The Waterborne - next bit.

Having leapt into the river Philip discovers a new existence outside of his old body. He learns what it is to be one of the Waterborne:


See that body? That is me, or was me. It has left me and floated away – useless, discarded; like the shoe with a hole in it. This is me, here, held still beneath the water; the flow going through and around me like the warm breeze on a hill top in another place and another life. I gaze on the landscape of this new element without the fog of corruptible eyes. The mystery of the fathomless bridge pool is revealed. Down here all is clear. There are rocks, both washed clean and clothed in weed, and quiet silted corners; gravel pockets and sandy spits; each playing its part in directing the water. A few small trout gather close by me but they, unlike me, are still subject to the force of the flow and constantly flick their tails to seek comfort within it. They are not aware of me – good! In the last life I forever wanted to come close to the small, wild things of the earth. A youthful perversity made me want to kill them. It was the simple solution: To stop their constant jittering and flittering and hold them calm and still in my hand. They would then belong to me, without knowing it. My fishing brought them to me and doubled the pleasure as I watched them swim free again on their release. This paradise puts me alongside the quivering life; with no desire or means to take that life. I feel I am part of the water that gives them life. They belong to me again, without knowing it but still living.

Over there is a fine fish, a cock – maybe two pound. He holds prime position, little bits of debris and food passing within a fin’s flick of his great pale gape. See him move with so little effort; his instinct tells him that every morsel must be worth more than the effort needed to take it. There: A small, struggling nymph has been eaten. She was moving to the surface to fulfil her destiny as an imago, and now both the nymph and her destiny have gone.

Can I move? I don’t know. I don’t know how. The water is almost powerless against my formlessness. The sensation of flow is a false physical presence and I have very little resistance on which to push. I have no shape, no limbs, yet I must learn to walk again. Will I be a tottering toddler in this new element of my new life? How can I seek what I wish for if my new being stays put, like a prisoner, or a troll beneath this bridge? Alexandra was a lover of warm, salty waters. I need to seek her in warm seas.

How to move? Relax. Want it. Believe it. Do it. Mr big brown trout I am coming to you………..now the rocks move. He is closer. Success. Believe it. Do it. My vision is filled by his muscular length. Oh what beauty! How can the limp curve of a fish, even newly lifted from the water, compare to this vibrancy in living colour and the ancient, subtle co-ordination of movement. The half-hidden, dark shadow, which the angler views from above, is transformed now that it is viewed from within its natural element. I am so close and he does not know I am here. I have the ultimate in stealth but no need of its power.

What is that? I am being watched. By what: Or whom? Why do I feel it and not see it?

“Welcome Philip. I see that you have learned that the physical world has little influence on your new form.”
“Where are you? Who are you? How do you know my name?”
“I am water and I am everywhere. I carry all such as you within me. You are here because you knew of this existence, as I knew of yours.”
“Will I meet others?”
“You will meet others, particularly those you seek.”
“Can you show me where Alex is?”
“She is within me, that’s all you need to know.”
“I have more questions.”
“Ask.”
“Is this death?”
“There is no death. You are one of the Waterborne because you chose it. The Airborne are above you, most free of all. The Earth-bound are not free, but they are happy in their tight world, as all are who choose their element, and the Flame-bound come and go like the Phoenix.”
“Is there another ending to this existence?”
“Far beyond existence is oblivion: The end of all things. But there is a malign influence in all elements that can send you to oblivion before the end of all things. Beware of those who intrude into an element that is not their own. They do not belong and would destroy out of malice. You will feel pain, as you will feel pleasure.”
“Where are the other Waterborne?”
“They are fully part of me, as you will be. They will come to you when you have learned. Stop now. No more questions. Many answers will come to you as you find the peace of being one with me.
It is time to continue your journey.”