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The Core of Being: Alena's Transformation by shadowspub

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· @shadowspub ·
$5.65
The Core of Being: Alena's Transformation
![journey to the center.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/shadowspub/Ep5pAysMox3HbqVGCv2757YjJSbcXDEuDfQdyYCniXioBNkHyxx6aMVhyDymaT6fzR5.jpg)

Alena stared nervously at the screen before her. She was securely strapped into her seat ready to begin a descent like she’d never experienced before. A moment of panic surged through her. What on earth had convinced her that a journey to the center of the earth was a good idea? What made her think going alone was an even better idea? 

She had convinced herself this journey was necessary. She was convinced after so many heartbreaks she needed to go where few had ever dared to go. She believed the challenge of it would break the hold on her pain and build a sense of accomplishment. Rather, she thought she believed all this was needed until she found herself strapped in, the module secured and slowly moving downward. 

She’d been briefed, each layer was going to take up to eight hours to slowly move through. There was no guarantees at any level of how smoothly the journey would be. Like life itself, she’d have to move through them to get to her destination, the very center of the earth. 

She fought the urge to run. There was no where to run to. For better or worse she was past the point of aborting the journey. The descent had begun. She took a deep breath, braced herself and set her mind on what was coming next. 

As she watched the screen monitoring her surroundings she could see the temperature dropping, well below -50C. The world outside becoming more and more white. The cameras panned around revealing a panorama of frost thick on every surface. In a mono sort of way there was a beauty to the cold frigid terrain. It was like a barrier to ever needing to see or feel anything. 

The module slowed noticeably. Panic rose again, what if something happened and she got stuck here? 

“Control, why am I slowing down?” 

“You’re okay Alena. These frigid temperatures make it hard to push through this layer. We’re literally breaking the frost a bit at a time. It can’t be rushed. Watch the temperature gauge. You’ll see a very slow temp rise as you break through the barrier.” 

The voice speaking the words was calm and soothing but it wasn’t easing Alena’s fear. She breathed slowly and deeply trying to convince her body and mind she was safe. That she would get through this. The body was being driven by her mind and wasn’t convinced. 

The minutes ticked into hours as her mind and her heart engaged in pitch battle. Her mind was convinced everything that could go wrong would go wrong even though nothing had gone wrong. Her heart was struggling to accept that those managing the journey were competent and she was totally safe. It wasn’t until she saw the temperature slowly creeping upward that her heart started to win the war. 

As the temperature rose, the white monotones started to give way to a range of colour, a brightening of the surface as she broke through the frigid barrier of the first layer. Her panic dissipated, her breathing had returned to normal as she watched with fascination the approach of the next layer of the journey. 

The frost had completely given way to a expanse of green and then browns. She wondered how colours appeared where no sunlight was. The question disappeared as oranges and then ever more fierce reds come into view. She glanced at the temperature control. It was moving upward rapidly, moving well past 100C. 

“Control, that temperature is moving up awful fast.” 

The calm, reassuring voice responded, “It’s okay Alena, the module is rated for over 1000C, you likely wont get past 800C. You will be coming up on some turbulence soon. We’ll slow you down to make your way steadily through it. Hang tight.” 

Alena appreciated the warning but wasn’t sure she was okay with the temperatures or the idea of turbulence. She viewed the screen with some apprehension. She watched as the world outside started to move and swirl, growing ever more violent as the fiery inferno roiled around the module. She could feel a sway and then a rocking. 

Alarmed, she looked at the temperature, it was up to 750C. Tentatively, she breathed a sigh of relief, the temp was near but not dangerously near the voice’s estimate. As she watched the angry, roiling inferno she thought about how it reminded her of the turmoil of the anger, hurt and pain she had gone through. It was like seeing it all at the same time. 

She looked anxiously down at the controls and saw she was steadily passing through the turmoil outside. She nodded, just as she had passed through the turmoil in those memories. Then her mind went to something she had read about memories, they were just that, fleeting and in the past. She calmed as she watched safely the demonstration of rage and anger. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, the angry turmoil of the inferno started to transition into calm. She was almost through this layer. Alena noticed the screen seemed to get misty. The temps outside were coming back down rather quickly. She guessed the sudden drop was producing what was becoming water droplets on her screen. Condensation she surmised. 

The condensation started to fall away as water flowed across the screen. Rain? At this depth? 

“Control, how is it raining down here?” 

A slightly bemused tone was part of the soft voice’s response. “It’s not rain Alena, the next layer you’re entering consists of water. Don’t worry, down here the water will have no more pressure on the hull of the module than you’ve already experienced. There will be some turbulence but probably not as much as the fire layer. Just in case, be prepared for it being the same or, maybe a bit more.”

Alena wasn’t as reassured as she had been after her other communications. Not as much, maybe more. How was she to prepare for that? Maybe that was the point, it was unpredictable. She’d explored underwater on the surface before and didn’t recall even noticing turbulence once below the surface. Maybe the voice was mistaken. 

In short order she quickly learned the voice had once again understated what was to come. Alena could feel the water buffeting the module and she could see it roiling and swirling around in front of her camera views. It was like being in a storm on the ocean while being under it. 

There was something familiar about this. 

Alena started to feel her chest tighten. A painful sense in the middle of her chest gripped her. It was like the raging water was assaulting her feelings. OH, she thought. Now she knew why it was familiar. That was what she experienced when pain, hurt, grief or anger threatened to unleash tears. Her head always fought the urge and didn’t let them happen. 

As the module slowly descended through this layer, the mind and the heart went into battle mode with Alena buffeted  between the two. With an anguished scream, the heart claimed victory and the tears were unleashed. In the struggle leading up to this, Alena hadn’t noticed she had turned on the connection to Control. 

“Alena,” came the soft, soothing voice “It’s okay, this is a normal response at this level. Let the tears happen. You’ll feel a tremendous relief of pressure.” 

Alena closed the connection. The heart was in control. There was no letting, they were happening. 

As the tears slowly drained from her system, she noticed the rough waters outside were also becoming calmer. She must be almost through this layer. She felt lighter, calmer. Much calmer than when the descent began. She felt a sense of anticipation of what was coming next. She must be almost through the descent. 

“Control, how close to the center of the earth am I?” 

“Welcome back Alena, you sound much brighter. You’re through the worst parts now and I think you’ll enjoy the next layer and then you’ll reach the core. We’ll pause at the core before starting the ascent.” 

Her eyes were glued to the screen feeling an excited anticipation to see what Control meant by her enjoying the next layer. The water slowed and gradually disappeared, green vegetation came into view. Alena could hardly believe her eyes when the vegetation gave way to, trees. She was excited and overjoyed at the lush green forest she was passing through.

Her hands went to the controls, flying across them as she panned and zoomed the cameras. On the other layers she had just let the cameras feed to her. On this one, she was so happy she didn’t want to miss any details. Unbelievable that under all the turmoil above was this wonderful, green lush, forest. 

They arrived at the core. Alena felt a rush of warmth and light she’d not experienced before. They stayed at the core for a couple of hours while Control ran some maintenance routines to be sure they were in good shape for the ascent. Alena never even registered the idea that somehow at the core of the earth anything could go wrong. She stretched her legs in she small cabin while she waited without even a thought to any possibility of something going wrong. 

“Alena, you there?” 

“Yes Control, I am.” 

“Oh good. Everything is ready to go. Just let us know when you’re back in your seat and strapped in. I might suggest that you bring the pillow close to your seat. Our guests often find they drop off to sleep on the ascent.” 

“Okay Control, I’m strapped in. I have the pillow but will be suprised if I can sleep.” 

Several hours later an attendant gently woke Alena who didn’t remember any of the ascent after seeing the lush forest again. She had dropped into a deep sleep. As she followed the attendant out of the facility she noticed a lightness about her that was new. During the taxi ride back to her apartment she pondered this new sensation. 

Seems in taking a journey to the center of the earth, she found the center of her own heart. 

![Badges 2023.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/shadowspub/48GE3qrZTUAtaBCAH5WWdYcaruE89Tf4gWuQAkwde1qQnXqiQSfHdxF4Q5uiYJGA9W.JPG)

*Shadowspub writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc. Her Nicheless Narrative podcast airs on Thursdays each week.* 

  NOTE: unless otherwise stated, all images are the author’s. <br>
Some of the image work may have been done in Midjourney for which I hold a licence to use the imges commercially. <br>

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**How to Connect With ShadowsPub:** <br>.

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vote details (271)
@glorydee ·
Great mind you've got coming up with fascinating stories like this, 
 I can imagine the courage Alena gathered to go through this journey and the fears in between, it only shows that we are human after all.
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@olujay · (edited)
That's quite story, shadows!
There have been many varieties of stories about what the journey to the center of earth may look like, but your descriptions here were unique.

Considering how complex the structure of the earth is, it does make sense to me to have the extreme temperatures, low and high.

Alena sure is a bold woman to have taken this journey. But I can't help but wonder that it was all a dream, and also shut this "visitor."

Great story!
#dreemport
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@samsmith1971 ·
Very nice, Shadows! A piece of fiction from you! You certainly put a spin on a journey to the centre of the Earth - it felt quite magical! And I enjoyed the parallels between what she was going through and witnessing on the outer journey versus her own inner turmoil and her attempts to reconcile her feelings. !LUV !ALIVE

I dropped in from Dreemport this evening.

#dreemerforlife
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@luvshares ·
@shadowspub, @samsmith1971<sub>(1/10)</sub> sent you LUV. | <a 
    href="https://discord.gg/K5GvNhcPqR" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank">discord</a> | <a href="https://peakd.com/c/hive-159259" target="_blank">community </a> | <a 
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<center>Type <code>! help</code> (no space) to get help on Hive. <a href="https://hive.blog/hive/@helphive/helphive-introduction" target="_blank">Info</a> <a href="https://hive.blog/@helphive" target="_blank"><img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/crrdlx/23tc66FximNy5g3UyHckd43CbGEB5tAG9dXgDPZMqhzN5sfFfiAPkFoLRso2EHuuq9GZW.png"></a></center>

<center>Made with <a href="https://peakd.com/@luvshares" target="_blank">LUV</a> by <a href="https://hive.blog/@crrdlx" target="_blank">crrdlx</a></center>
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@youarealive ·
<center><p>@shadowspub! <b>You Are Alive</b> so I just staked 0.1 <b>$ALIVE</b> to your account on behalf of @samsmith1971. <sub>(1/10)</sub></p>
<p>The tip has been paid for by the <a href="https://www.wearealiveand.social/">We Are Alive Tribe</a> through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want, plus you can win Hive Power and Alive Power delegations and Ecency Points in our chat every day. <br /> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/p2WXJLn.png"></p></center>
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@sperosamuel15 ·
An impressive story you just shared.

> What on earth had convinced her that a journey to the center of the earth was a good idea? 

Curiosity I guess😂

Jeez.... Alena was quite a human😂
I wanted to go further with the praise till I saw the #fiction tag and this...

> Okay Control, I’m strapped in. I have the pillow but will be suprised if I can sleep.”

Hehehe, so I guess now I have to praise those ink of yours.... That was quite a post... Great Indeed

#dreemerforlife
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@wrestlingdesires ·
What a wonderful story of inner and outer exploration :)

>Our guests often find they drop off to sleep on the ascent.

Until then, I thought Alena was the first to see the center of the Earth. Well done 🙌


This post has been manually curated by the VYB curation project
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