“What do you mean?” Katie asked.
“Katie,” John said. “You were born in a place called Narque. Shortly after your birth, your mother and I found a way back here, to Earth, and since then we have spent our lives here, blending in and leaving the other world behind. Unfortunately, Sabrina also found a way here, though how she did I do not know. She must have had help.”
Katie laughed, a sickening dread building in her stomach, “I must be dreaming. That’s probably what’s happening. I’m dreaming because I have my graduation tomorrow, and I’m probably oversleeping and you two are about to be called by the principal or something and told that I am missing.”
Her parents said nothing, so Katie then added, “I guess I’ll just be on my way upstairs, where I am sleeping, and hopefully wake up pretty soon, and wake up to completely sane parents.”
She started to leave the kitchen, but her dad called her. “Wait.”
He walked over to her, placed the plate down on the table and grabbed her arm. She tried to jerk free but with little success. Her father didn’t grab her hard, but with enough force for Katie to know that she wasn’t dreaming.
“If I jump out the window to wake myself up, will you freak out? You know, the dream law where if you’re falling you will wake up?”
“Let’s just say that I’m not going to let you near a window just yet,” John replied. He led her to the living room and Natasha followed behind. “I’m going to show you something else,” he said. He spoke slowly in a deep calming voice.
He grabbed a rolled-up map from the wall. He put it on a low glass table and opened it.
“Oh my god, you guys still have this?” Katie asked in disbelief.
“What did you think this was?” Natasha asked. “Some stupid children’s art project we kept just because?”
Katie chuckled. “As a matter of fact, yes. I’ve never even thought about it after I made it.” Katie looked down at the map and admired it. She was nine years old when she drew it in an art class. She won first prize for it. The other kids, and some parents, didn’t believe that she did it by herself, or even helped at all. There were mountains, seas, rivers and lakes, all drawn in clear detail. There were several cities and many areas of forests and grasslands.
“This is a map—”
“I know, I made it,” Katie said, cutting her father off. “I had a dream about it the night before I drew it.”
“This is a map of Narque.”
“How is it, though?” Katie asked. “I can’t even remember anything about it.” Though when she said it, Katie felt as if she were lying to herself.
John Dimes smiled. “It is where you truly belong. Now, I have to tell you fast,” said John, in a much more serious manner. “We don’t have much time and I expect you will want to see your friends and make your plans for tomorrow. Narque has been under attack for over nineteen years. The people attacking it are ones who have studied the ancient history of Narque and use that knowledge for destruction.” John immediately went into telling Katie about it.
“It is similar in the way the people of Earth go to war with each other, except that, while Narque doesn’t have bombs or missiles, they do have the ancient powers which are far more devastating.”
“You’re serious?” Katie asked.
“Yes,” John replied.
“So why are you telling me this?” Katie asked.
John sighed. “Because a time may come when you must go back to Narque and save it. The power to save it lies within you.”
Katie didn’t know why, but she had tears in her eyes. She was scared and confused. “What about you two?”
Natasha smiled at her sadly, “Well, we will—”
“Support you in every step you take, in every way we can. And we will always love you,” John said, interrupting his wife. “Now go upstairs and enjoy tonight and tomorrow. You’ve earned it after spending all these years in school.”
Katie walked back upstairs slowly. She was confused and angry that her parents weren’t letting on as much as they knew. Katie could tell that they weren’t telling her something. She tried thinking hard on what it was, but she came up with no ideas. She lay herself down on her bed and texted Tyson and some other people, reading their Facebook posts about their post-graduation plans.
Down in the living room, John and Natasha stared at each other.
“We should have told her,” Natasha said.
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” he answered. “Maybe we’re wrong.”
Natasha walked over to her husband and put her hand on his cheek, “I hope so. But those chances are slim.”
John grabbed Natasha’s hand and kissed it. “Do you think she believes us?”
“Yes,” Natasha said in a whisper. “I do. But even if she doesn’t, in due time she will be forced to accept it.”
“You mean when we’re gone?”
Tears slipped from Natasha’s eyes as she gave her husband a small, sad smile.
4
Graduation Day
Katie got up around nine the following morning. Usually, she would have been up by six, as her first class would start at a quarter to seven, but today was graduation and, thankfully, the school board closed it for the day.
After her conversation with her parents last night, Katie went to her room. She went online and used various social media to keep up with the daily affairs of all the people she knew, snapped photos with her friends and added to her story while she vigorously tried to keep up with everyone else’s. Many of her friends were talking about what jobs they would take, where they
