Chapter 42

Day 185

It's an odd thing to experience normality in your everyday life even though chaos and confusion is swirling around you, setting your world on edge. 

Today was Dante's birthday. We put our hurt and anger aside to celebrate.

Dante aged to a child with the new trait: Frugal.

Naughty Dolly knocked Bronte down.

I asked Brooke to take her younger siblings to go see a movie. I needed the opportunity to discuss the state of our marriage with Nick.

When I went to chat with Nick, he was engrossed in a serious discussion on the phone, so I went outside to paint until he concluded his conversation.

When Nick came outside he relayed the subject of his phone conversation with me. A competitor of his had set him up by spiking his drink. His partners in his Ménage à Trois were supposedly under the influence as well.  However, this didn't change the state of our relationship. The state of our marriage was damaged on so many levels. Nick's indiscretion wasn't the cause of our marital demise, it was merely a symptom of the unhappiness we both were struggling with.

Our marriage was over. We had made a mistake. It was time to move on.

 We would work hard at maintaining a friendship for the sake of our son.

After our discussion we went about our own interests while we waited for the kids to return home. Nick would take Dante out to eat and talk to him before he moved out at the end of the day. Darreth called and wanted me to bring the twins to Hotfoot's for a surprise event.

While Nick and I went about our evening plans, Brooke was online with her dad inviting him to come and celebrate her birthday and graduation with her.

When I arrived at Hotfoots I discovered Darreth was marrying one of those tarts that had bedded my husband. To say she and I were a little uncomfortable with each other would be an understatement.

After the ceremony Bronte and Brendan chatted with their new stepmom for a little bit. Darreth and Mo will be living in a house just down the street.

"Wha????"

By the time we arrived back home, Nick had moved into the house next door.

Day 186

Wulf arrived first thing in the morning.

As soon as he was settled in, we celebrated Brooke's birthday.

Brooke aged up to adulthood with the trait: Daredevil. Her Lifetime Wish is to become a Master Acrobat.

We spent the remainder of our day relaxing at home and enjoying ourselves.

I took several paintings to the consignment store.

Chimchangas for dinner - yum!

Day 187

After a quick breakfast it was time to head for city hall for Brooke's graduation.

Brooke graduated with honor. Her classmates voted her "Most likely to save the world."

I invited Darreth and Mo over for the twin's birthdays.

Brendan aged up to a teen with the trait: Born Salesman.

Bronte aged up with the trait: Hot-headed.

She did the dishes. I forgive her now.

I received notification from the consignment that three of my paintings sold for almost $9000. I decided to treat myself to the Exotic Plant Expo and Spa Retreat in Hidden Springs. I asked Darreth if he and Mo could take the twins for the next few days. He agreed to do so.

Right after they left, it was time to say good-bye to Brooke. She is moving to Sunlit Tides with her dad. Wulf owns a casino and a sports bar there. 

I called Nick to see if he could stay with Dante and the dogs at my house. He said he wouldn't mind as long as his fiancee could stay also. His fiancee? That would be the other woman that took part in his indiscretion. Oh, joy! The holidays are going to be ever so much fun now. *sigh*

This isn't awkward at all :-P

After a somewhat uncomfortable conversation, I left Nick and Keeny in charge of Dante and the house. I left for my vacation feeling a bit odd about being on my own for a few days. I haven't been alone for thirty-seven children now.

As I was leaving Lucky Palms I spotted a flickering light in the desert. I was concerned that it might be a fire so I decided to take a closer look. I parked my car by the side of the road and set out on foot. As I drew closer I could see the flickering was coming from a cave. An odd fog was rolling from the cave as well. I hesitated about approaching any closer. I was about to step away to return to my car, but it was as if a compulsion beyond my control drew me toward the cave's entrance. Almost as if I was being called by name, I thought could hear whispering...

And then in a blink of the eye, I was enveloped by the brightest light. Suddenly I felt void of all my senses. I could not see or hear anything before my world faded to black.

Day 188

I don't know how much time had passed before my senses returned to me. I was in a cave and I could see a faint light around the corner and hear the roar of water. I walked toward the light hesitantly, but as I rounded the corner I could see it was sunlight. I slipped through a crevice in the rocks and found myself in a verdant world complete with a lake and waterfall. I was bewildered and thought that surely I must be in Hidden Springs. But how did I get here? 

Stupefied and confused, I spotted a stone troll and an elderly woman.

As the elderly woman and I approached each other, I felt uneasy. It felt as if the air was a bit too heavy and had a faint metallic scent to it.

I spoke first asking her if I was in Hidden Springs, aware that I would sound a bit off not knowing where I was.

Her reply was waaaaay more "off" than my question. She introduced herself as the crone Rowena. And told me she was a witch. I politely told her that was lovely and wondered why we were discussing personal beliefs rather than location.

Rowena understood that I wasn't grasping her point. She bluntly told me I had left my world. I was startled by her knowledge and allowed that indeed I was not an Earthling. Now she was the one confused. 

The concept that I was not born of this planet thrilled Rowena to no end. She started muttering to herself about new blood and hope.

My revelation to her seemed to remove any reluctance of speaking plainly on her part. Rowena quickly launched into enlightening me. There is more than one world or dimension on Earth. There is the dimension I had been residing in, a non-magic world void of supernatural creatures. There is a dimension filled with magic and only supernatural creatures. And in between the two is the Shadowlands*. The Shadowlands is filled with a mix of the two worlds. A few humans accidentally slip into the Shadowlands now and again. I am in the town of Moonlight Falls. This town is in the heart of the Shadowlands. 

Many years ago moving between the worlds happened frequently, as inhabitants easily moved back and forth. But out of necessity for survival of the supernaturals many gateways between the worlds were forcibly shut. As a result, very few humans in the non-magic world believes in unicorns, vampires, fairies or witches anymore. They are just fanciful tales told to children. I interrupted Rowena to tell her of the unicorn I had seen long ago in Sunset Valley. She was thrilled to hear that there are remnants of magic left in the broken world of non-magic.

She went on to explain that the Shadowlands had grown dark and hazy. It was plagued by a curse that caused some inhabitants to become the walking undead and held many ghosts that could not move on to a higher dimension. The Shadowlands was not a desirable place to be, but once someone slipped in here from either of the other worlds they found it impossible to leave. At hearing this I grew panicked. My family was in the non-magic world. I wanted to return to my children! I didn't want to be stuck in this cursed world!

Rowena explained that she was a powerful witch and capable of slipping between the magic world and the Shadowlands. But she was far too magical to approach the non-magic world. She could not assist anyone in moving between worlds and the odds of my returning to the non-magic world was slim. I should resign myself to living in Moonlight Falls. Rowena had come to welcome me personally because the oracle had predicted the coming of an unusual creature. I was indeed unusual as my alien bloodline held magical like qualities. I explained to Rowena that we did indeed have magical capabilities in select bloodlines of the Xicanopians, but supernatural creatures had never existed on my home planet. Rowena stated that it might not be impossible for me to slip between the worlds due to my genetics. There was always a slim chance, but I should not count on it. 

Rowena then gave me a welcome gift. She gave me the deed and key to a house. Also inside my gift box were a few documents and some currency of this world. The oracle had predicted that I would birth many supernatural creatures that would be resistant to the undead plague. Rowena wanted to help me start out.

Next Rowena demonstrated her magic by casting a protection spell. It looked like a parlor trick to me. I wasn't very impressed.

Then she took me to an old beat up phone booth and told me it was a magical transportation system. I then suspected she was barmy and maybe I had been having a conversation with a senile old woman. 

I stared at this phone booth wondering if this was a prank and there were hidden cameras about. I turned to confront her and she had vanished. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I stepped in a dialed the number to the park she said was across the street from my new home.

I was flabbergasted when the darn thing actually worked!

I found myself in a beautiful park just as Rowena had predicted. Maybe she wasn't entirely daft.

I set off to my new and hopefully temporary home when I saw something that stunned me.

There was a man carrying a child through the park and there were wings on the toddler's back. It didn't appear to be a costume, but I couldn't believe that those wings were real. I introduced myself to the man and he set the toddler down on the ground.

But the toddler didn't stay there on the ground!

Oh my goodness! The old lady wasn't nutters after all. I was still reeling from that encounter when I set off to my new house within my view when I encountered another startling sight.

My new house charmed me immediately. The furnishings were not entirely to my liking and the plumbing and appliances needed to be upgraded, but nothing I couldn't live with for the time being.

I found the enclosed garden already containing exotic plants. I set about cultivating it and planting my seeds that I had with me for the expo I had planned on attending. I also worked on upgrading the first of my three sprinklers.

I had a lot of time to think about my life as I worked all day in the garden. I was lonely. I missed having a houseful of children. I even missed having messy pets underfoot. I wanted to be at home in Lucky Palms with my little ones. I knew they would be fine if I never returned. They had their fathers and stepmoms to care for them. But what if they thought I left on my own accord?

When it grew too dark to work outside, I went inside and prepared an Autumn Salad. This was the first meal I made after arriving to Earth. This reminded me that I had started out here alone once before. And my life had flourished and became filled with abundance. Regardless of which world I resided in, I would keep moving forward. Joy and abundance will come again.

*Note: The idea of three worlds was inspired by/borrowed from the novel On The Edge by Ilona Andrews.