The World of Ky'Mera (Book One in the Ky'Mera Adventures)

Chapter 7: Homecoming

Homecoming

I walked down the hill from the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns, and was able to hitch a ride from there to Clovis. I walked back through my neighborhood, feeling as if part of me didn't belong here. I found my way to my house on 3rd Street, and I knocked on my house door. My little sister Kate opened the door and nearly screamed when she saw me. What she did do was run back through the house yelling, "Kevin's home! Kevin's home!" I walked into my home and was tackled by my older sister Susie, who had sprouted past my height in the time I was gone. She now stood at least three inches taller than me and was about to knock me over her hug was so fierce.

As the rest of the family made their way to the front door to make sure it wasn't just some cruel joke, we all ended up in a group hug that nearly crushed me. We all moved into the living room, Leo on the floor, tail wagging, and the rest of us sitting around the room in one chair or another.

It was Susie who first broke the silence, "Where have you been?" Most of the family murmured agreement to the question, and I told them how I had fallen into the pit where the search party found my rope, but I had not been killed in the fall. I told them about my encounter with Cyndi in the clearing, and my parents scoffed at me, while Kate listened with wide eyes. I told them the whole story, from my first entering Arbutus, then my honor duel with Lance, and finally ending with the party after saving the Furan from the beetle invaders. My parents listened with whimsical looks on their faces, not believing a word of it, but even Susie was starting to believe my tale.

As I finished my story my parents looked at me with a quizzical look, "Come now Kevin," my mom said, "do you really expect us to believe some story about talking animals and underground cities? I think you hit your head in the fall and were delusional for a week at the bottom of that pit. Anything else would be too crazy to be anything but a fantasy."

I smiled a sly grin, "Then how come I have photographic evidence?" This grabbed their attention, and I pulled out my camera to show them. I hooked it up to my laptop and downloaded the photos I had taken during my trip. Once they had finished loading I turned my computer around so everyone could see my photos covering the entire screen. Susie let out a small gasp as she saw the first picture, one of the Council Hall in the center of Arbutus. Kate didn't need persuading, but I could still see my parents were unconvinced. The next picture caused my father to let loose a single curse, and mother went white as a ghost. Susie stared with awed eyes, and Kate simply laughed at our silly expressions.

The photo was one of Cyndi and me sitting on the edge of a garden wall in the main square. We had sat down to take a rest from our picture runs, and Cyndi and I thought it would be fun to have a silly picture of us. She had bared her teeth in a silent growl, and I faked a silent scream. The overall look caused it to look like she was really pissed with me.

I changed to the next picture, and it showed us standing in a pool of light cast from one of the light crystals that had been collected for use around the city. As I scrolled through the pictures, Susie and Kate started to make small sounds, like oohs and aahs at certain vistas, while mom and dad got more and more silent by the minute.

At the point that I ran out of pictures to show them, mom asked, "So you really did fall into a sub-triennia world?"

I nodded, "And I did save them from marauding beetles ten feet tall." I looked at each of them individually, "I even left a phone link back to them once I came back to the surface." Mom looked skeptical again, so I popped out my phone and called Cyndi. I put the phone on speaker and placed it on the coffee-table.

On the third ring Cyndi picked up and asked, "Kevin? Why did you need to call so soon? I haven't even gotten back to Ky'Mera yet." My parents jumped as she said the name of the underground world, but I spoke first.

"I just needed to make sure the line would reach you." I lied, "But while I have you on the phone, my family would like to say hi."

"Oh." she said, "I would love to hear from your family. Are any of them there right now?"

I was about to answer yes, when mom interrupted me, "Hello, uh, my name is Carol Long. I'm Kevin's mother. Are you Cyndi Icefur?"

Cyndi laughed over the line, "You didn't believe him when he told you about his trip to Ky'Mera did you? I can assure you that Ky'Mera is real, and that I am not just a girl from Kevin's neighborhood."

Susie spoke up now, "Are you the one in all the pictures with Kevin?"

"Yes I am, but don't worry," Cyndi said, "I'm not some monster that will hurt anything without thinking. I love to play and dance and listen to music. Kevin is responsible for the last two. Who is this?"

"I'm Susie Long, Kevin's sister." Susie said.

"Little or big sister?" Cyndi asked.

"Just two years older." Susie answered.

Cyndi now had some questions of her own, "Do you have any other siblings Kevin, or is Susie your only sister?"

Kate sat next to the table, "I'm Kate, I'm six years old, and I love the way your fur glows in the light of those crystals."

"Why thank you Kate," Cyndi said, "Tell me Kate, do you pester your brother a lot?"

"Only like every day." I interjected.

"Then I want you to be nice to him for the next month." Cyndi said, "Ok?"

"Ok." Kate answered.

The next hour was filled with back and forth questions about our world and Ky'Mera, but soon things started to whine down as Cyndi started running out of questions for us. Finally dad had one last question, "So if you ever need Kevin again, you'll call him and need him to return to Ky'Mera?"

Cyndi didn't hesitate in her answer, "If it is such a dire need that we cannot solve it ourselves, then yes, I will call and he will be expected in less than two days." She noted the strain in my father's voice, "Is there something wrong Mr. Long?"

My father didn't answer right away, but he forced himself to say what he had to say, "I will not let my son go down into an underground world un-assisted. If he is going, then I will make sure he goes with someone else so we can make sure he gets back to us."

Cyndi wasn't fazed by the firm tone in my father's voice, "If you feel he will need to come with help, then I have no problems with that. Just make sure he comes with someone open to new ideas, we wouldn't want a misunderstanding to jeopardize the safety of Kevin and his companion. I may be a nice Furan, but there are others who still do not like the idea about outsiders helping us. If Kevin's companion were to start a fight with one of my people, I fear the rift created would endanger both Kevin and my people equally. I have to go now, I'm almost back to Ky'Mera, but I hope to hear from you again soon Kevin. It was nice to hear from your family too." She hung up and I closed my phone.

Mom looked at me and said, "Well, I guess you better get dressed. You have school in the morning, and you are not going to skip another week of school so you can explore the Moon. I don't think I could stand two secret worlds being discovered in my lifetime."

I laughed, "Don't worry mom, I won't be going back to Ky'Mera for a while. I still need to graduate first, then I'll be free to go back anytime I want. If you'll let me." I added as an afterthought.

She looked at my father for a long moment, and they seemed to come to an agreement. She turned back to me and nodded, "You can go back, just give us fair warning the this time."

"Don't worry about that." I said, "I'm done with disappearing acts."

Keep an eye out for the sequel: Return to Ky'Mera

Coming soon.