The Lost Continent (story)

Something’s coming. He can feel the water brushing stronger against his cheek, must be something pretty big. Cannot be a clown fish passing by, those barely tickle. A spade-fish, maybe? He hasn’t seen one of those in a while. He’s learned to tell which is which by the pattern of currents they stir, his eyes are no use down there where no ray of sunshine ever made it. It’s all gray and muted colors down there, he has to strain his eyes to make out the fleeting shapes. It is no fish that’s come to rouse him from his sleep and though he can hardly believe it deep in his heart he knows the hour has come. He’s been waiting for ages and sometimes he forgets what it is that he’s waiting for, but there can be no mistake. It’s a messenger.

Don’t laugh and shake your head, I am not crazy. They all laughed at me and told me to forget about her, but, see, I knew one day she’ll send for me.
Right, you don’t know her, it all started way before your time. It was at the beginning of time when the world was new and of all the wonders in it our land was blessed among all. But you’re not here for a history lesson, you want to know about her, my fair Yessica. Her beauty was not of this earth and they said her true father must have been a god. Her eyes rivaled the sky on a clear spring day and her hair outshone the sun. My father tried to stop me when I set out for the palace, said she’d never cast her eyes on a poor lad like me, but I proved him wrong. You wouldn’t know it now, but I had a beautiful voice back then and the songs I sang to her, by the lake where she came to bathe in the hot summer days, won her heart. She’d sit her pretty head on my lap, close her eyes and let my songs take her to faraway places where fairies danced in the tall grass and she was one of them. She could not stay for long, not with the fairies, nor with me, as she was wanted at the palace, where throngs of suitors clamored for her hand, but that didn’t matter. She’d promised herself to me.
Her father would not hear of our love. How could a rough country boy measure himself against all the accomplished knights that had come for afar to kneel at her feet? If I wanted to prove myself worthy of Yessica’s hand I should go on a quest and bring back the most wonderful thing in the world. A witch was called to give advice as to what this most precious thing might be. The black rose that grows in the dragon’s garden, she said. The flower that gives eternal life to anyone who smells it even for the tiniest second. I could feel the mockery in her voice, echoed by the hint of malice in the king’s laughter, but what was I to do?
The night before I left, we made a vow in the garden.
‘May I be turned to stone the day you no longer love me’, I said. She hushed me with a kiss and promised she will love me til the end of the world.
You might have heard the story of my quest, back then we put everything in song and verse. There is no time to tell you about it right now, the messenger is drawing near and I won’t keep Yessica waiting for me.
Enough said that I did find the dragon, killed it and took the black rose from him. The road back flew by in a dream as I raced to taste her sweet lips again, but the palace doors would not open for me. ‘Go away’, the guards laughed, ‘the princess won’t see you’.
I had nowhere else to go and I knew she’d see me when she hears I’m back. So I waited, day and night, my head resting on my staff so they wouldn’t see my tears. Many days went by and then, one morning, the guards came down and tried to push me away from the doors. ‘The princess is getting married today and you’re in the way of the royal carriage, fool’. My heart sank, but I wouldn’t believe them. Surely it was just a trick to make me leave. When the tower clock struck noon, there it was - the golden carriage, carrying my Yessica and her new beloved. I sank to my knees, my whole body grew cold and I could not move, only my eyes still managed to follow the carriage taking away my love. She turned her head and saw me, not the happy boy who used to sing to her, but the cold white marble I had become. It was only an instant, but in that instant she must have remembered her vow. I could see the horror in her eyes as the earth shook and shook, tearing everything apart and sinking it in the sea, never to be seen again. The lost continent. I always knew it was not lost forever. Our love was so great, what’s done can be undone, once Yessica and I are together again.

The diver pulls at his cord, time to get out. There are no sunken treasures. The whole trip has been in vain. ‘Only some stupid statue, not even worth the effort to bring it up’.

Story written for the #365daysofwriting challenge hosted by @mydivathings The prompt was the wonderful image, from Unsplash.

Thanks for reading!