My baby sister fell in love with this story and was pissed that it was shorter than she wanted it to be, LOL

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ATLANTIS STORY

By

MICHAEL S. WITHERSPOON

Ronald Joseph Williams III, Ron to this friends just graduated from high school at the age of nineteen, a year later than most of his friends because of a severe bout with pneumonia. His lungs kept filling up with water and he had a hard time breathing at first but even as the bouts continued, he was still able to breath easily. His family fought long and hard with the doctors over medications that they wanted to give him. In the end, his parents won the battle and he seemed to be over it.

Ron always had loved the water and by the age of three he was able to swim on his own. His parents had also taught him how to hold his breath for extended periods of time. And increasing those periods frequently. The three of them were always at the beach or in their back yard pool. During his years in high school he joined the swim team and was very successful, winning races almost every time. Few people noticed that he was able to keep his head underwater for the entire length of the pool and back. Most that did notice this happening thought their eyes were deceiving them. He played a big part in his high school winning the state championships for four years running and the student body was very proud of him. He was well liked by most of the other students and ignored the others. He had learned that no one is liked by everyone, and he adjusted to that fact. He stands six-foot-one, weighs about a hundred and sixty most of the year, a little less during his swimming seasons. He’s got has a full head of raven black hair and a moustache and hairy chest to go with it. And the most beautiful dark chocolate eyes that sometimes appear black. Fair skin that will not tan but burns and peels and also has no blemishes. What kills all of the girls at school is his extra long eyelashes and the fact that he is openly gay. A virgin, but openly gay. Some members of the swim team were afraid to dress, undress or shower in front of him the first two years and then most of them got over it. He told them not to worry, that he wasn’t ready for sex right now. It got to be a joke among them after awhile because that was just about the only thing the rest of them were thinking about. He always went to the dances and danced with any of the girls that wanted to dance. His buddies felt safe with their girls in his arms and besides, that way they didn’t have to do any dancing. He was quite good at it as well and could do things that wowed the others. His parents loved to dance and he loved to watch them and then they taught him. Actually, he was very good at almost anything he ever attempted.

A few years back, he began watching his mother sew for a while and started doing it himself with a little help from her. Next thing you knew, he was making most of his own clothes that people were always complimenting him on them and asking where he got them. No one wanted to believe him when he told them the truth. People are like that sometimes, they will believe a flimsy lie but have trouble with the truth. He put together the home computer his father bought him, put together before his father was halfway through reading the instructions. Art fascinated him but it seemed to be the only thing that he couldn’t develop a talent for. But he did have a good eye for textures and style and instinctively knew who would be famous if they continued to paint.

After his prom a bunch of his buddies and he and their dates, yes he took a girl, someone that he liked a lot but not in that way, went on a midnight cruise on the Gulf of Mexico. They lived in Clearwater, Florida and the boats went out nightly. There was only a quarter moon that night so you had to depend mainly on the lights of the boat to get around and they were dimmed. The water was calm and there was a nice warm breeze blowing. Everyone had changed from their formal attire into shorts, bathing suits or other casual attire to be more comfortable. As everybody knew, the punch was spiked and more than a few would wind up holding their heads over the side of the boat before the night was over. Ron didn’t care for the taste of beer or liquor except to have an occasional glass of wine with his parents at dinner, so he went for the cans of soda that were also available, and he knew that they were safe. His parents rarely drank and only went out if there was something at school that concerned him, like his swim meets, or with the few couples they associated with. They were very quiet and close to the vest type people. But he loved his parents and they adored him.

Everyone had been having a good time and they had reached the halfway point and were turning the boat around. Ron was standing at the front of the boat just looking up at the sky when all of a sudden the boat jerked and he hit his head falling headfirst into the water. Several of the others saw what happened and started yelling “man over board.” Ron was sober and an excellent swimmer, so most were not that concerned initially. But he lost consciousness for a short period of time and was stuck to the underside of the boat. The captain ordered all engines to be stopped in case Ron tried to surface there. He didn’t realize as he was coming around but he was actually breathing in water. Rather than being afraid, he was more than fascinated by the fact. The piece of his shirt that had been stuck to the boat ripped and he began floating downward. The schools of fish seemed unconcerned as he floated down through them. Their shapes and colors were beautiful and he reached out to grab some of the plant life to examine it, but it passed through his fingers.

He noticed something speeding towards him from below and hoped that it was not a shark, maybe it was a dolphin or a Manatee he thought. But as it got closer, he realized that it was a naked man with shoulder length blonde hair. Not the usual yellowish blonde color, but almost a white. “Don’t panic, I’m here to help you and my name is Azard,” the other man spoke into Ron’s mind. He grabbed Ron by the hand and towed him as he swam faster than any boat or underwater craft Ron had known about or seen in his whole life. Sea life of every kind was flashing before his eyes as their journey continued down. Soon there was a cave and Ron was pulled in there with Azard and then they switched directions and went up to a cave that had air and places to sit or lay down and oil torches everywhere and all were ablaze. Once they broke the surface, Azard let him go and swam over to the sitting area as Ron followed and then started coughing up seawater and choking.

Once he was okay again, he asked, “Azard who are you? Do you live here? Are you some kind of a merman and what the hell was going on?”

Azard very rarely spoke orally and mostly through telepathy but he answered Ron’s questions aloud to make him feel more comfortable. “You fell off of the boat and by now everyone except your parents and their network of friends and family, think that you have drowned,” Azard told him. “This is one of about a hundred meeting chambers for our people who like to use them rather than staying in the city all of the time. No I am not a merman, my family, like yours, are descendents from the original Atlantis, and I brought you here to explain to you what your parents were soon going to tell you.”

Ron’s head was spinning like a top trying to comprehend what exactly was being said. Before he could ask the question, Azard said, “Yes, there really was an Atlantis and to tell you the truth, nearly all of it is still in tact. Most of the inhabitants went into what you would call space ships back to our home world in a different galaxy when they saw the large meteor heading for earth. Fortunately, most of it broke up and burned up in space and the rest just fell into the sea and causing some havoc here and there. But they were already home by the time they realized it. Atlantis has always been underwater although most believe that it sank, if it existed at all. Our ancestors all had gills around their necks and shoulders because they lived totally beneath the surface. The ones that stayed behind mostly learned to walk the earth and just come back for visits. I have been down here for ten years and I just love it. I couldn’t ever imagine ever going back up topside to live permanently.”

“My parents must be going insane right now or at least will be very soon,” Ron said.

“No, they know right exactly where you are, I have already talked to them.” Azard said.

“Telepathically you mean?” Ron asked.

Azard said, “They are listening to us right now. If you want to, I can give you their messages. They have always been able to read your mind but they blocked out personal things, so not to worry there. Your mother is laughing now, a very hardy laugh. She had to block your thoughts through most of the eleventh grade because of some guy named Gary.”

Ron turned as red as possible and then asked Azard, “Am I going to stay here or are you going to take me back?”

“That is totally up to you,” Azard told him. “We believe in arranged marriages here and you were promised to be my life-mate when you were first born. Our families were very close and they all knew that you too would be what the walkers call gay. I have waited a very long time for you to get here, but you actually arrived a couple of months ahead of schedule. Your parents were going to bring you down from the East Coast of the Florida land to avoid all of the tunnels. But if you choose to go back to your old life, I will not hold you to the agreement that our parents made so many years ago.”

“But how would I possible ever be able to do that, everyone must believe that I have drowned by now?” Ron asked Azard, looking straight into his pale blue gray eyes and having a sense of falling, quite literally.

“It has been arranged so that you can be found washed up on shore a little further down the beach,” Azard told him. “As if you went the wrong direction when you reached the surface. Or a couple of fishermen are standing by that will say they found you floating face up. You could be back in your old bed by tonight. It is totally up to you.”

“Do I have to decide right away, I mean can I spend some more time with you down here?” Ron asked and Azard’s heart skipped a beat. “I would like to know what I am walking or swimming into or away from as the case may be, before I make any decisions. Can I learn telepathy and be able to keep in touch with my parents? Will I ever see them again? How far is Atlantis, can I go and see where I might live first?”

Azard was laughing and then told Ron, “Your mother says that you were always the inquisitive child, questioning every thing, but that was probably why you’re so smart today. Yes, you can stay longer if you wish. Your parents said that if necessary that they could move to a different city so that you could come home for visits at anytime. Actually you are already telepathic but have not known that you have been using it. That is why people usually do what you want them to do. The strongest link is between you and your parents. Then I follow right behind them. We have talked for hours at a time but you never realized it. My name is painted on the inside garage wall, just above your father’s tool table and several other places it is written for you to see and become familiar with. The one thing that you never questioned your mother is saying and laughing again. She’s not laughing at you but at the situation.”

Then Ron heard his mother’s voice saying, “Tell him for us please, that we always meant to tell him about everything but there never seemed to be a right time to tell him before this.”

“It is all right mother, I probably would never have believed you anyway.” Ron said telepathically to his parents and Azard heard and was pleased that it came so fast to Ron.

Azard told his pending in-laws, “You never told me that he was so handsome, I might have walked just to come and meet him.” His comment sent Ron on another blushing spree. “I would love to take him around and then take him to the Great City before he makes his mind up, if that is permissible with you?”

“Yes, that’s what I want to do mom, I have to at least see the city for myself,” Ron told her.

His mom and dad said, “And maybe get to know that blue-gray eyed young man there with you as well. We think that would be a wonderful idea or ideas as the case may be. We should be getting a call or visit from the police soon so we have to practice being hysterical in the mirror, and we will talk again soon.”

Ron laughed this time and told his mother, “You have always been hysterical, I don’t think you would know any other way to be.” And then the connection broke off.

Azard told Ron to take off his clothes and a look of panic froze on his face. “Clothing and shoes slow down the swimming,” Azard said, and then, reading Ron’s mind said, well if it happens you could just use it as a rudder. They both laughed and he stripped down and Azard told him that he may have a problem adjusting to the water in his lungs so they would just submerge and hold on to each other in case there was a problem. There was not a problem taking the water back into his lungs, but the closeness of the two men brought on almost instant reactions from both of them below the waist. Azard leaned forward and kissed Ron softly on the lips while Ron was reciprocating. This would be the first time he ever kissed a man, with the exception of his father. They embraced stronger and kissed harder while their hands roamed all over each other’s bodies finding every little crack and crevice and to the large handles to hold onto. Two virgins floating under the water, bodies entwined and there was to be no instruction manual to be found anywhere. They broke apart and then Azard grabbed Ron’s hand and they swam thru all of the tunnels and caves at up to five times the speed that they had traveled before and kept excelling.

“I’m really going to miss cheeseburgers and French fries though,” Ron said.

“We can still have those things, I do all the time, just be patient and wait and see everything I can show you,” Azard told him.

The water got colder and Ron asked Azard, “Why is it colder suddenly?”

“We are in the Atlantic Ocean now, and it is colder then the Gulf of Mexico,” Azard said.

Ron asked, “We are already on the East Coast, how did we get here so fast?”

“Short cuts and speeding, but don’t worry there are no speed limits down here except the ones you put on yourself,” Azard said. “The walkers are the ones with all of the limits. You body can swim as fast as you want to go, you just have to let your mind know that. Just like breathing underwater, if you tell yourself that you can’t do it you never will but if you try you can do almost anything you want. Azard let go of Ron’s hand and he fell behind for a few minutes and then caught up. See?”

Ron said, “Yes, but I think it is more fun to do it holding hands.”

Azard reached out and grabbed his hand again and they were traveling even faster now since Ron was pulling his own weight. Then they took a dive spiraling downwards and kept going until they arrived at the Great City. Azard stopped them both so that Ron could get a look at it from a distance.

It was the largest city on the entire continent of Atlantis. All of the governing bodies had residences here and in the providences where they represented. Like an underwater Washington, DC Ron figured. It was very bright here or it could have been the comparison to the darkness they had been swimming in. It was a twenty-four hour a day kind of place, with something always going on. They slowed their swimming to almost a dead stop and resumed sort of a walking pace, if you could equate the two. Ron’s head was filled with amazement. Everyone they passed greeted them and they in return. It is like daylight here in the city all of the time. “You come here to shop or play or do business but it is too bright to try and live here all of the time.” Azard told Ron.

“How does it stay so bright, the sun can’t possibly filter it’s way down this far?” Ron asked.

“There is a stone, smaller than your fist, that was brought here from the home planet thousands of years ago, and when it was placed in a special receptacle, it gave the old ones light, warmth and is a great energy source.” Azard told him. “We lost our sun that heated the waters and the scientist had been working on a way to invent a source of power that would be able to replace it once it was gone. This is just a chip of the original stone and I could not for the life of me tell you what it is. But it works.”

Ron’s eyes were going crazy trying to look at everything that there was to see. People swimming in and out of buildings, much like fish in an aquarium. He turned and looked at Azard and remembered the figurine in his aquarium at home. There was no way his mother could get him out of the store with out buying it for him and it looked exactly like Azard, with one very large exception of course. “I sent a message to you for you to see and remember that figurine so that I would be more familiar to you when we actually met, not for you to pitch a fit in the store,” Azard told Ron. “I caught hell from your mother for that one. The people here respect your privacy, unlike the Walker’s world, but you need to learn how to put your mind on hold to block yourself for times of intimacy or study. Also for sleep periods.”

Ron asked and was told how to do that. It was so very simple to do, like turning off the telephone when you want to be alone. Azard read his mind again once the channel was reopened and reminded him that he had to remember to take it off of hold when he was finished with the task or pleasure at hand.

As they swam away from the bright lights of the Great City, Ron saw tubes up ahead and Azard told him that they were going to surface up to Walkerville for a while, this is actually where I live. Azard explained that once they entered the tubes, they would be shot upward and would wind up in a pool. If you don’t go up right away it simply means that the last person up has not left the pool yet and it is unsafe. Once they leave, you will know what a torpedo must feel like but it slows you down before you reach one of the pools. He let Ron go first in case of any problems and once he was off, Azard entered another tube. To Ron, it felt like the greatest water park ride ever invented, but he did feel relieved when Azard appeared the next pool. They then swam to the top of the pools, climbed up the ladders and were on land again.

Some of the people were dressed in regular clothing while others remained nude. Reading Ron’s questioning mind again Azard said, “We have walkers that supply us with clothing, food and other necessities. Everything is loaded on boats that travel to a certain spot and the entire ship is brought down to the docks under a protective shield. There is so much to tell you and for you to see that it could take several life times for you to know. I must tell you now that if you do decide to stay, whether it is with me, alone or with another, your lifespan will be greatly increased. Some of the residents here are a thousand years old and more. I myself will be four hundred soon. I’m just kidding, I am twenty-seven.”

There were shops up and down the streets with apartment buildings sprinkled in here and there. An artificial sun and moon were provided to make it seem more like the surface world. Some come for a short stay and then return to the water to live again while others prefer to stay. I like both and switch back and fourth. Places not sexes. When they walked into the cafe it was like something out of the nineteen-fifties. The only thing missing was the guy with the greasy hair and a comb. They took a booth and Ron delighted in looking at everything on the menu, but still ordered a burger, fries and a shake. Azard had the same and when the waitress came over and took the order, Azard pressed his thumb to the check and she went and put their order in. “I just paid for the meal and the tip through my thumbprint. I believe that some of the banks above are using similar technology to some extent. My parents had great wealth and were killed in an accident above and their funds were transferred to me, plus I work in the library a couple of hours a week.” Azard told Ron.

“I’m sorry to hear about your parents.” Ron said.

“Not to worry, their souls went back to the home planet to be reborn. Or at least that is what we are taught to believe.” Azard said. “Some believe that and others think that it is a cop out to the grieving process. I believe it. With all of the power and technology we have here, it just has to be true. My mother was six hundred and ten when I was born and I was their first and only child. And talk about a spoiled childhood. It is said that the older ones can see into the future and that is why you were promised to me, because we are soul mates from another time and that we would be extremely compatible for life. I’m sorry if I am throwing too much at you too quickly, but I want you to see the whole picture.” The order came and Azard shut up for a couple of minutes and began eating.

“I have to tell you that this whole experience is completely overpowering my brain.” Ron said. “I think that you are quite possibly the most handsome man I have ever met and the thought of spending the rest of my life with you excites me to no end. More than likely I could spend the rest of my life learning about the technology here and just to find out how everything works. I miss my parents and that is a fact, but I was about to go to college and after college I might have found a job in a different city and would still be missing them. But with the telepathy, we can talk everyday if we want to. The thought also occurs to me that I might actually still be in the Walker’s world, but unconscious from a bump on my head and dreaming and I am going to wake up and you and all of this will be gone.”

“That will only happen if that is your choice,” Azard told him. “Some of the water babies that are raised on dry land decide that they would rather live there. That is perfectly fine, but most are shown at least a glimpse of this world and then it becomes just a dream to them that goes away in time. A few remember and take some of the technology back to the surface with them and use it for the good or fun of all mankind. Like what you were saying about the tubes.” They had finished their meal and left the restaurant and were now back out on the street. Azard pointed to a building across the street and said that he lived there. They crossed the street to get to the building and it dawned on Ron suddenly that there were no cars anywhere but he did see trolley tracks. It turns out that they were just for show though. Bicycles were the mode of transportation used by most that went further than they cared to walk or just wanted to exercise their legs. When Ron asked about those that might be handicapped and need wheel chairs, he was told that there were a few around but that most of them preferred the water for easier mobility and that it was said to really be better for them. However, the technology here extends to the medical field as well, though not as you know it. They came to the outside door of the apartment building and walked in and up to the third floor where there were four apartments and just walked in, no keys or anything. “There is no crime in Atlantis, and so there is no need for keys or locks,” Azard told him.

It looked as if Azard had painted the ceiling with the moon and stars but then Ron realized that there was no ceiling at all. Then he remembered that Walker City was completely inside of a dome and that there was no chance of rain, snow or other precipitation. But what about the birds, he had heard birds and knew that they could reek havoc. “Which is why we have switches like this,” Azard said and flipped one and they began to hear the chirping of the birds. He flipped another and a ceiling appeared from nowhere to keep out noises, sunlight and to give them more privacy. There was a refrigerator stocked with beverages and little else. The cabinets were filled with coded packages for the microwave that just needed a little tap water and cooked full course meals in under a minute. Some crackers and lots of candy were there also. It seemed that Azard had a sweet tooth. There was no television or VCR here but there was a radio in every room. Azard said, “I could get those machines if you want them, but I love to study and also to paint, the one thing you have no passion for as yet.”

“You know, this is so truly not fair,” Ron said. “It seems that you know my whole life story and I know so very little about you.”

“My mind and life story are open to you anytime you choose to read them,” Azard said to him. “I have been down here for ten years or so, knowing that you were to come to me at a certain time in your life, and I have been preparing for you all of that time. I wanted everything to be perfect, just the way you would like to have everything. I to am a virgin. No one would dare even approach me until you rejected me, that is our way here. I don’t mean to disturb you and if I do, I beg your forgiveness, but if it is of any consequence, that has been done out of love and respect. I swam with you in every meet that you ever competed in. Your mind was open to me and I knew then what I know now, that I want to spend the rest of my life with you whether it is down here or up there.”

Azard bridged the gap of space between them and took Ron’s face in his hands and pulled that handsome face close to his and kissed him. Ron’s arms went around Azard’s waist and then his hands slid down to that beautiful bubble butt he had been waiting to touch all of this time. Out of the water and dry, he could feel the field of soft baby like hairs all over it. He returned Azard’s kiss with deep ones of his own and it did not feel the least bit out of place when Azard’s tongue slipped into his mouth or when his crossed over. Both of them let their hands roam freely over each other’s body and getting to know every inch of flesh. “Does this place have a bed?” Ron asked.

Azard lifted him up and carried him back to the master bedroom and gingerly laid him down on the bed before settling down on it himself. They held and kissed each other lips until their lips were almost numb. They traveled all over the rest of each other, kissing lightly, sucking on toes and then on to the good stuff. Every move they made felt like it had been choreographed just for them. Momentary periods of pain were replaced by thrilling climaxes until they were both exhausted and needed to replenish the fluids they were losing. Then a sleep period and right back at it again. Over and over for days. Doctors would never know these two bodies like they knew each other’s. While they were laying there in bed, side by side and holding each other, Ron opened a channel to his parents and told them, “I hate to tell you both this, but I’m afraid that you have a funeral to plan.”

His mother said, “I always knew that you were popular in school, but our front lawn is covered with flowers and trinkets.” She went to the front door and opened it and he could see what she was talking about. “It would be so nice to be able to tell them the truth, that you are okay, but they would think that I had gone off of the deep end and wouldn’t believe me anyhow.”

“Just so you two will know, I am a lot better than okay and you couldn’t have found a better man to promise me to,” Ron told them. “But if you ever make me come home I promise I will turn you in for baby selling.” Ron’s parents started laughing.

Ron’s parents told him, “Whenever things settle down up here and we get a chance, we’ll come to visit with the two of them. We’ve not seen Azard since his sudden disappearance more than ten years ago.”

They laid in the bed talking after the conversation. Ron asked, “What kind of work is available so that I can make some money?”

“We are going to go down to my bank and put you on my account and then register you for school.” Azard said to him. “Actually, you are already pre-registered, your parents took care of that. Since you are my partner it is up to me to provide for us until such time as you are able and ready to work. You have such a wonderful mind and having lived above for almost twenty years, you can educate some of the others of the ways of the Walkers, what it is like up there both good and bad. There is much that you need to learn about the ways of your people and our laws. The things that you can do once you learn how, will amaze you. When I first got here I thought that I knew everything and it turns out that I knew nothing at all. Right now I am only at about a five percent level of knowledge so you can just imagine. Levitation; telekinesis; agriculture and talking to the other life forms that share this earth with us, some are also from other planets and that is just a sampling of what you can learn. It is not traditional school as you know it. No test or homework except for trying out what you have learned. Your professor’s can scan your mind and know what you understand and what you need to repeat. I go a couple of days a week and now that I have finally found true happiness I’m sure I will be going more often.”

“As long as we are doing what we do together I’m sure that I will be happy,” Ron told him and they started back at it again.