Reflection Page 6

  Before either of us can speak, lightning flashes and a deep rumble echoes through the forest.

  “We’d better get going,” he says, pulling me from the ruins.

  The ride home sucks because the rain’s heavy and the winds are strong. Takoda’s jeep bounces all over the road, and my nerves are a wreck by the time he comes to a stop in front of my cabin.

  “Well here you are. May I walk you to your door?” he asks.

  “Don’t you dare!” I protest. “No reason for both of us to get drenched.”

  I grab my backpack and I’m about to dart out into the rain when my jeep door opens and Dad’s standing there holding a huge umbrella.

  “Perfect timing. Thanks, Dad,” I laugh.

  “Good day to you, sir,” Takoda says.

  “Nice to see you too. Drive home safely,” Dad cautions.

  “Yes, sir, I will.” Takoda smiles and that tells me he had a great time. “May I pick you up in the morning for school? And would you like to explore the countryside with me this weekend?” he asks more to my dad than to me.

  “May I?” I beg.

  “Of course, see you in the morning then, Takoda.” My father shuts the jeep’s door ending my wonderful day.

  With puddles everywhere, we walk strategically through the yard as we aim for the cabin. Another bright light and deep rumble make us hurry. Standing on the porch, my father shakes the umbrella, and we both wave at Takoda as he drives away. The cool swirls around us, and I shiver. We retreat into the warm and dry cabin.

  “You two seem to be hitting it off.”

  I smile. “Takoda is my friend, nothing more. I understand about the no co-mingling between our races.”

  “Oh really?” I hear him say under his breath as I go to my room to change.

  7

  NOT FORGOTTEN

  I MADE it through the first week of classes. As I wait for Takoda, the morning is fresh and makes me feel special. Crackling rocks announce the jeep’s arrival. I smile as he jogs over to greet me. His hair is not in braids this morning. Tantalizing reddish-brown hair with golden highlights falls loosely past his waist. Takoda has a sensuality about him that’s hard to ignore. As he moves, my world now moves with him.

  “Ready?” he asks, with his beautiful smile.

  Standing close, I take the time to study his face. Long, thick eyelashes highlight his light golden brown eyesï€ a yellow tint, amber. His skin is a light bluish green, but there’s a pattern to it. I nod instead of speaking and concern fills his eyes.

  “Anything wrong?” he asks.

  “No.” I sigh and shake my head. Everything is just too perfect.

  I can’t take my eyes off him. He’s wearing form-fitting jeans. A red button-down shirt with a black tee that hugs his chest, which allows his muscles to show through. A golden bird hangs from a delicate chain around his neck. It takes all my strength not to jump into his arms and make an absolute fool out of myself.

  “Let me catch my breath, okay?”

  “I don’t understand.” He looks at me, confused.

  “You just look very handsome today,” I say, trying not to stutter.

  “Well, Journey, you are pleasing to my eyes as well. Your eyes and your hair…”

  “My hair? My hair is, and always will be, a mess,” I argue. “It does whatever it wants. Sometimes I can’t get a comb through it. And I’m too skinny, and my face is too fat, my eyebrows are too bushy, and…”

  He takes my hand and places it over my heart. “You are special right here. What you look like on the outside has no meaning. What is on the inside is pleasing, because I am looking at you, Journey.”

  “Oh great, I’m ugly but so nice it doesn’t matter?” I ask, half joking.

  “That is not what I mean. The most beautiful woman in any world cannot compare to the beauty that begins deep inside. Your beauty radiates throughout your existence. You are more than what is on the outside. In my eyes, I never want to stop admiring you. It is difficult to say goodbye when it is time to part. You are my friend, and you will forever be my friend.” His eyes are soft and his smile warm. “In this life and in our next, you will always be a part of me. Do you understand?”

  I can’t stop smiling. “I think so.”

  “Come, let us take leave. We have a long day ahead of us,” he says, as he escorts me to his jeep.

  My father stands on the porch drinking coffee and waves. Everything is perfect. Maybe my place is with my father after all. It’s obvious to me now why my mother fell for him. He is caring and loving.

  “Seat belts on…motor on…and we’re off,” Takoda announces, as he waves at my father.

  The drive is long, but I enjoy every minute. Tall rock cliffs with large green trees line the road. Waterfalls peek out between tall mountain ridges. We discuss our classes and share our personal lives, what we want out of life, and where we hope to end up some day. After an hour or so on the highway, we slow and turn onto a small two-lane road.

  “Not many people live way out here, do they?” I ask.

  Takoda shakes his head. “Most live in the cities. There are some farms up here, fruit trees mostly. The few who do live here are families like ours who want to live away from others.”

  “It’s beautiful. I could live here.”

  A huge, intricately carved arch greets us at the end of the road. He parks in a small circular lot. The walk is calming. Our talk is enjoyable and I doubt if we’ll ever run out of things to say. Takoda opens a small wrought-iron gate and after climbing several steps, we stop just before the top of a small ridge.

  Before we step down the other side, Takoda takes my hand and asks, “Are you ready to meet your ancestors?”

  “I guess so,” I reply, puzzled.

  “Because if you’re not we can always come back another day.”

  “Don’t be silly.” I walk off for the top of the stairs in my stubborn way. “We’re here so let’s—!” My heart stops. My knees buckle, and I’m afraid I’ll fall down the stairs. I’m overwhelmed by emotion and don’t know why. Takoda holds me steady.

  “Takoda, please explain?”

  “A war, Journey. Many died.”

  “Many?” I yell. “There has to be hundreds of thousands of graves down there.”

  “Try millions,” he replies, with a tenderness that’s full of understanding and acceptance.

  My eyes fill with tears. “My God,” I whisper as I descend the stairs into a cemetery that looks more like a sea.

  Small oval gravestones of different sizes cover every inch of the valley floor. The long staircase takes a while to descend. But when I step onto the thick green grass, my heart pounds. It’s hard to grasp the magnitude of what lays before me.

  “All these people?” I whisper, with tears running down my face.

  “And not one fought in the war. These are all civilian casualties.”

  I turn to him and stare into his beautiful eyes trying to comprehend. But I can’t, there are too many graves.

  “Everyone was just killed? Murdered? Children too?”

  “Unfortunate, but true. Whole families,” he explains.

  Takoda holds my hand as we continue our walk through the ghostly graveyard. The words etched into the stones are in another language. But he translates for me.

  The death goes on and on. I want to hug this world, to make everything better. I lay my face against the cool grass. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing this to another. Just wipe them off the planet as though their lives were meaningless. I cry for the longest time with Takoda kneeling at my side, waiting patiently. I’m related to some of these long-forgotten souls. I can feel their suffering and their fears as they watch their loved ones perish, knowing they would be next.

  With my head resting on Takoda’s leg, I ask softly, “How did it happen? Was it quick?”

  “No. I am sure some suffered. High-level energy beams as hot as the sun’s rays exploded everything they touched. Many people died instantly. Those about a mile or
so away were burnt by the high levels of gamma radiation. Those people died after a long illness and much suffering. The assault lasted many days.” As he talks, Takoda strokes my head.

  “We retaliated as quickly as we could. Our satellites have mirrors and we tried to direct their beams out into space. Not long after that attack, we placed more mirrors around our planets to protect us from future attacks.”

  A major revelation flashes through my mind and I bolt up. My words come out a little stronger than I anticipate. “Both planets? I’m sorry I thought that Journey and Traveler were at war with each other? But now I’m thinking it’s something else. Journey and Traveler fought them off. Am I right?”

  “You are correct. They came from another system that has two habitable planets. One belongs to a race we call the Tarkadians. They attacked both our worlds at the same time.”

  “Is there another graveyard like this one on Journey?”

  Takoda nods and I can see that he’s holding back his tears.

  “Many more died on Journey than here on Traveler. We lost a moon during the war too.”

  “A whole moon?” I would have never thought that could be possible.

  I imagine huge beams of light streaming toward me at thousands of miles per hour. I can feel the intense heat as they get closer and closer. The thought makes me cringe, and I hug my arms. The sky overhead is a beautiful blue with small puffy white clouds scattered about. But the day these people died, I know it didn’t look like this at all, but dark and sinister with fire streaking through the sky and the smell of burning flesh filling the air.

  “My God,” is all I can muster.

  “The Most Holy was with us that day. It could have been worse, but we were able to get the mirrors activated before they did even more damage. If our satellites had been destroyed first, our twin planets would not be here today.”

  “I just had a terrible thought,” I say, with a strong fear rising up from the pit of my stomach. “Are those Tarkadians still out there? Do they still hate us? Do they still want us dead?”

  “Very much so on all accounts. They are still out there, and they would very much wish to wipe us out. When we travel outside our solar system where there are no mirrors to protect us, we must be alert to the possibility of their presence. Their technology is not as advanced as ours, so we at least have that advantage.”

  “But why, what did we ever do to them?”

  “What makes you think we did anything? Some simply enjoy the sport of killing. They are afraid of anything they do not understand, and others, well others just want what is not theirs. There is never any reason as to why one life would destroy another. It is sad but something we must learn from, not something to imitate. This is our past and our honor, and we must respect what we cannot change. It is our responsibility to understand what happened and to ensure it never happens again.”

  “So our government stays on top of these Tarkadians?”

  “They do what they can, yes. Our guardians are out there protecting us now. They patrol the heavens and report anything suspicious to the Elders. Something we didn’t have to do before all this happened. We have learned.”

  As we stroll through the graves, Takoda talks and I listen. I learn about the strong and highly advanced military shared by both planets, which Takoda calls the guardians. I learn about the people who discovered they could accomplish more as a team than as separate players, and that large spaceships are searching our galaxy at this very moment for invaders. I discover that our telescopes are pointed toward Tarkadia to watch what those evil things are planning next. It’s a creepy feeling knowing that another race of people wants to kill us. This is a problem I never had to face on Earth. We had to worry about our neighbors bombing us sometimes, but not some thing coming from another solar system to do it. It’s a lot to take in. But I do my best to understand and to learn.

  As we walk around a bend in the valley, we see a large white marble building with carved columns nestled in a copse of trees. It reminds me of the temples found in Italy or Greece.

  Takoda pulls on one of the large double doors that’s intricately carved with the outline of male and female bodies inlaid with golden wraps of cloth. It creaks and moans as though protesting at being disturbed. We try to be quiet as we enter but our footfalls echo off the marble slabs. As we enter, lights flicker and brighten the chamber. The walls are over twenty feet high and divided into sections that depict the history of the war. Some of the walls are interactive movies that document the horror.

  It’s very humbling. I close my eyes and listen to the quiet. I can almost hear my ancestors crying out to me.

  “Are you all right?” he asks.

  “Yes,” I answer. But I’m not sure how fine I really am.

  Takoda hugs me and we stand together. My heart’s crying but my mind’s yelling out in protest. It’s hard to comprehend how many children had their futures ripped away, their short lives ending in a painful tragedy.

  “It’s not right,” I whisper.

  He doesn’t say anything right away, but after a few moments of silence, Takoda speaks softly. “No, it isn’t. But there is nothing we can do, Journey. The damage has already been done. We can only pay our respects and remember those we’ve lost.”

  We drive home in silence. Every now and then Takoda glances over at me, but I can only stare out my window. These Tarkadians must be terrible people who live on an ugly and dark planet, if they are people at all. It’s the only explanation that makes any sense. They must be devils.

  When we arrive home, Dad is standing outside.

  “Have a good day?” he asks giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “An interesting one for sure,” I reply, glancing at Takoda.

  “Oh? What did you two do?”

  “I took her to the cemetery today, sir. Perhaps I should not have,” Takoda answers.

  “I’m fine, Takoda, really,” I add, defending his choice. “It’s just a shock. Earth has its faults, but to wipe out that many people in only a few minutes.”

  “It is a lot to take in,” my dad says, hugging me tighter. “I’ve been there and it was hard for me. I’d ask you to dinner, Takoda, but I know your father is expecting you.”

  “Yes, I must be going,” Takoda says with a grin. “Tomorrow morning? Train together?”

  “I’ll see you in the morning.” I hug him around the waist. I place my cheek against his chest. He smells good, and I don’t want to let go. But Dad’s watching so I don’t linger.

  Takoda hugs me back and kisses me on top of my head. “Until tomorrow.”

  And he’s gone, again. I stand outside with my father for a little while. We talk about the war. But he doesn’t tell me anything that I hadn’t already read in the visitor center.

  As I sleep that night, my dreams are of chaos and fighting, which wake me after a few brief hours of sleep. I lay in my bed and think about Takoda.

  8

  THE ASSIGNMENT

  TIME PASSES and classes seem to be getting easier, but even more important, they’re becoming more enjoyable. Some days it seems like I can’t hear enough from my professors to satisfy my curiosity about this new and exciting world. The worst class, but also the best, is Ancient History. It has nothing to do with the fact that Takoda sits right next to me. It’s interesting because the class includes lectures about the Wanderers, who I’d watched paying homage to our sister planet in my own front yard. The Wanderers are a religious sect, but religious in an unusual way. Their acknowledgment of God is more of a sensation than an actual belief. The Wanderers teach us that the Holy Ones created our people so we could experience the sensations that radiate between our two worlds. Our soul, it’s taught, is actually made up of this magnetic stuff. It’s this stuff that enables us to feel the tug as the sister planet passes overhead. When we die, our soul merges with the stream of the magnetism, and this merging of the soul is what they worship. The week of the crossing is called Convergence, and it’s at this time wh
en the soul blends with the Most Holy, and a person becomes one with the twin planets. I didn’t think this too strange, because back home everyone talks about merging as one with the universe.

  The downside of Ancient History is that Anneeta, who sits behind me, burns a hole in the back of my head with her eyes. Takoda tries to comfort me, but her gaze gives me chills.

  On this particular day, our Ancient History professor drops two small packets in front of me.

  “What’s this?” I ask, pulling my hair out of my face and glancing up at him.

  “You’ll see,” he says, as he moves on to the next student.

  The packets are loaded with material that looks like some type of advertisement for a rustic getaway vacation. The pictures are remarkable, and the landscapes are exotic. They must have held my attention because I didn’t notice Takoda taking his seat next to me.

  “What are you reading?” Takoda asks, dropping his book bag next to his chair on the floor.

  I glance at him and smile as I hand him his packet. “This one’s yours. It’s some kind of travel brochure. Professor Graysonian handed them to me a few minutes ago.”

  “I know what this is. My father told me about it. I didn’t believe him though. I thought he was joking.” Takoda’s eyes widen. “I can’t believe that we will actually be going this term.”

  “What is this for?” I ask, but our professor interrupts me.

  “Excuse me,” the professor says to the class. “Calm down now, please. I know this is exciting, but please.”

  The class slowly stops talking and everyone turns to listen. I’m at a complete loss as to what’s going on.

  “Journey, since you’re new here, let me explain the packets,” Professor Graysonian says directly to me. His one-on-one attention makes me a little self-conscious. I glance back at Anneeta who’s still glaring at me. I sigh and turn my attention back to the instructor.

  “Mythos term is the period before Skopocit. During Mythos you are to explore as much about you as possible. It is your time to discover who you are before you come of age. During this term you’ll actually be teaching yourself by successfully completing the Trial,” Professor Graysonian explains, as he paces around the room. “This term is to allow you to awaken to your inner self, to discover who you are and who you will eventually become.”