Lost in a Good Book [Israel]

[Israel]

I could listen to a babbling brook
And hear a song I could understand
______________________

How wonderful it would be to live a world illustrated through beautifully-crafted words between the pages of his books. Sometimes, Gabriyel let his mind wander, wishing that he lived in the worlds in his books as a normal human being, and not as a nation that has the burden of keeping his country intact and his people safe.

The world is full of wonder, and one says that if one hasn't traveled, then one has only read a page of a book. And this was true; for the long period of time that he has lived, he has seen many things, been many places, conquered many lands, encountered many cultures. These have been more or less fictionalized, written in a creative way, almost as if he had been there himself (which he has, yes, but… it didn't hurt to relive the memories and think of what could have been).

But for Gabriyel, the worlds in the books he reads are the ones he would rather live in. None of the useless, mundane crap that he did for his bosses that he never received monetary compensation for. Hell, even a simple appreciation of his work every now and then would suffice, but no. He lived in a world where he did what was required of him, with no questions, and he didn't even receive so much as a phrase or word of praise or encouragement when he's done his work well.

No, he was tired of this world. The world between the pages of his book, the world he carries in his hands, the world that he can easily access every now and then, those were his ideal worlds.

Putting down the book he was currently reading, he closed his eyes for a moment to rest them. He's going to need reading glasses soon, as staring at letters almost all day has taken its toll on his eyes. But little by little, he fell into a deep sleep, right in the middle of his open yard, the sun shining down its rays happily upon the sleeping figure that is Gabriyel.

------------------------------

Gabriyel woke up with a start, hearing gunshots firing in the distance. Where was he? Wasn't he in the safety of his own garden, back in the land that he barely owned? And… when had he changed into his military uni-- wait. This wasn't his military uniform. No, this didn't even RESEMBLE his uniform at all. Why the heck was he wearing a Spartan soldier attire?

…Wait, a Spartan soldier attire? Then what's with the guns? Guns weren't supposed to have existed at this point in time. At least, not in Sparta. Where the heck was he? And why a Spartan uniform? He was Persian… at least, in his roots, right? Wrong uniform here.

Getting up from the hard, concrete floor (which he was pretty sure did NOT really exist back in the time of the Spartans), he nearly tripped over his cape as he stood. He was NOT made to wear capes. They were too goddamn long, and annoying, and one always tripped over them it was such a miracle men could once FIGHT in them. But he was still wondering why the heck he was wearing the wrong uniform, when someone came up to him. A man with a gun, wearing the uniform of a British WWI soldier.

…Wait, what time period was he in, exactly?

The man must have seen the confusion written on his face, as he laughed. "You're at a halloween party, remember? It's history-themed. You know, wear uniforms from different time periods? Surprised you went as a Spartan. Nice choice."

"Oh… huh… thanks." Wait… who was this man again? Here he was, talking to him like he had known him since forever. But he didn't, and he was just about as clueless as… well, something very clueless. He couldn't really think of a good simile right now. But that doesn't really matter.

But what were those gunshots? He was pretty sure he had heard them. They sounded real, too. Instead of following his 'friend', however, he ventured outside through a convenient back-door entrance that was placed there almost as if he was supposed to go there.

Okay, wrong move. In an instant, everything went black, and when he came to, he was floating in the middle of an ocean. The door he came from was nowhere to be found. He then swears he will NEVER open a door again. He was swimming along, backstrokes, butterfly strokes, whatever. It was fun for a while, until his limbs grew tired. Very tired. Thank god this was the Dead Sea, or he'd have sunk to the bottom by now. All he could do was float on his back, and wait for a ship or a boat or something to pass by.

And lo and behold, a ship did indeed pass by. It was a massive ship, almost ran him over (thank god he swam away just in time). However, someone on board must have seen him, for the next thing he knew, a bunch of men were telling him to grab onto the life… donut thing. You know, that circle-shaped thingy that you could hang onto and they'd pull you onboard.

And after he had been pulled onboard, the kind men gave him a towel to dry himself with and wrap himself in. He looked down at himself, though, and to his surprise, his Spartan uniform was gone. In its place, instead, was a simple white shirt and… shorts. VERY short shorts. Whoever had chosen his outfits for this whole fiasco… had very bad taste.

He could feel himself heating up, though, as he stared at his legs. His very bare legs. And when he looked up, his look changed into that of horror. The men who saved him were also looking at his legs. Not in the way he wants them to look.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we caught today." The man said, smirking evilly while licking his lips. His crew nodded in agreement, all of them either smirking, eyeing him up and down, or licking their lips. Okay, he did not ask to be onboard the yaoi ship. Oh no. In vain, he laughed awkwardly to try and keep calm and also to divert their attention from his, well, legs, so he covered it up with the towel and smiled nervously.

"H-hey guys, thank you for rescuing me… I would have drowned if you didn't…" He offered pathetically, as one of the other crewmen wolf-whistled.

Another replied while winking, "You're welcome, babe. We expect payment tonight."

Oh shit. 'Payment'? Really? Now the idea of drowning didn't sound so bad after all.

He was just about to jump overboard, when the ship passed in between two big mountains of rock. Pure rock. He recognized these rocks. It was like those big rocks in that Disney adaptation of the Persian story Sinbad, which he'd always thought was not a very good adaptation as it didn't capture the true story at all. He was, after all, proud of his Persian roots, and he wanted everything to be completely accurate. I mean, really? Setting the story in Greece, when it was obviously so very Persian? That really irked him.

No time to be thinking about that, though. Here, he risked getting raped by sailors, or he risked entering that world beyond and getting killed by Sirens. If it was like in that Sinbad movie. Which was a better death?

Before he could fully ponder on this, though, and even before the sailors could jump on him, the ship had entered the realm of the Sirens. He heard the beautiful singing, and while he wasn't entranced right away, he could feel himself slipping from the world of the conscious. Wait, the sailors were gay, right? Would they, too, be affected by the singing?

He didn't really care, though, as he was definitely out of it, now. Their voices were just so… beautiful, so enticing, that he couldn't help but be, well, enticed. Pretty soon, he was pulled overboard by a Siren, and when he had come to his senses, he was already underwater, kissing a… thing. He didn't even know what it was, but all he knew is that he couldn't swim up, and the only way was down. Well, shit. He couldn't really breathe in water, can he. His eyes closed, and he was just about to lose his breath… when suddenly, he landed inside a… dome, of some sort. And he could breathe again. He was wet, and in short shorts, but he could breathe again, and sit on… concrete? What? There was concrete in the deep ocean? Is this where the cement factories dumped their wastes?

But no… this couldn't be. Gabriyel stood up as if trying his legs, then looked around. Buildings, people staring weirdly at him. Civilization. Oh god. People underwater.

And that's where he saw it. He had an inkling that he knew where he was, but the sign overhead said it all: Welcome to Atlantis.

He had found the lost island! He had actually found the lost island! Thank you, dear Siren, wherever you are! Now, the first step was getting proper clothes so that he doesn't get stared at. But what currency did they use here…?

Out of instinct, he reached into his pocket and brought out his wallet. Ta da! Atlantis money, right inside! It seems that whatever he thinks of just appears right out the bat. Not impossible things, though, some he'd have to earn for himself. Like clothes. Which he then wasted no time in procuring, as he bounded towards a vendor, looking rather confused at his, well, attire.

"Some clothes, sir?" He asked in perfect English. So they spoke English down here. He nodded, then the man handed him some pants, which he paid for.

Hey, jeans! Wow, Atlantis sure was keeping up with the modern times. It wasn't much different from the normal world, then, except that it's, well, underwater. He quickly bounded into the nearest restroom before more people could see him, and a few minutes later, he came back out: fully clothed, semi-dried. He felt normal, now.

He then walked along the streets, eager to explore this newfound world he had now proven to exist. It looked… normal, though. Billboards, skyscrapers, people dressed in jeans and shirts and dresses and… well, normal clothes. Pretty anticlimactic, but it doesn't change the fact that he's in Atlantis!

But, just at that moment, the illusion of peace was shattered by a whale swimming by. Apparently, it had broken the orb. Now, he realizes that the people are not normal; in fact, they seemed pretty used to this. Everyone suddenly turned into mermaids and mermen! They swam around, and the buildings and cars and whatnot were still intact, as if they were used to this kind of scenario. Oh wow. It would be SO superb living in this place.

That is, until he realized he was underwater again and he couldn't breathe. And he couldn't turn into a merman either.

Oh shit.

Just as he was about to lose hope, though, the whale swam to him and swallowed him whole.

Oh wow. Just like Jonah, from the Bible.

The whale's stomach was enormous. "Hello?" he shouted from the inside. Nothing came back but echoes. Until…

"Pipe down, I'm trying to pray here!" A voice suddenly called out from below. He decided to slide through, then found none other than the famous rogue prophet himself, Jonah.

"What… Oh my go-- What… You're… You're JONAH!" He could say nothing else as he was… starstruck, to say in the least. Here he was, talking to an actual Bible character! Oh boy… Atlantis and Jonah in one day. This was a marvelous adventure indeed.

"That's my name, but do you mind? I'm trying to pray here. It's been my third day inside this whale, and God still hasn't answered my prayers about this stupid whale spitting me out! When I get out of here, I swear I'm going to Nineveh and preach!"

"Oh trust me, your prayers will be answered soon." Just as he was enjoying the look of confusion on his face, the whale did spit them out on the beach, just like the Bible said! But on the shore was…

Well, men in American and British WWII uniforms. With… squirt guns. Multi-colored squirt guns.

And a big banner hung up between two tall coconut trees: "Welcome to Normandy, Germans 300 Meters ahead"

What. the fuck. was happening here.

Before he knew it, Jonah was gone, and he looked down, and saw himself wearing the American uniform. Well, not that he minded that part; he liked America to the point that he'd wear his military uniform willingly. Grabbing a squirt gun that was passed to him, he then ran, let out a battle cry, and began… uhhh… squirting.

And just as he reached the designated 300 meters… the scene suddenly changed.

He was suddenly in a forest.

Wait, what in the world was really happening here? He didn't open any doors. He didn't go anywhere…. well, except to run to where the Germans were supposed to be and squirt them with water. There was something very odd happening here. He'd changed settings and clothes without even knowing what hit him.

And then suddenly, he heard singing. Oh, that beautiful voice, almost as beautiful as the voice of the Sirens he had heard before. But not so beautiful that it would entrance him to jump overboard again. He then searched for the owner of the voice. When he peeked out of the clearing, he saw a woman, surrounded by animals, singing to them.

Wait… what the heck? Was he in Snow White's world now? That was definitely Snow White, with hair black as ebony, lips as red as a rose, and skin as white as snow. Wait… well, she is German. Or kinda German. Well, either way, he read the German version. Is this what the sign back at the beach meant?

Just as he was about to wander away, though, he steps on a twig, thereby making a very audible cracking sound. The animals scamper away, and the singing stops, and the fair Snow White gets up from the ground to peek at his hiding place.

"Who's there?" She asked fearfully. Having no other choice but to show himself, he bowed deeply, quite relieved that he was at least wearing clothes that could befit a prince.

"Fair lady, pay me no heed." He said simply as he bowed. He then pointed in the direction of the dwarves' houses, telling her the way to go. "I am very much aware of your situation. Go that way, and you will find a little house where dwarves live. Promise to keep house for them, and they'll accept you. Oh, and if an old woman comes by to offer you laces for your corset or combs or apples or whatever, don't accept them. The old woman is your evil stepmother in disguise, and she's going to try and kill you."

He was pretty sure he just changed the entire plot of the story upon saying that. But he wanted to appear like a mysterious savior, so he disappeared into the woods before she could ask any questions. Ha. It should serve that evil queen right.

What's next, I wonder? Before he could even finish that thought, he saw a light right ahead. Deciding to follow it, he then went into a whole new world, a new city. There were posters plastered on the walls everywhere, but he couldn't read them, so he went near one. There, in big block letters, read, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

Holy shit. Who the heck's Big Brother? Looking around with a panicked look on his face, he saw that the forest he had come from was now gone. Shit. Well, he couldn't take cover there, then. However, he did look down at his clothes, and it matched the clothes of those who passed by him, so it seemed like he was still okay. No one noticed he doesn't belong… yet.

It seemed that he had landed in a communist, dictatorial, dystopian world. And considering the pattern of the worlds he had landed in, he guessed that he had landed in yet another world inside a book. 1984, then?

Oh shit. Having read that book, he knew what could cause him to land into jail.

He kept a face as straight as possible, since he had the risk of being vaporized if he showed a sign of emotion that seemed to convey "I want Big Brother out." However, that didn't succeed very well, as he was then approached by three men. Three men who could very well overpower him.

And there was nothing to do but run. Run far away from there. Far, far away.

And the men chased after him, getting nearer, and nearer, and nearer--

------------------------------

Gabriyel woke up with a start, sitting up and panting, almost as if he had really been running. Well. That was certainly a very… eventful dream. He thought as he wiped his forehead, which was soaked in sweat. He then picked up his book, stood up, and walked towards the direction of his house.

A soft smile formed on his face. Now I know how Alice must've felt…

[/color]

And he walked home, thinking, how wonderful this world really is.

______________________
I keep wishing it could be that way
Because my world would be a Wonderland

[/blockquote]