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     “We were afraid to do that, Ashley,” Joe said.  “We were afraid we would destroy them and by then our h
ouses were all but rotted away.

     “We didn’t realize some of the properties the dwellings had until after we started moving into them.  They provide us with things we need.”

     “Is everyone ready to try to enter the city?” Irene raised her voice above the excitement.

     But as we went forward we met with a clear membrane.  You couldn’t see it but it just wouldn’t let you get past.  One woman tried to dig her fingernail into the membrane and it left what looked like a trail of blood.  She jumped back.

     “I guess we haven’t earned the right to go in yet,” Irene said, motioning us to move back.

     I was extremely disappointed.  Ever
ything in the city
looked
so clean and safe and beautiful.  I wondered what we had to do to earn the right to enter.

     When we entered the room we had left, Irene motioned for us to have a seat and again I shared mine with Joe and could have stayed there forever.

     She addressed the woman with the fingernails, “Don’t ever try anything like that again.  You hurt it.  Did you see the blood?  I don’t know what we have here but it has given us nothing but good.

    
“I believe from what little we know that it has actually grown the dwellings you now live in.  I thought that as soon as I saw the buildings in there the first time.

     “I believe there has to be a certain amount of enlightenment to enter the city.  I believe I am just now beginning to get that enlightenment after being here over 100 years.”

     “We don’t have that long in this life,” someone yelled.

     Irene held up her hand, “It took me that long because I fought it.  I tried to escape.  I have learned a lot since I was discovered by P65G,” she said as she looked at Joe.

     “That surprises you, doesn’t it Joe? 
You see, I could sense your pain when we were talking and I began to wish I could help you.  I thought long and hard about how I could help you and then you brought Ashley and everything seemed to fall into place.

     “In the times I saw you before you brought her, you asked me about meetings in the cave and you confided in me about the implants and the lack of fertility etc.

     “When you brought Ashley to meet me and ask me for help, some things started to click for me and I gained a small piece of insight.  That’s when I agreed to the meeting.  What I saw in Ashley was a fresh beginning for all of you
.”

     I looked around the cave and saw several people nodding like they understood.  I could see enlightenment in their eyes.  I felt Joe relax even more against me, and I knew he understood even more than he had previously.

     Irene spoke again, “I want all of you to go home and think about everything that’s happened here tonight and look within yourselves and see what you can do to gain insight.  Ashley, 65G and I are going to try to enter the city again.  We’ll let you know.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

     We walked along the dark passage toward the city.  No one spoke and when we got to the city we walked right in.

    
I had noticed earlier that no one wore any shoes so I knew they were experiencing the same sensation from the ground, if you could call it a ground. 

     It was the smoothest surface I had ever walked on.  It was neither hard nor soft but had an elastic feel to it.  It gave just enough to help me spring to the next step.

     There were no defined streets but they defined themselves according to where you wanted to go.  The scene around us was hard to take in and hard to describe.  There wasn’t a shade or tone of color that wasn’t represented here.

     There were trees that had every shade of green, for example.
  We were walking toward a peach colored building when Joe fell to his knees.  He screamed as he grabbed his head.

     “We’ve got to get him out of here,” I said and tried to pull him up but he waved me off.

     It looked like liquid metal pouring through his fi
ngers from his head and then met
al tears poured from his eyes.  He collapsed and lay there twitching.  Irene and I stood watching but didn’t move.

     We both had our hands over our mouths and tears streaming down our cheeks.  “I believe it’s a good thing,” Irene finally said and I stared at her.  I was shocked she would think this.

     When I looked back at Joe, he was getting to his feet and he was smiling.  I thought he was good looking before but with the new full head of hair he took my breath away.

     His hair was red
and wavy and grew far back on his forehead.  It barely covered his ears.

     “I feel better than I have in y
e
ars,”
he said.  “My head feels light but not in a faint way.  I didn’t realize my head felt heavy until now that it’s light.”

     I followed his gaze to the ground a
nd it looked like puddles of metal.  “It’s like I ble
d away the implants.”  He felt his head.  “I now have hair.  How am I going to go home and not get picked up by the museum authorities?”

    
“Let’s not worry about that right now.  Let’s continue our journey,” Irene said as she led the way.

     Joe took my hand and we continued on toward the peach building.  I have never felt so at peace.  I could have lived here with Joe for the rest of this life and been happy.

      As we walked past a tree with multicolored flowers I stopped and tried to pick one but it wouldn’t let me.  I
t
held on tight.
  I had to run to catch up with the other two.

    
I was surprised that the peach building had a regular door with a lock and a key in the lock.  Other than that, it looked like the buildings I had seen before.  Irene turned the key and opened the door and we entered.

     What we saw inside was so beautiful it took my breath away.
  The spheres were clear instead of opaque and they were every color and size imaginable.  They were in piles so that they resembled bubbles in a bubble bath. 

     I rolled one over towards me and stretched out on it and I couldn’t believe it but it was even more comfortable than the ones I had tried out before.

     Joe came over and joined
me
and we gazed into each other’s eyes.  It was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to me.  I had forgotten about Irene until Joe said, “Irene’s gone
.”

     We got up and looked around both inside and out and she was nowhere to be seen.
  We decided to go back inside and enjoy each other’s company while we waited for her.

     When we got back inside there was a small table I had not noticed before and a note that said, “You are both to stay here for awhile.  This will be your home.  I will be in the lime green house down the way.  That is my house.”

     She had left the key on top of the note.  Joe and I looked at each other and a slow smile spread over our faces.  He took my hand and led me over to a larger sphere.  This one was a clear dark purple.

     He took my robe off and then his own and neither of us was wearing anything underneath
.  I have never been so attracted to anyone and I have never been so completely satisfied after sex than with Joe.

     Afterward, we walked down to the lime green house to see Irene.  I was head over hills in love.  I w
ould have gone anywhere with Joe
.

     She opened the door before we got to it and smiled at us.  “You both look wonderful.  I believe you have made the first step in fulfilling your destiny.  I believe it will be a fruitful union.”

     I could feel myself blushing and smiling at the same time as I realized she knew what we had been doing.

     “Are you two hungry?” she asked changing the subject and I realized I was famished.

     We sat a
t a table the exact right size for the three of us and had all kinds of vegetables and breads with roasted chicken and the best wine I had ever had.

     After dinner we headed back to the entrance of the city while Irene explained to us what she believed.

     “Mankind has
been given another chance.  Technology was getting so advanced that humans were becoming like robots.  Human nature itself was becoming extinct.  As the ancient saying goes, ‘man got too big for his britches.’  There are going to be those who will fight the changes.

     “Joe, you will be okay.  I really believe that.  If there are any threats towards you, I think you will be brought back to the cave just like I have been every time I have tried to escape.

     “Ashley, I think you will be all right
too
.  Not many people know about you and you can remain here anyway.”

     No one said anything and we were thinking our own thoughts
.  I either wanted Joe to stay here or I wanted to go back with him and I felt like he felt the same way.  We looked at each other and although neither one of us had implants, I felt like we were communicating these thoughts to each other.

     “What are your plans, Joe?” Irene asked.

     “I need to go back and talk to my sister.  I have much to tell her.  She will have to decide for herself and for my niece what she wants to do.  I should be back by tomorrow night.  If I’m not then you will know the authorities have gotten me.”

     He kissed Irene on the cheek and gave me a longer more passionate kiss and, without another word, was gone.  I felt like a body part had been amputated.  He was now part of me.

CHAPTER NINE

     Irene and I stayed in our houses in the beautiful city for three days and Joe had not returned.
  I told Irene I wanted to go try to find him.  She didn’t argue but told me to wear the cap she had given me.

     I put on the cap and felt like I was dressed for a Halloween party.  I left having no idea where I was going.  I wandered around in between the buildings until I came upon a building that looked like what I remembered buildings looking like.

     It had a sign in the front that said, “Museum of Curiosities.”

     I walked into the building and noticed there were no guards or tour guides.  It was free and it wasn’t until then that I began to wonder what kind of currency they used here.  Everything seemed to be free.

     It looked like any museum I had ever seen with marble walls and floors, but everything was going to ruin.  There were large cracks in the floors and walls and I wondered why they didn’t move into one of the buildings that had grown.

    
There were small rooms with bars on the doors like jail cells and there were people in them who looked like they were from the time before implants.

     Each was doing something different.  One was eating, one was sleeping, one was doing floor exercises and one was reading.  I wondered if they had been given these tasks to entertain the viewers.  I felt sad for these people but I also felt angry and
scared.

     I saw a family walking along laughing as they viewed the prisoners.  And then I saw Joe.  He was lying on a cot and he was crying.

     “Joe,” was all I said and he hurried over to the cell bars and took my hands in his.

     “Irene was wrong, Ashley.  I got picked up almost as soon as I got near my dwelling.  I didn’t even get to speak to my sister and niece.

     “The other thing is that, without the implants, I’m so lonely.  Always before there were all the other voices like we were all interconnected.”

     “I don’t see how you ever got any peace and quiet with all that going on.  How did you communicate with just one person with so many other voices in your head?”

     “You learn to filter out everything else but the voice you want to communicate with.  I’m worried about my sister.  When she can’t contact me, she’s going to think I’m dead.  She knows I was dying.”

     “Don’t worry, Joe, I’ll go by and see her and explain everything to her.”

     A guard came by and yelled, “Hey! Get away from that cage.  You’re not allowed to speak to the display people.”

     He stood there staring at me with different expressions on his face and I realized he was trying to
communicate via the implants.  He walked closer to me and looked closely at my head and suddenly pulled the cap from my head.

     My hair fell to my shoulders.  He must have called to other guards because two more came almost immediately.

     “Let’s put her in there with that male.” One of them said.  “Then people can watch them mate.”

     I was shoved in with Joe.  I ran to him and we started kissing but then realized they were standing there watching so we pulled apart.

     “You two go right ahead.  Don’t let us stop you,” one of the guards said.

     Joe and I stood and stared them down and they finally lost interest and left.