Eshtine

the way there pt two

More years passed. Now she knew the world's secret--there was no single mode of existence, just thousands of these hidden societies, each with their own codephrases, each found only if you knew where to look. When she bought a car she drove out to the country every weekend. She would go to the loneliest place she could find and search for a lake or a pond. She'd hike in the woods, then return to the pond at midnight.
She did this for so long, eventually she forgot why. Then she saw something else that made her think of the past in present in conversation. She was in the audience when a man on stage, an actor for many years, watched his younger self on film. The younger man was walking away from the camera. The actor hailed him--and the man on film turned and waved. She found the dreambook again and read her message to herself. The one she needed to meet could be at the next pond out in the woods. She took the drive that weekend with renewed determination.
Still, three more years passed before she found him. By then, the woods were so scarce--where once she'd parked on a dirt road and hiked through endless stands of oak and maple, there was clearcut land and a billboard: "Future Site of Oakland Woodtrails Estates." She drove to the lonely places anyway, even when it took half a day, sometimes all day, to find them. And then there came a night she crept up to a pond so still and black it swallowed the darkness around it. She heard crickets and owls and soft scamperings in the trees--even a wolf in the distance. Then she heard something like a fish breaking the surface of the water to snatch a fly. The sound repeated, and as her eyes adjusted to the near-total dark she saw a tall shape in the middle of the pond. She crept closer, taking care not to end up in the water. The tall shape moved and the sound repeated--footfalls. Footfalls on the pond. She snapped a twig. The man (she saw what he was now) walked toward her.
For a moment she was very afraid. She was, after all, deep in nowhere, alone with a stranger. But he could do what she wanted more than anything in the world to do. "Will you teach me?" she asked.
In response, he came even closer, holding out a hand. With only a moment's hesitation she took it and walked forward, feeling like a little girl splashing through a puddle. "Don't splash so much," he scolded, and made her hold still while he took small steps away. "Look," he said. His feet glided over the surface like a skater's. He had not let go of her hand. She nodded and followed, gradually getting the feel for it. They walked and walked. He loosened his grip; he let go. By then she didn't need to hold on.
They returned to the shore as the first hint of color crept into the sky. He smoothed the leaves away from a flat rock on the bank. She sat next to him. As the sun came up she said, "There's a park close to where I used to live. In it is a tunnel to another world, but I could never get through."
He turned, met her eyes, and gave a slow nod. "Now you can."
They drove back to the city together, and did not wait for the cover of darkness before they crossed the lake into the other place.