by Dave Corrick
Chapter 10
Pearl Has a Theory and Tells All About What Happened Through the Quartz.
When Pearl had had a few sips of red wine she stopped shaking and fully regained her composure. Then she spoke. ‘I don’t know where to begin, it’s all so overwhelming’.
Pearl’s mind was still racing; there had been a lot to take in.
‘Well I will explain it the best I can’, Pearl continued. ‘Down in the village you all know the old bank building in the centre of the town; we fly past it when we go along the High Street to the railway station.
You may or may not remember. The wall at the front of the bank, just to the left of the entrance consists of a huge façade of quartz crystal. I would say it was quarried from the same area as the quartz at the end of the tunnel. It was probably extracted many years ago when the bank was first built.
When I walked through the quartz at the end of the tunnel yesterday, I could feel every cell in my body changing. I was suspended in rays of blue light momentarily and then I emerged from the quartz wall at the front of the bank in the village! I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was in a dream, but no it was real! The scary part was that I had mutated into something similar to a human form, much bigger than I am as a moth. I had my wings but I also had the arms, hands and legs of a human. Looking at myself I could see some sort of translucent blue shape, but really there was nothing there, I could see straight through myself!’
Louie and Lulu sat spellbound; Lulu uttered several ‘Oh my goshes’. With her hands clutched to her face.
Pearl paused a minute to get her thoughts in order and then continued. ‘Even though I was in a human form, as I said I had my wings. I could fly as I normally do. All the same feelings I have as an insect, walking and flying were there! When I first arrived through the wall I just stood frozen on the spot wondering what the people around me might do to me. I could hardly breathe with the terror I felt.
The really amazing thing was it soon became apparent that nobody could see me! Yet I could move about, touch things and even move things!
After awhile I gained some confidence and walked around a little. I flew up onto the roof of the bank and back down again just as I can normally do. None of the human beings around me took any notice; it really was as though I didn’t exist!
I carefully walked into the bank where in my nervousness I accidentally brushed against a customer. The customer looked around in surprise to find nobody was there!
There were some papers sitting on the counter. I was gaining even more confidence by this time so I picked them up and threw them in the air. The nearest teller was startled and asked a fellow teller to go and close the window!
Out of curiosity I went out of the bank and flew back up the stream. I noticed that I could fly many times faster than I could as an insect, presumably because my wings were so much bigger.
When flying up the stream I noticed that our community wasn’t there, the Nest Café, supermarket, Reserve Bank – none of it was there!
Mr McFarland’s house was there, I could see him out in the garden. When I landed near him he couldn’t see me but interestingly he felt the wash of air from my beating wings as I landed. He looked around in surprise wondering where the sudden ‘wind’ had come from! I realised that I would have to be careful when landing near people. Thinking about it later I realised Mr McFarland had probably heard the swish of my wings as well.
This was when I really thought I must be in a bad dream of some sort. Nothing I did would wake me up though.
I left Mr McFarland and flew back to the village again. I went into the cake shop where we get our chocolate cake, nobody could see me. I picked up a small piece of chocolate cake to eat. When I tried to eat it, it just fell on the floor. This was much to the amazement of the owner who couldn’t understand how a piece of chocolate cake managed to move out of the cabinet all by itself!
I left the cake shop and flew back up the stream to where the tunnel entrance should be but it wasn’t there! This really scared me, how on earth was I ever going to get back if the tunnel didn’t exist?
‘After nearly an hour my brain was numb with trying to take it all in. I thought to myself, could this be the end of my life? I couldn’t eat or drink. How could I get back to my good friends Louie and Lulu and the insect community again?
‘I should mention, while I was in the area where the tunnel entrance should be, I marked a cross on the ground with a stick. I thought perhaps it might tell me as to whether this was a dream or not if I ever got back.
‘With finding it difficult to think clearly I was getting into a bit of a panic. I realised that probably my only chance to survive would be to get back to the quartz wall of the bank and see if I could get back through.
‘Much to my relief, when I approached the quartz wall of the bank it glowed blue just as it had on the other side. Nobody around me noticed. I walked up to it and through, back to the tunnel where I was just so relieved to see you two again. I had been so afraid that my life was coming to an end and that what I was experiencing was what it was like when you are in the process of dying!’
Pearl stopped to take a breath for a moment.
Louie and Lulu were spellbound, could this be true, could they go and do it too? Would they even want to?
Pearl was beginning to feel a bit more relaxed having talked about her experience and went on to say. ‘Now that I have had a chance to think a bit more, I have a theory on why this is happening. In fact if my theory is right I can’t see any reason why you two can’t join me on the other side. Potentially there is a lot of good we could do with this ability. I think we may all realise this in time.
To be safe, before we all have a go at going though the wall I would like to try something to verify my theory. Once I have verified my theory and explained it to you two, you can then decide if you want to join me for another try’.
‘Louie has Arnold seen the tunnel before?’ Pearl asked.
‘No he hasn’t’, said Louie.
‘Good’, said Pearl. ‘To help me get this thing worked out in my mind could you arrange for Virgil to get six of his wasps to pick up Arnold from the Reserve Bank and to meet us at the tunnel in half an hour? Tell him we just want to show him the tunnel. This whole business must remain strictly confidential to the three of us’.
‘Sure’, said Louie.
It should be noted that Arnold being a stick insect required six wasps, one on each leg, to fly him to the tunnel entrance.
‘In the meantime’, said Pearl. ‘I am going to have a lie down and gather my thoughts. You two make yourselves at home until we go and meet Arnold’.
A little over half an hour later Louie, Lulu and Pearl met Arnold at the entrance to the tunnel. Arnold was quite interested and pleased that sufficient interest had been taken to even show it to him.
The four made their way down the tunnel. Louie lit the beeswax candles as they went.
As they neared the end, Pearl whispered to Louie. ‘Let Lulu and Arnold get ahead just a little, I just want to make sure that Lulu makes the quartz turn blue just as it does with you and me’.
Pearl and Louie lagged behind a little. Sure enough, when Lulu was close to the quartz wall; the wall turned a pulsing electric blue.
Lulu stopped, not wanting to get any closer. Arnold moved on and up to the wall and touched it. Nothing happened. Arnold inspected it for the marvellous piece of quartz it was.
Pearl said to Arnold. ‘A beautiful piece of quartz isn’t it?’
Arnold agreed and commented that it looked similar to the front of the bank in village.
‘I think you are right Arnold’, said Pearl not giving anything away.
The quartz was pulsing a very bright blue now with Louie, Lulu and Pearl in close proximity. As with the Ten Ants, Arnold had no perception of the phenomenon that was occurring. In fact he was wondering why everyone was hanging around looking at the quartz. To Arnold it just appeared to be an ordinary piece of quart
z rock. To him it just had the faint yellowish appearance from the light of the beeswax candles.
Arnold thanked Louie for showing him around, he really had appreciated it.
The four walked back to the entrance where the wasps were waiting to take Arnold back to the Reserve Bank.
Arnold and the wasps departed. Pearl turned and spoke to Louie and Lulu. ‘I believe I know partly what is going on. The fact that Arnold couldn’t see the blue light seems to confirm what I have been thinking. Let me go back to my apartment to think about it some more. I suggest we all meet at the Nest Cafe tonight at say seven and I will explain what I can over a meal. I need to do some more research on the Internet this afternoon. Tonight all will be revealed!’
Louie and Lulu agreed that this would be a great idea.
Just before they departed, Louie feeling that he might have something clever to contribute said excitedly. ‘Pearl what about the cross you were telling us about, the one that you marked in the ground!’
‘Yes, yes!’ said Pearl. ‘Good work Louie, I almost forgot. Let’s fly together over the area. It’s somewhere open where the ground is exposed and the earth is soft from what I remember’.
The three flew together around the tunnel entrance in widening circles.
Lulu saw it first and exclaimed. ‘Look there it is!’
Sure enough, there was the cross Pearl had described, so it couldn’t just be a dream, it was very real!
The insects landed and checked it out. Pearl exclaimed. ‘That’s it alright, this is amazing!’
Pearl was silent for a moment. She then turned to Louie and Lulu. Her eyes were alive and sparkling. Then she said. ‘I don’t want you two to worry. I really believe that this could be a truly exciting discovery! I will see you both at the Nest Café tonight’.
Pearl flew back up to her apartment. Louie and Lulu headed to the stream, then along and up to their beloved home where they felt safe again.
Louie lit the stove, Lulu made a light snack and they thought about what it could be that Pearl was going to tell them at the Nest Café.
The evening came soon enough.
Just before seven, Louie and Lulu keeping close together flew along the stream in the near dark to the Nest Café. Both were excited about what might lie ahead and what Pearl would have to say. Louie had phoned previously and managed to secure table twenty seven looking out over the stream. Soft music was playing, the beeswax candles were lit, and it would soon be time to hear what Pearl was going to say!
Louie and Lulu sat and enjoyed each other’s company while they waited for Pearl. Apart from the excitement of the tunnel, the spring wedding was on their minds and they talked through some of the plans they had.