Daily Dream 08-01-2016

Light rain drifted on the wind, a cloying mist the clung to our clothes and dampened our skin. Reaching up a hand, I wiped the accumulated water from my brow, cursing the weather. Wishing it would just make up its mind to rain or not. Trying to ignore the weather, I continued to guide my group through the maze of plywood walls and tin roofing. This housing area surrounded the city, the final barrier before we could reach the construction site.

Dodging past the last set of shanties and making sure to keep my eyes open the entire time, we finally made it through. Gazing ahead I could just make out the construction site through the mist. The blurred forms of guards patrolled along the fence line while others manned the few towers that surrounded the facility.

Now that we were through the crowded areas we were able to pick up the pace and were soon at the site. Flashing my badge to the guards I got us through security. Most of the buildings were incomplete with the exception of a single bunker hidden in the middle of the sprawling site.

We made our way into the bunker, the thick doors locking away the weather the moment they closed behind us. We descended the stairs, the concrete walls giving way to roughly hewn stone and finally natural caverns. Stairs turned into metal steps that traversed open air before landing nearly a hundred feet further down. Glow globes were suspended at strategic points along the descent, pools of light in the darkness.

After what seemed like an eternity we reached the final landing, overlooking the natural hotsprings that formed a cascade of pools. The walls of the massive chamber seemed to glow in reflected light, shadows shifting from moment to moment. Silently, the group of us slipped from our clothes and entered the waters. A soft sigh of contentment escaped my lips as I felt the heat seep into my bones, carrying away the pains and aches that I had long grown accustomed to.

This was our Fountain of Youth.