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Show 127 Following the rope was to swim through twilight. It was another hemisphere on the other side. I compared the other side to Namia once, much to the distaste of those surrounding me who had been force-fed C.S. Lewis all their lives. Go underground, through some kind of hell, come back out and the branches are swaying and the whole ground is energy. You see colors in the dirt and the sky. There are a lot of new, bright angles. And you feel the warm air in every pore. The five of them drove Blake's red Jeep past Seven Peaks-Jen driving, Blake in the front seat, Ariel, Joe and Scott crammed into the back-until there was nowhere left to drive and they parked in an unfinished residential area. They exited into the night and climbed the steep but familiar hill until it veered off into the mysterious dark oasis a half-mile up the mountain. They climbed the mountain quickly, rushed by the destination, uninhibited due to experience with the mountain. They knew where there were stumps to grab onto, where there were dips and holes to avoid. They reached the marker where you duck below the trees and see the cave. The moon glowed bright that night, the frigid dark blue water shining silver with its reflection. Blake took his shirt off and you could see his tattoos-two half-sleeves that spilled down his arm like shadows. The moonlight shined off the pink lotus flower on his elbow and illuminated it brighter than usual. Blake had a couple of |