‘But you can’t stay here forever,’ Tobus explained gently, looking at her.
Zatol whispered something to Tobus, who glanced at Carrol and then back at Zatol. ‘Excuse us,’ Tobus said, and he and Kevin left the room.
*
Kevin and Tobus met with Calbas and explained how miserable Carrol had been throughout the entire trip to Mars. They proposed returning her to her family.
‘Very well,’ Calbas said, ‘I will commission both of you to return her to her family on Earth.’
Later that night, Tobus turned into a small spaceship and carried Kevin, Carrol and Zatol into the sky. Zatol came along to come to say goodbye. Tobus soared and glided until they arrived back in the Earth’s atmosphere.
When they arrived, Zatol took out one of his glowing coals and handed it to Carrol. ‘Take this,’ he said. ‘Just something to remember me by.’ He looked at her tenderly.
Carrol teared up. She took it and hugged him tightly for a few seconds. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she said, ‘Thanks again. You’re my best friend. You did whatever it took to help me. I will never forget you.’ She wiped her hand across her face to dry her tears.
Zatol said nothing but looked at her warmly and said, ‘I guess it’s goodbye.’
Carrol hugged Kevin, too, and shouted out to Tobus, ‘Thank you for taking me back home!’ She stroked her palm across the seat where she had been sitting to show her appreciation.
The early morning sky looked translucent and they could see the houses below as they descended. Everyone was quiet for a moment when Carrol’s house came into view.
Kevin’s voice suddenly rang out: ‘Oh, we can’t return you to your family looking like this.’ She looked at her hand, which was still in cartoon form, and they all started laughing. ‘I hope you don’t mind, I will have to expunge the memory and traces of your travel to Mars from your family so that things will fall into place naturally.’
‘That’s fine. Thanks for all your help,’ she replied.
‘Remember, you must not discuss what you saw with anyone,’ Kevin said.
‘Yes, I understand. Thank you all again. Goodbye Zatol,’ Carrol said, waving her hand.
Kevin placed his hand on her head. As soon as Carrol fell asleep, she was transformed back into a human. They carried her invisibly into her house and took her to her bedroom, placed her on her bed and completed their assignment before departing back to Mars.
*
When Carrol woke the next morning, she found herself in her own bed in the bedroom she shared with one of her sisters, who was still fast asleep. Carrol took a minute to look round. She could hear her mum and dad talking in the kitchen, together with her other siblings.
Carrol tried to gather her thoughts. Everything felt so hazy that she wondered if it was all a dream. She broke into a hot sweat and panicked.
Oh, Zatol! He gave me one of his glowing coals to remember him by! She gasped in shock as she felt it in her hand. She swiftly pulled it from under the bedcovers and opened her palm. There it was: a small, round, black ball of coal to prove where she had come from.
She slid her hand under the covers again and drew the sheet over her head. The coal glowed in the darkness like a fading amber light. She cherished its luminescence for a few minutes and smiled before getting up to hide the coal among her belongings.
When she joined her family in the kitchen, it was as though she had never left – everything fell back into place. Carrol was so appreciative of the second chance she’d had to return to this beautiful Earth that she didn’t want anything to change at all, even if it meant being bullied by her siblings. She was wiser; she would never give anyone the chance to control her feelings and make her feel miserable and unwanted again. She knew better now, that things don’t have to be perfect. Carrol would take the grief from her siblings – anything rather than the deafening loneliness that had accompanied her through most of her journey. That’s not to say that she had not enjoyed her adventure; she wouldn’t have changed it for the world. She was just glad to be back to normal – whatever normal was.
Things were just perfect the way they were. She smiled, looking around. Then she remembered Zatol; she missed him and wished she could see him again.
The End
The Gate Page 38