Till we watch the last low star,
Let us love and let us take
Of each other all we are.
On some morning with that star
One of us shall lie awake,
Lonely for the other's sake.
-Witter Bynner
He woke up in an empty world.
The ground was fine, powdery ash and the sky was gunmetal grey. He jumped up from the ground, dusted the ash from his clothes and started walking. The only sound was the sigh of the cold wind. Time had no meaning here.
"We live, as we dream- alone," he muttered, and his voice died on the wind.
He wished for lights and people, and found himself in a crowded city street in the drizzling rain. It wasn't quite evening yet, but the neon lights reflected on the wet pavement. He walked against the flow of the passerby; they pushed and shoved against him.
There was a dazzling light ahead of him. He squinted and shaded his eyes against the glare, and it resolved into a massive waterfall that tumbled into the street ahead of him.
Bright mid-day sunlight glinted off the spray of the roaring water. Mossy boulders jutted out of the falls and down either side. The dainty figure of a young woman picked her way carefully along the boulders. She held a parasol to shield herself from the mist, and there was a small, knowing smile on her face. He felt a dizzying rush of emotions at the sight of her.
"Imagine meeting you here," she said ironically.
"Ariadne?"
Her smile widened. "Bingo!"
"Where are we?" he said hoarsely. "I remember being- I was in a dark place."
She rubbed his arm and gave him a concerned look. For some reason he was very aware of the touch. "I don't know about 'where,'" she said. "When I got here the place was empty, so I just started building. I was making a waterfall. Want to see it?"
He took her hand and stepped up onto the boulder with her. Waterfall was a massive understatement. They stood in an entire vista of waterfalls that jutted at crazy gravity-defying angles. It was a hot, sunny day and the sky was dotted with lazy cumulous clouds, and the sunlight made rainbows where it caught the spray from the water. Classical stone buildings stood among the falls, and leathery-winged dinosaurs cawed as they circled overhead. The entire scene repeated itself infinite times, but it all somehow fit into his field of vision. Time seemed to stretch and unfold around them.
"I loved the illustrated Dinotopia when I was a kid," she said, by way of explanation. "Waterfall city was always my favorite, so I thought, what if I turned it into a fractal?"
"Never read it," he said. "And how long have you been here?"
She stuck her tongue out and ignored his question. "I forgot what an old man you are. People in my generation love that book."
"I'll tell my grandkids you said that," he deadpanned.
"Oookay, father time."
He grinned. For once he was having fun, so he decided to run with it. He splashed her with water from the falls and she shrieked.
"It's on now, mister!" she said. She looped her foot behind his ankle and swept him to the ground. He grabbed her sleeve and pulled her down with him, and they tumbled to the ground together. For a moment, he held her in his arms, their faces inches apart.
She elbowed him in the ribs and scrambled away. To his surprise, he regretted letting her go.
"Hey Cobb, why don't you make something?" She gestured out to the infinite waterfalls. Three suns rose and set behind her.
He sat up. "Like what?"
"The world is your oyster. Make whatever you want."
He made a towering white wall, pockmarked with grey. There was a strong smell of saltwater around them. They stood on a pearl the size of a house.
"I didn't mean literally make the world into an oyster."
"But that's what you literally said," he said innocently. She shot him a pointed look.
"How's this?" he said, and built an arch leading off into space.
She leaned back to get a better look. "It looks like a blueprint. I'm starting to think you're more logical than imaginative."
"All right then, wait a minute." He built a flight of warm cherry wood stairs, then took her hand and led her up the stairs. As they walked the arch became a bridge leading them over the waterfalls. Windows appeared on their left hand side, showing a cityscape at dusk.
"City's a nice touch," she said nonchalantly.
"Why don't we have a look around," he said.
Suddenly there was a sleek glass door on their left. Cobb held open the door and they passed through to an enclosed glass walkway that ended at the top floor of the nearest skyscraper.
The glass on all sides vanished, except for tiny little stepping stones of glass hanging in midair. The wind was fierce at this height.
"What are you doing?" he yelled over the wind.
"Making things more interesting!" She took a running leap and just barely landed on the next square.
"Christ," he muttered. He tried not to look down or feel dizzy, but it felt like the edge was drawing him closer. His palms started to sweat and he wished for a cigarette.
Ariadne twirled a pack of cigarettes between her first two fingers. She gave him a devious smile.
I was having trouble sorting out the next chapter of my other story, and wrote this in the mean time. It started as a really long one-shot that's turning into two or three chapters. I think Ariadne is channeling Death a little… maybe it's the parasol. Too cheerful?
Playlist:
Waterfall City- Empire of the Sun, Country
City at dusk- The Klaxons, Golden Skans