The Coast of Change

By L. A. De Vittori

When two teenage twin brothers, Amarant and Nevin, witness a pair of beautiful water nymphs emerging out of the Atlantic Ocean, their lives change in an unpredictable way. Before the boys fully grasp what is happening, the water nymphs, Aurelia and Nymphol, have swept them along on an uplifting journey to ra

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminare Press
• Release date: Feb 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886790580

L. A. De Vittori

L. A. De Vittori was born in Italy in a multicultural family that exposed her to various languages and customs. At the age of seven, she found out that she had dyslexia. Although she was very bright, she struggled to achieve the same results as her classmates. She always persisted in her endeavors to achieve academic excellence and lived by the words "the gift of dyslexia," being cognizant that no matter what we are faced with, we always have the strength and means within ourselves to overcome all challenges.After moving to Canada at age nine, she learned English, flourished as a direct result of the teaching methods in the Great White North, and became an A student. As her mastery of the English language grew, she read books of diverse genres and developed her passion for the arts and books. At sixteen, she wrote her first novel, The Coast of Change: An Uplifting Journey through the Time Loop. Starting with a beautiful film in her head that she could not pause, she succeeded in putting the story on paper. The novel is an uplifting story of family values, empowering discovery, and coming of age, and it is seasoned with abundant humor throughout.In addition to her love for writing, she is a passionate and talented dancer, training to become a professional dancer. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family and her furry friends.

Book preview

Prologue

This is the story of our journey through the time loop—a story written while being remembered and written while being foreseen.

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Are you ready, Amarant? We’ll be late for school! Nevin called up the stairs to his twin brother.

I’m coming. I was just organizing our star charts! Amarant yelled down the old spiral staircase.

Of the two, Amarant was the tidiest, but they both placed great value on their stargazing equipment and planetary and orbital charts. Those were never out of order or on the floor, unlike their other possessions.

Meanwhile, Nevin had prepared their schoolwork and packed their lunches for the day. Amarant came running down the stairs with some forgotten schoolwork of last night, and his large, brown curls bounced messily around his pale face. In this they were the same. They looked identical, as was usual for identical twins, but there was a very distinct difference about their faces. Amarant’s right eye was ocean blue, and the left eye was fresh green. Nevin’s were the opposite: the right one green and the left one blue, completing each other.

Their house was an old vacation home modified to match the family and their father’s stargazing observatory. It had a cozy kitchen overlooking the ocean with cabinets and flooring made of pine. Cream peach-colored tiles covered the backsplash behind the countertop. Around the sink and oven were smaller tiles with hand-drawn dogs, flowers, and nebulas on them, a leftover of their childhood. In the center of the room, the circular wooden table had stood since their parent’s marriage, which was, according to their dad, eons ago and in a different galaxy. The twins had believed this story until they turned seven. Their mother was a seamstress and worked from home. This allowed her to take care of the house and her children.

Opposite the kitchen, where the twins were now running to get to the door, couches were arranged in a circle. The couches were like a collage, each with a different story and past but all fitting harmoniously together. Just above the couches, the windows were raised and spread around the room’s exterior wall like a circular glass lens out to the sun. Opposite the windows with blue curtains was an antique fireplace and a stack of wood in a crate next to it. Borealis, their gentle giant Saint Bernard, was absent, probably on a walk with their mother.

The twins had found the cookies she had made for them to deliver to Miss Swanette, their English teacher, while they had breakfast.

They quickly went outside and climbed into their ancient, deep-blue pickup truck. It had been a present from their Grandfather Maximiliaan for their sixteenth birthday. He was a mechanic and had fixed the car up nicely. It was an unstoppable 1977 Chevrolet Silverado short box, sidestep C10. You could barely tell its age except for the loud thumping when you pushed it past 45 mph and tried to brake. The engine sounded familiar as it thumped along. It was relatively new to them, only a few months old but familiar as if they had been driving it for years rather than months. Of course the truck was only new to them, and to be honest it was an elderly driver—a grandfather on wheels. Amarant thought back to how the truck just happened to be dropped on their driveway after their grandparents from Germany had taken a sabbatical a few years ago. Grandpa had bought an old pickup, fixed it up, and he and Grandma had traveled through the whole of North America for a year. The twins were jealous of their travel and all the splendidly glorious adventures they had. When they returned to Germany, they left the truck for the twins. The twins loved it and always took turns driving it.

They drove off to school, Amarant driving, leaving their old beach house with the tall pine trees behind. In the car, they turned on exciting music and discussed their findings of the previous night in the stars. The brothers loved stargazing and were experienced with the constellations and star clusters in the night sky. They both aspired to follow in the footsteps of their father, the best astronomer the East Coast had ever seen.

Having found a nice parking spot on the boundary of the school parking lot, the twins went to class. Luckily Amarant and Nevin had all their classes together. They could not picture a whole school day without the other.

The first class of the day was biology, a subject neither one valued greatly. They had decided to take the class anyway, along with physics and chemistry, to give them a well-rounded understanding in the sciences and help with their plan to become astronomers. They loved to learn about galaxies, planets, and the wonders that they witnessed with their telescope. It had taken several years of summer jobs and help from their parents to buy it. A lot of funny stories had come from those diverse jobs over the years: the florist place in town, where their mom thought it would be safe to send them, walking dogs, which was not a good idea, and mowing lawns, which was okay until they mowed over Mrs. Barttlet’s irises. They had also worked at their grandparents’ restaurant and still did in the busy seasons.

Mr. Mitchell called on the class to settle down and hand in their work. He was a plump, elderly man who placed great value on his notes while lecturing. Nevin went to the teacher’s desk and handed in their work before greatly sighing and going back to his desk. What he would give to be at home or in their little astronomy tower watching the stars. He liked school overall, but nothing captured his heart like the universe he got to see in the evening. The twins sat through the class quietly, carefully taking notes, but in the back of their minds, they thought of the alternate universe they witnessed at night.

The day passed slowly as usual until they had English class with Miss Swanette, the German literature teacher. During this class, they both participated eagerly. Essays and understanding older literature, translations of old scripts, and all the stuff that Miss Swanette came up with was nearly as fun as being home on the beach.

Miss Swanette had been their mom’s schoolteacher and was rather ancient. She had moved from Germany many years before their mother, and she still spoke German perfectly, but her English had a rather comical accent.

The twins had remembered to bring her the cookies their mother had made in the morning. They were chocolate chip with ginger, her favorite. She said she was so thrilled to have some kindred spirits in the storm of her life. The twins only hypothesized what this meant, finding that Miss Swanette’s life was calm but never wanting to ask, not knowing if there were personal matters behind her cryptic comment.

The rest of the day passed in a blur with the completion of some homework at lunch and delicious homemade cheese scones and Coca-Cola. The best part about lunch was that no one bothered them, and they could talk with each other as kindred spirits in a storm. Their friends Simba, Augustus, and Henry had handball practice during today’s lunch; they did not care much about astronomy, so when they had practice, Amarant and Nevin got to talk about the stars as much as they desired without eye rolling.

I wonder what father is studying right now in the Netherlands, Amarant. I can barely wait for him to return and tell us all about it, Nevin said.

Probably something amazingly awesome, Amarant replied glumly, and we are missing it.

Well, we can’t miss school, and it’s too expensive for us to all fly across the ocean and back. Let’s be glad that Dad will share all the information with us when he comes back. He could also just keep it to himself, Nevin said, suppressing a shudder at the horrible idea.

Their father, Michaël, had left a little over a week before to go to the Netherlands for some studies at ASTRON, one of the biggest and most advanced radio observatories in the world that included the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and the Low Frequency Array. Their father was a college professor and taught astronomy. He was working on a book about the astronomical phenomena he studied. Unfortunately, he was a little secretive about the exact content of the book. He did however share his knowledge with them, whenever possible.

When the twins got home, the first thing they did, regardless of their discussion at lunch, was to check if their father’s car was in the driveway and, for some miracle, he had arrived early. They missed their father’s chaotic personality and lighthearted laughter in the kitchen.

Disappointed about the absence of the car, without confessing it to each other but still knowing what the other was feeling, they went inside to see their mother. They entered through the wooden front door, and Borealis, their Saint Bernard, came leaping toward them with uncoordinated bounces.

Good boy. How was your day? Did you chew lots of logs? Nevin greeted the family protector.

"Chase any seagulls?’’ Amarant asked, laughing.

Borealis wagged his tail excitedly in confirmation and licked their hands eagerly, sniffing and tasting where they had been. He had a lovely doggy pillow next to the fireplace that their mother, Lorelei, had made from chew-resistant fabric when they adopted him as a puppy. It was checkered in forest brown and green with red maple leaves spread unevenly on it. He loved it and drooled affectionately all over it, making it soft and mushy in the most used corner. Sadly, it was not slobber resistant.

Mom? Nevin called.

We are home! Amarant yelled.

In here! Lorelei called back.

As they walked toward the garage, their mom’s workplace, they smelled something delicious baking in the oven for dinner, which they were pretty sure was lasagna. The garage was completely transformed into a sewing room; the shelves lining the walls were full of fabrics and plastic containers containing thread, buttons, zippers, and a lot more. The large table was covered by the fabric she was working on. She had an overlock machine, an embroidery machine, and a regular sewing machine. Their mother was caring, compassionate and very kind. She had chestnut-brown hair and deep, ocean-blue eyes, and her long, wavy hair was tied in a ponytail. She was working at the embroidery machine and looked up excitedly.

Oh my darlings, how was your day at school? Did Miss Swanette enjoy the cookies?

They said that she had loved the cookies and that their day had been okay. After narrating the day to some extent, they said that they would go into their room and do homework before stargazing in the evening on the beach.

Go ahead, my sons. I love you! she said.

We love you too, Mom! they called before ascending the stairs.

Amarant and Nevin entered their attic-like bedroom. It was large with a slanted wooden roof and two beds, one on either side, and piles of books, pants, socks, and T-shirts, some of which were dirty, on the floor. The stargazing equipment in the middle was completely organized and tidy. They walked to the tidy center of the room and sat on the old wooden floor to start their homework.

Nevin, it is your turn to do biology while I will do history and philosophy, Amarant stated.

They had a good system in place. They divided the homework of the school subjects and then completed the subjects they needed for university: mathematics, chemistry, physics, and English. They would complete the work for the both of them in the subjects not needed for university and then tell each other what they had studied in a summary. This arrangement was their secret. They laughed under their breath and started.

After the homework was completed, Amarant, Nevin, and their mother ate the delicious lasagna at the round kitchen table, told plenty of funny language jokes, and then went outside.

Lorelei continued sewing the cushion cases for the sofas that she had started before dinner. She was used to having her sons spend the evening stargazing on the beach. She loved seeing their eager, excited faces when they managed to see some rare star or constellation. The passion for astronomy that ran in their veins was pure.

They carried their telescope out, sat on the beach with sleeping bags for cushioning, and looked at the night sky. The evenings were starting to be warm enough to be outside in their checkered red-and-green pajama pants, a T-shirt, and a warm jacket. The spring air was starting to spread over the coast of Nova Scotia. It was only April though, so the weather could change quickly. In April, the weather does what it wants, as the German saying went.

Borealis, their gentle giant Saint Bernard, rested at their feet on the rocky sand, chewing a driftwood branch. He was a strange dog—he loved to swim and eat yogurt, his paws were too big for the rest of his body, his nose was always wet, smelling of salt water, and he was always drooling. He also had the kindest, most understanding eyes that the family had ever seen on a dog.

The twins named stars, star clusters, constellations, and planets to their hearts’ content, taking turns looking through their Apochromatic Reflector telescope. The four-inch model was easy to transport and had a simply sublimely superb image. It was perfect for the beach where it got pitch black. It had been a little pricy, but luck had been on their side. Their dad’s old colleague, George, had retired and had sold it, still in excellent condition, for a manageable price. The twins were pleased, and their father was thankful to his old friend George.

Lorelei came walking over and told them that she was going to bed. She said they could stay up late since tomorrow was Saturday and they could sleep in.

Thank you, Mom. We will be quiet when we come in, turn off the lights, and lock the door to the beach, Amarant promised.

Good night! the twins said simultaneously, and then the three of them started laughing.

Good night, my angels, Lorelei wished, hugging them tight and going back into the house.

The twins continued stargazing until they started to feel tired, hearing the ebb and flow of the ocean and the gentle, warm breeze ruffling their hair.

Suddenly, out of the heavens, a shooting star sailed straight toward them. A sea breeze filled their lungs and spread like a magical blanket over the ocean and sky. The drowsiness disappeared with a gust of wind from the ocean, and the twins were instantly awake and aware.

Oh, holy cow, did you see that?! It was so big! The tail of light it left behind was exemplary. I don’t think we ever saw a shooting star so big and at such a direct angle. It seemed to have come from another world! Nevin exclaimed.

I know!!! We must tell Dad when he returns. Oh, how exhilarating, and if we had gone to bed a couple minutes ago, we would have missed this. We are so lucky! Look at the mist spreading on the water and the sky. Do you know what that is? Amarant gushed in excitement.

It looks like a nebula having come to Earth and curling around the sea!

That’s very poetic but still doesn’t explain it, Amarant said.

The mist was soft shades of pink and purple, resembling the winter sky at sunrise, except that it was warmer and intertwined with gentle blue tones mixing with the water, gently swirling. It gave the twins a sense of déjà vu, like they thought they had never felt before, and as quickly as the mist had appeared, it disappeared.

Nevin, holy cow. What do you think that was? Amarant said.

I told you I have no idea, but I think we saw this before. If I could only remember where! Nevin answered.

Maybe on a picture of a nebula? Amarant shrugged.

In the silver, shimmering waters reflecting the full moon, two girls seemed to melt out of the surface as if their very beings were created from the water. Their skin was a soft cream, and their aura was one of purity and peace. Over their bodies and shining, silver dresses, soft water pearls glistened in the moonlight and shone like aquatic fire on their hair. One girl had deep-red curls reaching to her delicate waist, gently curling to her hip. The other, possibly even sweeter looking, had wavy, chocolate-brown hair flowing smoothly down her whole back. Their eyes appeared to reflect the soft flow of the ocean, shimmering in a deep night-blue.

Looking at the nymph-like figures, all the boys could do was stare and admire the wonder that just occurred in front of their very eyes. Their mouths hung open, resembling blowfish.

The fastest to recover was Borealis, who eagerly sniffed in the direction of the angelic girls. Once he noted that they smelled of seawater, he leaped into the water and licked their delicate fingers. The water nymphs seemed to like the attention of the gentle giant and laughed a trilling laugh that spread around the beach like a fresh saltwater breeze.

The red-haired one spoke in a language the twins did not understand. Then she giggled and spoke in a language the twins were accustomed to. Greetings, you two lovely humans. What is wrong? Do I have coral in my hair?

Oh Nymphol, do not scare them. They do not know who we are. Let us introduce ourselves first, the other girl said.

You are right as always, Aurelia.

They walked closer to the shore where the boys sat completely frozen in disbelief. Nevin and Amarant could not remember how to close their mouths. The poor boys were stunned like never before. In the back of his brain, Amarant realized he must look pretty stupid with his mouth hanging open, but there was no way he could fix that in his current state of mind.

Once the girls reached the border between the water and land, they took a deep breath and stepped from the ocean to the land. They had passed that threshold before, but the thrill of being so close to the twin boys made them blush coral-orange red around their cheeks and gently curved-up noses. Their feet were pale, matching their gentle, watery configuration. Their movements were smooth and light as if they were floating in water but without the limitation of resistance, only the blessing of it.

They slowly came to a smooth stop in front of Amarant and Nevin, knelt, and faced the twins expectantly. Their expectant posture did not register in the twins’ speculation. Borealis had followed the girls quietly and now lay at their side, having forgotten his driftwood log and finding that the girls smelled more like ocean than anything he had smelled in his doggy life.

After she realized the boys were not going to thaw anytime soon, the brunette spoke. I am Aurelia, and this is my sister, Nymphol. We have come to guide and help you find the mist of love and forgiveness.

Their perfectly shaped lips were an orange-coral color of the sea that the twins could not name. Their eyes were normal in size, but the proportions were slightly different from the twins’: less white showing at the sides and a larger, even circle of ocean blue around the pupils.

Amarant and Nevin were held in the gaze of purity and love without remembering that their mouths were still hanging open in astonishment, their hearts racing in excitement and surprise. Amarant came out of his blissful trance first. He focused on what the lovely girls were saying, snapped his mouth shut, and tapped Nevin, indicating that he should do the same. To his distaste, he could not form a coherent reply to introduce himself and Nevin or ask what in all the planets they were talking about. All that came out was ahhhh mmhh. He quickly sealed his lips and blushed deep scarlet from his ears to his nose.

Sitting opposite him on the sandy beach, Nymphol giggled and briefly brushed his nose with her index finger. Aurelia gave her a stern look, scolding her telepathically. Although she had seen the beautiful future of romance between herself and Amarant, it was not reasonable to confuse the poor boy any more than he already was. Nymphol knew that Aurelia was right and sat back on her heels. Aurelia sat opposite Nevin, who watched her shimmer in the light of the big, bright moon in amazement.

The moon appeared closer, shining brighter from the moment that the wondrous girls had stepped out of the water, although Amarant and Nevin had not fully registered this yet.

After more soft breezes drifted by, the twins managed to regain control of their vocal cords, form coherent sentences, and think of anything except the wonder that had occurred and the beautiful and strangely familiar girls kneeling in the sand next to them.

I’m Nevin.

And I’m Amarant.

The girls were so thrilled to have finally gotten a response that they started shining soft shimmers from their very being.

The boys managed to ask what they meant by being guides and coming to help in love and forgiveness. The response was not comprehensible or helpful in the slightest nebula. Amarant thought, It sounds like English, so why can’t I make sense of it? Nevin was equally confused. Thankfully, their other questions were answered in some form. Nevin asked the girls whether they were magical beings, where they had come from, what their species was, and what their appearance meant.

Aurelia gently petted the large Saint Bernard behind the ears and around the snout. She said to the boys, We are water nymphs from the future, in your time perspective, and have come to help the world break out of the time loop that has captured humanity. Unless humanity can, within a year, forgive and accept the light of the divine source and the light of the chakras of Mother Earth on which we learn, travel, and grow on, Earth will have to repeat the year again.

Amarant asked about the mechanics of the time loop. The twins somehow felt that the girls could be trusted, and they communicated this through a fleeting glance at the other. Information was always good to have, especially if the messengers were like these beautiful nymphs.

The nymph called Aurelia attempted to explain, but her words turned to a breeze for the twins, none of the information reaching their ears. This was very frustrating for the twins: if the girls had come to guide them and tell them stuff, why could they not hear it? What was the point?!

Seeing the confused expressions of the boys, Nymphol said, You are not ready to hear about these concepts or able to comprehend them fully because some limiting beliefs still hold you captive. In time, you will be able to grasp the whole concept. Do not worry.

Ah, okay, Nevin managed to respond.

The stars started to fade, and dawn began to spread with light, gentle rays over the ocean, greeting the Earth with the splendid morning sun. This was the sign for the girls to return to the ocean and for the twins to process what had been said. The nymphs rose and said calmly, in a melodically synchronized voice, We will return tonight at sundown.

Nymphol and Aurelia turned and walked toward the water hand in hand. The breeze caught their hair, blowing it as if it were the sail of a boat and they were about to take flight. They stepped into the water and glided deeper into the golden sea, the sun catching their beautiful features, before disappearing under the shimmering surface. Their shining red and chestnut hair were the last to disappear.

Chapter 2

The Secret:

Better Not Tell Mom

It was becoming brighter, and Amarant and Nevin quietly slipped into the house through the back door, glad to see that the lights were still out. They quietly went upstairs and into their bedroom. As soon as the door closed, Nevin let out a deep sigh. Wow.

What do we do now? Amarant asked.

The long silence was interrupted by the water running in their parents’ shower.

We shower, get dressed, and pretend like nothing happened, Nevin suggested.

Okay, that sounds good for now. Then we need to see, Amarant replied hesitantly.

We don’t even know what we saw and have to realize it for ourselves. Mom will think we are crazy if we tell her now, Nevin contemplated.

That’s true. I don’t want to share about the girls yet either, Amarant said.

Let’s shower and talk about it later when we have presented ourselves as normal to Mom, Nevin said excitedly.

All right. You shower first, Amarant said. They could not stop thinking about the mysterious, beautiful girls who had come out of the water.

All right.

Nevin gathered a pair of fresh clothes and went into their washroom. Amarant stayed put and listened to the running water. There was no way that he had imagined the things he had seen last night. His imagination was not that good, and he had never been able to smell or feel anything on the rare chance when he imagined something. Last night was different. It was magical. Yes, it was magical!

Just then, Nevin came out of the bathroom fully dressed, his hair dripping wet and shimmering in the dim morning light. Amarant had been so deep in thought that he had completely lost track of time and was startled by his brother’s sudden reappearance.

Your turn, Nevin said, going to sit on his bed.

Ah, wait. How were you so quick? You usually take hours in the shower.

I don’t know. Must be nerves. He tried to be casual through his excitement and swirling thoughts.

Oh, all right. Amarant went to take a shower.

Nevin attempted to arrange his thoughts. Aurelia was so beautiful with her light curls and sweet expression. Holy pickle! She came out of the water with the mist and was dry!!! Wasn’t she cold? She and what I think was her sister did not look cold. Amarant and I sat so close to them that we could easily have detected goosebumps. How did something like that happen? How could it happen? Why could it not happen? What were they talking about—something about a time loop and finding the mist of love and forgiveness?

It was hard to remember clearly through the haze of overwhelming emotions! Maybe Amarant remembered more, as he was more down to earth, and they would return today.

Once Amarant was dressed and both boys had calmed down to some extent, they decided to go downstairs for breakfast and then work on homework and discuss the events of the night before. We can always tell Mom about that shooting star we saw before the girls came. Then it will be obvious why we are acting a little strange, since we could still be thinking about that, Nevin suggested.

Right. That’s a great idea, Amarant whispered as they stepped off the stairs.

During breakfast, neither one felt like chatting, having forgotten about discussing the shooting star. Lorelei quietly sipped her coffee after taking muffins from the oven. Halfway through breakfast, Nevin realized his mother was eyeing them inconspicuously. Maybe they were too quiet. Was she noticing?

Guess what, Mom! Nevin exclaimed, breaking the silence. Amarant made a startled jump next to him, as he had been even deeper in thought than Nevin.

What is it, honey? Did the stargazing go well yesterday? she asked.

Oh, yes, it was spectacular. Was it not, Amarant?

Oh, that’s true. We saw a shooting star sailing straight—

Toward us, Nevin interrupted.

That’s exceptional! I’m so glad that you saw such a wonderful wonder! Lorelei exclaimed, clasping her hands together in joy.

The twins smiled mischievously at each other, knowing that the