The Dark Tower Awakens

This book is properly classified as science fiction. But is it? Maybe now it is, but in the future, maybe not. When my father was a child, the main mode of transportation was the horse and buggy. Within his lifetime, the privately-owned automobile was the main common mode. When he was a child, mankind had not learned how to fly. The first powered flight was flown by Orville Wright in 1903. Before he died, tens of thousands of people flew every day, and a man walked on the moon (1969). What would have been considered science fiction to him as a child became science fact as an adult. Jules Gabriel Verne (8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French author who helped pioneer the Science-fiction genre. Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently, he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction," along with H. G. Wells. Verne is the second most translated author of all time.

The Journey continues with this new beginning. Suddenly I became aware of my surroundings. It was like being in the center of a tornado. Unfortunately, I could see images of things flying by me, never close enough to grab. I vaguely remembered this had happened to me before. This time at least, I had company; I could see a friend spinning around with me in the distance. Suddenly, I noticed my friend's image was getting smaller and smaller until he had just disappeared with all the other images. Somehow, I knew I had also experienced this before. But even knowing all this, it still couldn't have prepared me for this feeling of total emptiness of being so alone. This emptiness seeped into every part of my mind, with this overwhelming feeling of being alone. It continued for what felt like an eternity. Suddenly, I felt I was getting smaller and younger. How I knew that, I don't know. Then I heard something that sounded like the beating of a heart. As I listened, I also heard a second heart beating in the background, one louder, the other softer and quicker. As time went on, the weaker speedier beating heart seemed even more delicate and quieter; suddenly, it stopped. There now was only the sound of one beating heart. Slowly and very faintly, I heard the beating of the second heart return. The more I thought about my situation, it wasn't too bad. I wasn't hungry or thirsty, and I felt warm. If it weren't for that loud beating heart, this would be a pretty nice place to stay. Then as always happens to me, things started to change slowly at first. Then for some reason, I felt I was getting bigger, or my surroundings were getting smaller. The situation came to a head when I felt something pushing me. At first, just mildly pushing, this pushing force started getting stronger and stronger; it was now becoming constant. The next thing I knew, after a particularly hard push, I was falling, then a blinding bright light; finally, someone was spanking me and yelling breathe; what a trauma! Then everything went black again for a short time. Then I heard a voice, what joy, someone was talking to me. I couldn't understand what was being said at first, but it became clearer as the image appeared. That, someone said, "Ralph, you must be patient for now. I protected you in the past; you will now defend someone as I did you. It will only be temporary; you need to know and remember as much as possible. He then disappeared, and an image appeared. It was like seeing life through a baby's eyes.