Certainties

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I fell to my knees, feeling nauseous. I applied pressure on my lips using a clenched fist, holding back my body's instinct to rid itself of the symptoms by heaving a solution. After a few winces, the knot in my stomach relaxed. A crisp tug at the back collar of my shirt by the again gigantic Maestro placed me on my feet.

"Shake it off," he said, adjusting my crooked shirt. "Happens to everyone on the first taxi ride."

"Taxi?" I asked, breathing out the last of my queasiness. "What taxi?"

"You're standing on it," Maestro replied. I looked down, only to see I was standing on a large chiseled stone square. Underneath my feet, there was an engraving. I repositioned myself to see three lines, a circle, and another line carved deeply into the stone's smooth surface. I began to notice we were surrounded by several of these squares. All were different sizes and stood at slightly different heights. To my left, the stone was half the size of the stone beneath me, but about a foot taller. To my right, the stone was nearly double the size, but required a small drop to get there. All the square surfaces I could see had engravings with different patterns of lines and circles.

"How many are there?" I asked.

"Fifty," Maestro answered. "Each one connected to a different area." He pointed in front of us to a raised stone five squares away. "That one over there is connected to an area in Wiltshire, England." He moved to another, a few squares over. "And that one right there can take you to one of the Polynesian islands. Throughout time, people have revered these areas. Some even defend them blindly, never truly knowing their nature. I mean, the Chinese tried to protect theirs by building a wall." Maestro slapped his leg and chortled. "But, if you got to go anywhere, you need a driver." He stomped twice on the stone square. "Hence, taxi."

"You can't be serious," I said unconvinced.

"Well, how else do you think you got here?" Maestro asked.

"I... don't... know," I stammered. "I don't even know where 'here' is." As I gathered the surrounding details, I realized we were in a massive basin of sand and stone. Overhead, low-level pillowing clouds stretched over the distance of the sky, allowing minimal beams of light the right to pass. "Oz warned me about the desert," I mumbled.

"Avian, you're in Cartesia," Maestro explained, hoping to gain my excitement. "The land outside tomorrow." My shrug in response deflated his spirit. "It really doesn't ring a bell? No bedtime stories? No adventures told over a campfire?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," I said apologetically.

"We need better marketing," he said to himself, scratching the side of his face. "No matter. You'll make your own stories and pass them down yourself." He took a step forward and turned. "Follow me. We've got quite a hike ahead."

We moved down, up, and over the taxis which led to a winding path of switchbacks. The trail looked brutally long, but would get us out of the basin. I made the decision to focus on the positive. As we trekked up the route, a curiosity came over me. "Can I ask why it was decided to build the taxis in what's pretty much a hole?"

"Oh, that's not a hole," Maestro said with a chuckle. "In order for them to work, all taxis had to be placed at the point."

"The point?" I asked, due to the fact his answer wasn't really an answer.

"You need to think of Cartesia as an inverted pyramid," he clarified. "All the taxis are at the point. Then, you have the four quadrants: The falls, the slopes, the woodlands, and the city, which is where we're heading."

I began to think about the structure of Cartesia. "Wait. You're telling me there's an entire city built on a slant?"

"It's a tad more complicated than that," he replied. "Some things can't be explained; They need to be experienced." We forged ahead, but it wasn't long until Maestro had curiosity come over him. "Avian, I don't know much about you, but I got to ask—how you holding up?"

"Honestly, my whole world feels upside-down and inside-out," I admitted. "All I've been focused on is keeping my feet on the ground. Everything has fallen apart and I feel like I'm running from something I can't see. And I don't know if I'm even running in the right direction."

Maestro stopped. "You're here. I can tell you, without a doubt, you're heading in the right direction, but you're the one who has to believe it. Once you do, you'll begin to pick up more beliefs, here and there. And when you got enough of those, you'll start gaining some certainties. Those certainties will keep your feet on the ground. That way, you can focus on something else."

"I guess I'll have to trust you," I said gratefully.

He cracked a smile. "From where you're sitting, you don't have much choice." We approached the final switchback. I felt my anticipation grow with each step. We crossed the lip of the basin and my body turned a full rotation.

Desert and clouds ran parallel in every direction into distant mountainsides. We had come all this way to find ourselves in a much larger basin. Before my disgust surfaced to a shriek, Maestro, who pressed on, motioned for me to join him. "Almost there," he said confidently. We continued through the sand, heading toward a shack in the middle of this barren terrain. 

What I thought to be a shack came to be four walls with no roof, entirely made of stained glass. My towering reservations shadowed my inflection. "This is the city? A glass house built on sand."

"Not on sand. We made sure to find a rock," Maestro said matter-of-factly, walking inside. "Come on, come on." I stepped on the foundation and into the small, confined space. A wooden circular table was the only thing within the four walls. My head drifted to an angle as I pored over the stained glass walls. They were comprised of countless multi-colored, four-sided shapes of all sizes. I was amazed at the intricacy of the design. The flawless surface lured the touch of my hand. I reached out. The crackle of electricity caused me to stop and turn. 

The much smaller Maestro clicked his tongue three times in disapproval and held his bronze ring over the center of the table. "Stay very still," he instructed explicitly. He dropped the ring, which made a dampened thump on the table top. At that moment, a deafening shatter filled my ears. Every piece of stained glass darted to the center of the ring. I watched with a gaping mouth, as they configured themselves into an orb. Once the pieces locked in place, the orb radiated an ethereal light.

"Okay. Now, you can touch it," Maestro said. I hesitated, thinking maybe this was too much. He interrupted that line of reasoning. "Remember: beliefs, certainties, ground." I nodded and placed my hand on the orb. 

Then, Maestro said,  "One more thing: Count to 30..." 

My feet began to slowly leave the ground. 

"...and then, hold your breath."

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[Ch. Ded] @RebeccaSky
To a Wattpad bestie known by many as "Red", an unbelievably talented author who believed in my story, and although it didn't take the cake with the #Wattpad4 contest, I must thank you for taking a chance on me. You make my Monday nights; I can only hope my takeaways will get me to where you are. Thank you, Red.

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