Frozen Over

Borrowed Time

Arrival

I was starting over; it was as simple as that.

However, it was much more complex.

It was only borrowed time, gifted by the Greek God Poseidon. God of the sea.

Waking up in water isn't ideal, but I was too exited to complain. At first, I could feel nothing, see nothing, it felt more like before, but I was impatient. I felt that everlasting dormancy, the kind that feels like it would rot your brain because of lack of activity.

This dormancy, however, was temporary. Soon I was jerked into humanity.

Welcome back.

Good to be back. The confident side of me snarled.

I was underwater. I was overheated. I was choking. I was a lot of things, and happy with the fact that I was feeling was one of the more prominent ones in my mind. I let myself absorb the pain and enjoy it.

I could feel the upward tug on my body. Then, coldness on my back, as it was exposed to the outside air first.

Then, my need for oxygen increased and I flailed to try to turn to get air in my system.

I eventually found the surface, and I took deep, alien breaths, feeling the strain of trying to cough up all of the water.

For a while it was just like that, me trying to regain my breath after so many years of going without it. It felt like a rebirth to me.

I pulled my body out of the water, feeling the strain yet again in my muscles.

As I got up, I could feel the mossy bottom of the shallow area of a small pond as it caressed my smooth feet.

I used my balance to stand up straight and felt what I was draped in. I was draped in a cloth, a few maybe that were pure white. See through, now that they were wet.

I didn't care about that, though. I cared only that no one seemed to be aware of my presence. I liked it that way, but I didn't know what to do.

I peered around. Here I was, at the fort. Neptune's fort, surrounded by a globe of the sea. I was finally back, in the flesh. And I loved it.

"Who are you?" inquired the voice of a young soldier. My head whipped over to him, assessing that my judgment of young was correct. He looked to be only seventeen. Young for the thirty-year olds around here.

I was requested, and assured by Poseidon, that my arrival would be known. I did not want to show up like an intruder. I looked at him questioningly.

I frowned, and moved to come out of the pool. The boy backed up, not afraid, but cautious of my unknown arrival.

"What's your name, boy?"

He seemed intimidated by my commanding voice. I knew that I must be higher rank that this soldier. He looked so…boy-like.

"David." He seemed to have had to think about that.

"Well, David, fetch the Major for me. "

Without hesitation, the boy dropped the pail of water he had in his hands and ran toward the center of the fort, I assumed.

Now, of course, that pail splashed with dramatic pronunciation to the ground, making every soldier within ten meters avert his or her eyes over in my direction, doing a double take. Some started to blatantly stare. I ignored the rudeness.

A booming voice reverberated through the dome coming toward me, scattering the deathly silence that had made me so uncomfortable, that I ignored for my own pride's sake.

"What are ye looking at? Get back to work!"

I was grateful when they did just that. Anyway, the man I presumed as the Major was striding towards me, scowling at all of the soldiers' backs as they went back to their tasks.

The Major was a tall and lean man with a face that looked capable of convincing you of any emotion that he had- of anything that he said. He looked like a good liar. He was dark skinned and fair-haired, looking to have a few different sources of his heredity. He had plump, dark lips, a double chin…

Ok, so he was basically the middle-age version of a military soldier.

"Hello." His tone was light and apologetic, as weird as that sounds, for not alerting some of my arrival. "My name is Major Jackson, and I am the head of this fine underwater establishment. It is located in the Pacific ocean, off the shore of Washington and ten miles from Canada."

That was quite rushed out. I assumed that he had said that a few times, having practically memorized it by this point.

I nodded. I was not in the mood for talking. I never did talk anyway, and I knew that it would take a while to get accustomed to talking again.

I hated talking, actually. I was so worried that I would embarrass myself by blurting something stupid or ridiculous. I had a fear of being ridiculed.

Which was, compared to my clumsiness, very absurd. I was much more likely to embarrass myself by falling down on a flat surface than to blurt out something stupid; thereby making it absurd even to abhor to the very idea of not talking.

I made to myself a little inter-agreement: I must make my sediments clear, however, they need not be broached at this very hour.

"What be yer name, ma'am?"

I sighed, and reluctantly forced my lips and tongue to form my name-a name that I had almost completely forgotten.

"Isabella." My voice was horse, rusty from lack of use, however, that did not stop it from being higher-pitched and alien sounding.

I cleared my throat, feeling the sour ache of it burn any further words off my tongue. I was rather thirsty, but it seemed as though Major Jackson had other ideas as to what I was going to do.

"I'm sure you will want to get cleaned up, and…uh-" He clears his throat, his embarrassment as to broach on the subject very obvious in his blush. "-You might want some clothes? It's not as perfect temperature as it is in Mt. Olympus."

His reluctant broaching on the subject of my nudity served as a trigger as so I noticed the chill that was coming from being so hidden away from the sun-and the stares, the many men that took small glances over my way, flooding my brain with the humanly-ways I had so far left behind in my venture into the unknown. I was very self-conscious as a human, and this did not go away in my second life. I was still just as self-conscious now as then.

I nodded yet again to the Major, scrambling around with the cloths as so to shield myself from the chilling stares of the many soldiers hard at work.

The Major gave yet another one of his infamous shy smiles, gesturing wildly for me to follow his lead-hopefully well away from the soldiers and into some women's company.

I marveled at the feel of walking on the loose sand. I had to fervently push back the memories of the icy sand that I had walked upon in my last tragic moments.

Instead, I immersed myself into the feelings that had been so far away from myself, or whatever was left of me.

My pale white flesh, no longer as ghostly or sick, but rather that of someone who had simple evaded the sun in there precise environment.

The major led me to a small village house; knocking once, he entered.

I took a deep breath and followed suit.

Good? So extremely, immensely sorry that it took so long. I lost my computer on vacation and had to type a lot along with editing to complete it. Also, thanks to all who reviewed, without you, I would have deleted this story. Which would be a shame, since I fell madly in love with this idea from the time I wrote Frozen Over in my notebook. Write on!