Forsaken Love

Chapter 7

Another vision occupied Jim's thoughts that night. He observed his surroundings and saw a large bell at the top of a tall tower. Behind this tower, extending across a wide river, he identified a long bridge. Two-story buses drove down the bridge,while pedestrians walked on the sides. On the opposite end of the bridge, the largest Ferris wheel Jim had ever seen soared above the river. He noticed the clock tower attached to a massive structure that shared resemblance to a castle. Jim believed he recognized the clock tower from a picture somewhere, but, despite the familiarity of the location, still struggled to identify it. When Jim walked past a red phone booth on his way to the clock tower, he found her already waiting for him; the older, fully grown blonde haired woman shared the same familiarity of the city itself. But unlike with the city, he could put a name to her. For it could only be one person. The two briefly hugged, and then Jim continued his walk, now accompanied, past the clock tower, across the bridge, and to the base of the Ferris wheel.

Like most dreams, the events of the vision did not play through Jim's head linearly. The dream skipped the journey to the Ferris wheel to a moment when the two had already entered one of its cabins. In his mind Jim saw the wheel like any other Ferris wheel, only larger and taller, and instead of sitting, the passengers stood. It had two doors, one entry and one exit, and a roof elevated above the side windows to provide a clear view of, what should be, the majestic city. Unfortunately, Jim only saw the river clearly. Beyond that stood nameless buildings. Jim's dream failed to piece together all the structural details, and thus nothing about the city looked truly impressive. Yet he still felt tranquility, happiness, and love. He still felt as if the view from the Ferris wheel had been the most beautiful view his eyes have ever seen, and he felt like the most blessed man on earth. Without intention, Jim smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here with you," Evelyn said. "This place is so special, and it's nice to have someone special to share the moment with."

"Same. I can't imagine being here with anyone else. I'm glad it's you."

Evelyn smiled back. "We finally did what we promised all those years ago. Traveled the world together." 

Jim distracted himself by taking in the sights and forgot to reply. He moved closer to the window, and Evelyn followed suit. He stared straight down. "How high up do you think we are?" Jim asked his companion.

Evelyn shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me how high we are, really. You're the one who should be worried. You aren't scared right now? I know how much you hate Ferris wheels."

Jim confidently answered. "No. That is strange, isn't it? I mean, I knew even with my fears that this ride would be worth it, but I never expected to feel so calm. Perhaps being in an enclosed cabin, as opposed to the Ferris wheels in amusement parks, has something to do with it. I'm not sure why, but I feel completely fine."

Evelyn smiled. "I'm glad." She retrieved a camera from out of her bag and held it to her face. She paced around the cabin and snapped pictures of the city below from various positions and angles. "Look, Jim!" Jim rushed to her location. Evelyn pointed to a round white building. The roof did not cover the entire building however, leaving a crescent-shaped opening. "I think that's the Globe Theater. My English teacher mentioned it in class last week." 

"I think you're right," Jim replied. "I completely forgot about that. How have we not visited that yet?"

"We will put it on the list." Evelyn grabbed a notepad and pen from her pack. "It will be hard to see everything we want when we only have one more day here, but we'll have to try. We can tell her all about it."

Suddenly, the Ferris wheel's cabin softly rocked back and forth. Jim saw a storm slowly approaching in the distance. One by one, fog covered the buildings of the city, until nothing was left visible. Only Evelyn and the other occupants of the cabin. Then Jim felt the strong winds rocking the car harder, and one of the side doors opened. Jim held onto the bar as tight as he could, but when the draft blew Evelyn away, Jim's reflexes sought to save her, loosening his hold on the pole. He too blew away and quickly lost sight of her. He looked around for anything strongly cemented to the ground that could help him regain control, but at his elevation came up empty-handed. Jim instead slammed against a brick wall, grimacing in pain, and his eyes closed.

When he opened them again, the city had vanished. In its place spawned a desert. A woman stood a few feet away from him with a camera up to her face. After the camera clicked several times, the stranger approached him and handed the camera to another woman at Jim's side, alive and well.

"Thank you," Evelyn said, smiling at the stranger and shaking her hand.

Jim and Evelyn turned around. Jim once again encountered pure tranquility, happiness, and love. Before him, three pyramids towered above the horizon. "The Pyramids of Giza," Jim announced. "No picture can do them justice."

"That's an understatement," Evelyn argued.

"True. Can you believe that it's been three weeks already? I don't want our trip to be over tomorrow." Jim wrapped a single arm around Evelyn as they admired the Great Wonder.

"You know what they say: 'Time flies when you're having fun,'" Evelyn said. She allowed Jim to hug her for some time, as they both stared in awe, cherishing the moment. Evelyn reviewed the picture the stranger had snapped for them. Then she shifted her eyes onto Jim. "While I would love to explore more of the world, it has been the best three weeks of my life. It has been perfect. I don't believe it can get any better than this, so I think we should end it here, on a high note."

Jim smiled. "Thanks for bringing me along again. I really needed this."

"I think we both did," Evelyn argued. "Besides, we'll be going off to university soon. Who knows what our lives will be like when we're done? It seemed like a good time to take a trip, because we might not have another opportunity for awhile." 

"You'll do fine, Evelyn. You have nothing to worry about," Jim assured. "You'll go on plenty of trips after you graduate. You're smart. You'll have an amazing job. It's me that needs to worry. All those things you just said are true about me. That's the reason I'm here, isn't it?"

Evelyn intently stared at Jim, her face displaying a mix of emotions. "You are here because I could not think of anyone I'd rather travel the world with. That's the truth." 

Jim smiled. "Alright then, shall we carry on to the last most perfect day of our trip?"

Evelyn nodded, and the two held hands as they walked together toward the pyramids.