we've never met, but i know you both very well.... since you born. and now that you're here, i have a great deal to show you. don't worry, everything will begin to make sense in due time." with that, he pushes the boat away from the dock and takes us down the canal. we are soaked clear through and still shaken from our fall. we sit in the boat, wide eyed and quiet, trying to take in all that is happening as issac's oars dip in and out of the water and we pass beautiful old buildings. i consider questioning issac. i want to know how he knows us. i want to know where we are. i want to know where he is taking us. but i don't ask because i feel a strange sense of calm..... a sense that these things will reveal themselves on their own and that we are simply where we are supposed to be. you reach over and touch my hand, slipping your fingers between mine, and i smile. issac pulls the boat over and helps us out. "here we are," he says "just down this alley way...." as we follow him, we notice that up close some the buildings do not look real- like the set of a play with painted facades. yet others seem quite real. walking through them is a bit disorienting. issac leads us along until he comes to a glass knob on the ground. "this hasn't been opened for years. others have tried to turn the knob to see what is beneath this floor, but it wasn't for them and the opening would not reveal itself. i think you will find it will open quite easily for you."