The Frozen Frontier

Antarctica. The polar desert. The white desert. There is where I found myself covered from head to toe with every layer possible. I was trying to cover my face from the frigid wind as it whistled around and through me. We were there on another quest in search of the next “great discovery.” There are many great discoveries that were found in Antarctica. From the Blood Waterfall to ancient bacteria. We were there because of a frozen pond beneath the surface. When we arrived at the site that we had been taking samples of and monitoring the pond, we discovered that the frozen pond was gone. In its place was just a hole. But in that hole, there seemed to be some kind of glow. Not bright. It was just barely enough to notice through the snow that was accumulating on top of it. With the world’s climate rapidly changing, there had been a shift in the layers of ice. The three of us looked at each other and grabbed the climbing gear. Ian and I strapped ourselves to the climbing harnesses. I grabbed the backpack with medical and emergency supplies. I went down first. Ian came down shortly after me. We landed on what seemed to be a thick layer of ice. We unhooked ourselves from the climbing rope. We started to brush aside the newly fallen snow and once we uncovered it, we came to an amazing astonishment. It wasn’t ice. It was some type of glass. But not any type of glass that was known to us. We tried to pierce it with the ice pick or the ax but it seemed to be impenetrable. It was comparable to bulletproof glass. Nothing that we did even scratched it. We could see the glowing light was coming from inside but were unable to see in or determine how big the area was or if anything was even inside. Ian stated that he was going to go back up and get some more tools. I watched Ian as he made his way back to the climbing rope and started up the side of what once was the pond’s border. I began taking ground readings and taking samples of the snow that was harder to scrape off the glass-type material. There was a loud cracking sound and the snow around me seem to be vibrating. I heard Ian shouting in the distance and when I looked, I saw him throwing the rope at me. I got up and started to run towards the rope and as I reached out to grab it, I was too late. I felt myself sliding down further than the bottom portion of the hole. The snow and the ground falling in around and on top of me. I felt myself being pressed against the glass and the weight of the snow. I knew this was going to be my end. I was being buried alive. I laid there knowing that soon I would not be able to breathe. Then I heard something from the glass. It seemed as if it was moving. It opened up and once again I was falling. When I finally hit the ground, there was no snow except the snow that had come in with me. When I looked around I was in awe. It seemed as though I fell into a tropical paradise. I started to remove the layers of clothing I was in. It was so warm. It was beautiful. There were birds and flowers that I had never seen before. “Hello.” Someone said behind me. I jumped and turned around. There were 2 people staring at me. A man and a woman. “Am I dead?” is all that I could say. “No, you are not.” Said the woman. “My name is Elaina and this is Oden. Welcome.” Where was I? I looked around in amazement at everything I was witnessing. Oden was talking but I was in shock and did not hear half the things he said. Until he completed his next sentence. “Yes, welcome to the lost city of Atlantis.” I looked at him and Elaina. “What?!” I exclaimed. Oden looked at me, then at Elaina and they both busted out laughing. “No, this is not Atlantis. You are in Arctia. We built ourselves protection thousands of years ago from the ice ages. We have been under here ever since. Come.” I followed these new friends into a waterfall passage. And it opened up to what seemed to be a whole new world. There were animals that I had never seen before and people. Flying transportation and so many wonderful new things with technology unlike anything you could ever imagine. There were children running and laughing. Seeming to be so free. I started to walk further into this city with Elaina and Oden. I looked back to where we had come through noticing that the passage was now gone. I knew at that moment that there was no going back. This would be my new life. Somewhere underneath the Antarctica that I had once known.

- Tia Dalu Souhrada