Alabaster Island

Chapter 11

The day of our Binding arrived grey and overcast with the threat of rain. I wished for a downpour so torrential that they'd post-pone the whole ceremony. But again, my luck was in low supply. Although cloud hung over the ocean promising rain, not so much as a single drop fell. Instead, we stood on the shore in oppressive heat and humidity, sweating despite our thin, light bathing clothes. 

Even the water, normally a beautiful aquamarine, today appeared murky and dark. Usually it was easy to see straight to the sandy bottom. But today the bottom lay dark and hidden. Marlow wore a blue bathing tunic. He stood, waist deep in the water, about twenty feet from shore. He waited until we'd arranged ourselves in two neat rows, eleven girls on one side and eleven boys on the other. I wondered what they would have done if it hadn't equaled out so that there was an equal number of boys and girls. If Daniel had lived.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning," we responded in a somewhat mumbled jumble of voices. 

"You can all do better than that!" Marlow smiled. "Today is your Binding! Remember you're taking part in the revivification of a ceremony that dates back millennium! Let's try again."

"Good morning!" We said in something approaching unison and with more vigor. It wasn't like we'd watched older brothers and sister go through this process. The Binding and Honey Moon Island had seemed more like a legend or some distant fairy tale that would never come true. We'd spent our adolescent years joking about this. It hadn't seemed like something we'd need to think about one day. But now that day had arrived.

"First, I'd like to acknowledge the hard work of Aya in translating and bringing this ancient ritual back into our tradition." Mom gave a shy wave. Despite my anxiety around the ceremony itself, I was proud of her. She worked so hard it felt good to see her get appreciation from Marlow for once. 

Mom waded into the water and handed Marlow a sheet of paper. Marlow leaned in and asked Mom a question I couldn't hear from my vantage. Then Marlow read in ancient Lemurian. During assembly, we'd slowly began learning the complex phonetics and vocal sounds that made up the language. However, that wasn't the challenging part. The most challenging aspect was that portions of the language were sent with direct mind-to-mind, pictorial transmissions.

When Marlow reached one of these sections, his face turned red from concentration. 

"He looks constipated," I dared whisper to Chloe who stood next to me. She covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. But when he opened his eyes, his face relaxed and we all let out a collective intake of air as an image appeared in our minds.

"Eyes closed!" Mrs. Caroline shouted.

I shut my eyes and the image brightened. It was fuzzy at first, but it gained definition. Made of coral and various gems, it was a beautiful ornate symbol with two nude androgynous figures in its center. Their limbs extended and then morphed into part of the pattern of the object itself. A complex, spiraling weave that formed an intricate ruin or symbol of some sort. It rotated in my mind's eye and the rotation became a tone, a low thrumming in my ears.

Outwardly we were silent, but inside we vibrated. We stood like that for fifteen minutes, maybe longer. The vibration soothed me. The melody in my head disappeared and I floated away into something similar to what I experienced during Assembly. But even more powerful. 

With little effort we were carried along by an ancient vibration hidden in those scrolls. It didn't seem fair that Marlow got to read it instead of my mom. But at least he acknowledged her.

When the image faded, the vibration ceased and I opened my eyes. The sky remained grey, but the air felt different. It had an effervescence that invigorated mind and body.