Atria (Chapter 15)

Later that turn, Atrius approached her once again. He placed his hand on Ashley’s shoulder and she nearly collapsed under the weight. “I know that this last orbit has not been easy for you Ashley” he said softly “But inevitably, you have to leave for your next life tomorrow.” Ashley nodded; she did not want to cry in front of Atrius so she bit her lip and waited for him to continue. “Would you like to have a say in where you are placed, or do you wish it that I decide for you again.” Ashley shook her head “I don’t care where I end up Atrius, just do what you will and let me be” she croaked, placing her head in her hands she walked away from Atrius once again. Atrius called after her “Well, in that case, I expect you at the departure pool at ten thirty earth time tomorrow. Do not be late Ashley.” Ashley gave no sign that she had heard what Atrius had said but he let her go just the same. Ashley walked to the initiation hall and collapsed on the ground outside. She lay on her back with her eyes closed and immersed herself in memories of the times that she and Jamie had spent together. She fell asleep, still living in the past and awoke the next day. She glanced at her soul watch and saw that it was only half an hour in earth time until she was due to depart. She got up of the ground and stretched. She had fallen asleep in an awkward position and felt like she had been hit by a truck. She started to dawdle towards the departure pool; this was one thing that Atrius would not forgive her for being late for. She arrived there with ten minutes to spare and sat down on the edge of the pool to wait for Atrius to arrive. She didn’t have to wait long, after a minute or so, he arrived and sat down beside her. “Are you ready Ashley” he said softly. Ashley nodded, she was afraid to talk incase the lump in her throat turned out to be a fresh batch of tears, and she started blubbering all over again. “Ok” said Atrius, “Step into the pool please” Ashley stood up and stepped into the pool of smoke. The marble felt unusually cold beneath her feet. “This life is intended to teach you how to respect. He smiled slightly as he said this. Then, Atrius read the departing vow and raised his arms, Ashley heard him bellow “DEPART” for what felt like the hundredth time. Almost instantly, Ashley felt herself start to spin, she lost all feeling in her body and then… She was warm and comfortable, and stuck. Truthfully, she was sick and tired of spending such a large fraction of her Atriun lives, stuck in her mothers womb, she knew it was necessary, Atrius had explained to her before her first life, how the time that spirits spent “In- Uterus” was one of the most crucial times in their entire life to come. It gives them time to gather themselves and bond with their mothers to be. To Ashley though, it was boring. For at least a month, there was nothing but darkness and silence. Then, occasionally, she would hear snippets of noise from outside and get rocked around a bit. Once she gained more control of her limbs, she would entertain herself by throwing her arms and legs around to see what reactions she would get. Some were actually quite humorous, so Ashley would line up her aim and punch and kick again and again, laughing at the various squeals of pain and joy coming from the outside world. The day came when she was to be born. She felt the all over squeeze that pushed against her so hard, she swore that she was going to explode. After another few hours she was born and immediately whisked away from her mother, she didn’t know what was happening, this had never happened before, she had always been placed in her mothers arms to sleep. She ran her hands over her face and realised that her skin felt strange, she wanted to cry but she couldn’t get enough breath, so she just lay there and waited for the nurses to do something. She felt someone place her on a soft mattress and poke around her face with something that felt like plastic, then she felt a sharp pain in her nose and then heard a soft click. It instantly became easier to breathe. She took a few deep breaths and then opened her eyes. She was in a big glass box, through the glass, she could see the rest of there ward. There were other glass boxes, with babies just like hers. She wondered for a moment about what had happened and then fell asleep and dreamed beautiful dreams. When she finally woke up again, she was back in her mother’s arms. Her vision was still a little blurry but she was positive, judging by her knowledge of her mother from in the womb, that this lady holding her was indeed her mother, and that the man who was looking over her mother shoulder was her father. She recognized his voice. She nursed for a while and then went back to sleep.1