Bottomless Chapter 1

Sitting here poised to write this journal, I look around myself and realize that what I am about to share with you, has become to me as surreal as a dream.

And yet it is a tale full of intrigue, adventure, magic, and life lessons. I will begin this tale with the certain assumption that not all is as it seems, for as I look around, I am still struck by the inconsistencies between reality and the inner workings of a troubled mind, and how my life changed irrevocably.



My tale begins with the finding of a simple coin. An ancient talisman of unknown origin.

I was young, and foolish, but I thought I had the world in the palm of my hand.


I had just finished my third year of college, and was well into my thesis on 'The Subconscious, How it affects our daily lives', when I had to stop, the campus library was closing for the night. I didn't have much money, and I had to scrimp and stretch each coin until it screamed, gave up the ghost, and screamed again.


I was here to make a difference in the world, and I wasn't about to let anything stop me. So I saved my work, and packed up my gear, then headed for the door.


It was well after dark, and having made this journey many times before, I Iook back now and realize I actually braced myself before I plunged into the deep of night.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something momentous was about to unfold.


As I was walking, I lost myself in my thoughts, just staring at the sidewalk passing beneath my feet, when I crossed into the light of a street lamp. Contained within that pool of light was a flash of metal. I thought to myself that this truly was a fortuitous find.


I could use any help I could get, so I quickly reached down and snatched the coin and deposited it in the recesses of my coat pocket. Immediately I returned to my wandering attentions and the long walk home, and promptly forgot the coin.


When I finally arrived at my humble abode, I threw my things down and put myself to bed. That was the last bit of normalcy I was to experience for a long time.

When the alarm sounded the next morning, I groggily reached out to shut it off when my hand slipped and I knocked something off the nightstand.

It landed, and rolled for a minute, gently spinning until it settled to a halt, with a soft tinkling noise.


This brought me to a closer point of waking than what was normal for me. I didn't recall placing anything other than the alarm on the table before going to bed.


I climbed out, stumbled to the wall, and flipped on the overhead light.

Rubbing my eyes against the uncomfortable intrusion, I had to wait a moment to adjust.

When I could finally see again, I looked, and to my utter consternation, I saw the coin I had snatched up the night before.


Now, to my sleep dulled mind, this presented an unsolvable conundrum, I clearly remembered putting that coin into my coat pocket. What confused me was that I didn't remember taking it back out.

I shook my head, and thought oh well, I was really tired when I arrived home, and possibly without thinking I had placed it there for safe keeping. I picked it up, again, and deliberately placed it back on the stand.


I took myself off to the shower, and then headed straight for the coffee pot. I didn't have much time to dwell on the mysteries of the morning,

I needed to get to class. Downing a quick cup of the scalding brew, I glanced into my bedroom, noting that the coin was still there. Then I let myself out and started my day.


Walking between the buildings with my head down while on my way to my next class, I was suddenly knocked off balance.

Irritated, I looked up to give this bumbling idiot a piece of my mind, but I couldn't continue.


Here was the most incredibly beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life.


She started to apologize, but I quickly intervened and said not to worry about it, I was the one at fault. I should have been watching where I was going, but she interrupted me.


Her face had gone blank, and she asked me if I had found it.


Then she was gone, before I could take another breath. Found what? Puzzled, I continued to my next class. And after that, I needed to get to work. I didn't have time to deal with this kind of nonsense.


Arriving at work, was almost anticlimatic, and I couldn't get her, or what she had said, out of my mind. It had been another long day, and it wasn't over yet.

I sat down in my little cubby hole. Data processing is very boring and time consuming, so I like to imagine that I am working in a more glamorous field.


Maybe today I would be a Knight in slightly tarnished armor, but as I seated myself, a metallic flash caught my eye. There was the coin. Sitting there innocuously on my desk.


I couldn't believe what I was seeing, so I sat there for a few moments, just absorbing the fact of the coins presence. Finally I reached out to pick it up.

Strange this little coin was, to say the least; it was slightly warm to the touch, as if it had been in my pocket all day.


Underneath it had a very dull copper color, but was rather patina'd with age, giving it some intricate shadings of blue and green, with a single word imprinted upon it. I had to strain to make out what it was, but I eventually concluded that the word was "Bottomless".


Well, so much for any work being accomplished today. I became consumed by trying to research this coin. I wanted to know what it meant, who had made it and where it had originated from. By the end of the day, I had found out so very little about it, and I gathered my things to leave.


I put it back in my pocket and headed out to the campus library again, thinking to myself what a total waste of time and productivity.

I was determined to continue about my business, and to complete my thesis in a timely manner.


But when I arrived at the library, I ran into her again. I couldn't help but notice her unusual good looks. She was definitely easy on the eyes, and stood out from the crowd.


Overcome by curiosity, I approached her. I wanted to know what she had meant by that strange question earlier that day. Maybe she had meant the coin, and knew something about it.


It couldn't hurt to ask. But when I introduced myself, she acted as if she had never seen me before. The more I tried to jog her memory, the more she protested that it hadn't happened, and I was mistaken.


Until I pulled out the coin. Once again, her face slackened into a blank look. As if in a trance, her lips began moving...

"Bottomless, Eternal, Deeply Sublime.
Ageless, Fathomless, Forever Entwined.
Destiny Calls, Your Fate must Keep.
The Well of Remorse is Endlessly Deep."

"Ageless, Fathomless, Forever Entwined.
Bottomless, Eternal, Deeply Sublime."

With those words my vision began to blur, spinning me into a vortex of confusion and chaos.

My world slipped away, and I was flung headlong into a maelstrom of uncertainty. Then everything went black.

To be continued...