“Really?”
“No, I’m just pulling your leg,” she teased.
Abu reacted. “I thought I said there will be no leg pulling in my—”
“Sorry!” she interrupted with a smile. “To tell you the truth, Simon, I don’t know how it happened. It’s the same thing with magic: Nobody knows where the E.M. waves come from.”
Simon sighed deeply. This was a lot to take in. If he hadn’t seen her magic firsthand, he would have dropped her off at the nearest looney bin. He looked over at the girl and noticed that her hair was slowly fading to a dark brown color. “Tonya, what’s happening to your hair?”
“Oh, I think I’m feeling a little sick,” she said nonchalantly. “My hair always turns brown when I’m feeling yucky.”
“That’s so weird.”
“Yeah, the color of my hair changes all the time; it just depends on what I’m doing or how I’m feeling.”
“Like a chameleon,” Simon said.
“Or a mood ring,” Abu chimed in.
“Abu!” Simon cried.
“Ooooh, very much sorry!”
Tonya continued. “Well, anyway, I don’t feel like myself today. Maybe I’m just hungry.” She called out to the driver, “Abu, can you drop us off someplace where we can eat?”
Pretending to be startled, the man responded, “What? Oh, I’m sorry. I was not listening—but to answer your question: Yes. There is a cafe one block from here. Shall I drop you off there?”
“Yeah, that would be great.” Tonya closed her eyes and massaged her temples.
The yellow cab screeched to the side of the curb. Simon quickly got out and stretched his legs. He questioned whether he should report Abu’s atrocious driving to the authorities but ruled against it. The last thing he needed right now was to get involved with the police.
“Thanks, Abu,” Tonya said kindly.
“Well, I do not think the cafe will accept video games instead of money, but you can try.” At that, the turbaned man disappeared recklessly into the rush of traffic.
The two children walked towards the cafe with their heads tilted upwards.
“Have you been here before?” Tonya asked.
“Not at this one. They used to be located near the park. Mrs. Trimble took me there once when I was younger. I remember seeing the tail end of a car stuck in the wall of the building. It was pretty cool.”
Tonya’s eyes widened but she said nothing. As they opened the front door, loud music spilled out into the air. A big smile formed on Tonya’s face, and streaks of orange appeared in her curly hair.
“So what do you call this?” she asked, bouncing her head up and down with the beat.
“Trouble,” Simon answered with a deep sigh.
A server met them at the door as they walked into the Hard Rock Cafe.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be in school right now?” the bubbly young lady chided.
Simon wondered how the woman could have such a cheery disposition with that loud noise blaring everywhere.
“Actually, I’m on a field trip,” Tonya answered.
“Oh. Where’s the rest of your class?”
“I don’t know. I got separated from them, but now that my mobile paratransmitter is fully charged with electro-magical energy, I’m sure I’ll be able to transport myself back to my homeworld without any problems. I just need to get some sustenance before I leave.”
“Okay then—well, I hope you find your class.” The clueless girl laughed as though everything Tonya had just told her had gone through one ear and out the other. “Just follow me, and I’ll take you to your booth.”
Simon thought the young lady had either put her head next to the loud speakers too long or dipped her onion rings one time too many in the Heavy Metal Bar-B-Que sauce.
As their server led them through the restaurant, Tonya got excited at seeing the guitars, clothing, and other memorabilia hanging on the walls. The items on one wall in particular especially interested her.
“What’s all this?” she asked, stopping their server.
“Oh, this is the god wall.”
Tonya turned her head sideways in astonishment. A canvas of polytheistic religious images covered the wall. “May we sit here?”
“Yeah, sure,” the lady said, smiling. “Oh, I almost forgot. My name’s Mandy, and I’ll be your server today. To start you off, what would you like to drink?”
“Do you have Saparellia?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Mandy frowned.
Tonya persisted. “How about Mando Gwaki?”
“Sorry,” said the young woman.
“Well, do you have—”
“We’ll just have water,” Simon said, cutting in.
Mandy looked like she had just lost her favorite teddy bear. People who ordered water rarely gave big tips. “All right, here’s your menus. I’ll be back in a moment with your… water.” Mandy spun around and walked off, discouraged.
Tonya looked at the god wall again. “Wow, so you worship many gods?”
“No,” Simon replied. “Everyone just kinda picks the one they like.”
“Interesting. You know, I’ve seen some of these gods before.”
“Really?” Simon perked up. “Which ones?”
“Well, this is the main one I’ve seen,” she said, pointing to some foreign money on the wall. “I think there are people in every paraworld who worship money above all else.”
“Huh? I never thought of it that way. I guess you’re right. The thing most people do all day is try to earn money. I guess it makes them happy.”
“Nah, money doesn’t make people happy. People earn money because they have to. You can’t survive in the paraverse without it. It’s the people who love money more than their family—more than their friends, more than anything else—who scare me. They tend to use that money to gain power and to influence people to do what they want. I should know… my father’s one of them.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Simon said. “My father left before I was born, and I never got to meet him. My mother didn’t have any money. I guess that’s one reason why she died… At least you have a family.” Simon turned his head and brushed a small tear from his eye. Why was he opening up to this strange girl?
“Oh, Simon, that’s so sad,” Tonya said softly. “I didn’t know.”
She put her hand on his and then leaned over the table and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. It was a very impromptu gesture—not something she was accustomed to doing—but, somehow, during that brief moment, it seemed acceptable—almost natural—as if they had been friends for an eternity. Tonya rubbed his shoulder with her other hand and sat down.
Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Simon stared at her in shock; he had never been kissed before. Tonya slowly withdrew her hand from his and blushed. The orange in her hair morphed into a light pink color.
“Here’s your waters,” Mandy said, interrupting the awkward silence. “Miss, you have some way-cool hair. I’m always trying to color mine, but I can’t ever get it to take.”
“Thanks,” Tonya muttered, taking a sip of water.
“So what’ll it be today?” Mandy asked cheerfully.
“Don’t worry, Simon,” Tonya said, jingling a small green pouch in her hand. “Get whatever you want. I’m paying.”
Simon looked at the skintight tunic his companion was wearing and wondered where she had been concealing that pouch this whole time.
“I’ll have one of those over there,” she said, pointing to the booth next to them.
Mandy wrote on a pad of paper and said, “Jumbo Combo.”
Tonya flipped the menu over. “And give me a couple of these.”
Mandy continued writing. “Two root beer floats.”
A waiter walked by with some hamburgers and fries. “Oh! Oh! Those look good! I’ll take two of those.”
Mandy turned to Simon. “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll just have some fries.”
The server looked like
she had just lost her teddy bear again.
“Come on, Simon,” Tonya pushed. “You’ve got to be hungry.” She pointed to the menu and said, “He’ll have two of these.”
Within a short while, hamburgers and fries covered their whole table. Tonya went berserk, inhaling her food. She acted like a five-year-old who had never been out of the house before.
“What’s this?”
“Ketchup.”
“What’s this?”
“A pickle.”
“What’s this?”
“A toothpick—don’t eat it!”
Tonya continued to drive Simon crazy with all of her mindless questions until their server showed up. “Wow,” Mandy observed. “I can’t believe you ate all this food.”
Tonya took one more sip from her drink. “What do you call this, again?”
“Root beer float.”
“It’s very good. I think I’ll have two more.”
Mandy’s mouth dropped. “All right, two more root beer floats coming up.”
“And can you bring us the check?” Simon called out to the server as she walked away. He turned to his companion. “Tonya, how can you eat so much food and still be so skinny?”
“Well, actually, I don’t usually eat this much,” the girl confessed. “It’s just, I’ve never had anything like this before. On my world we mostly eat grass and seeds.”
“Grass!” Simon repeated incredulously.
“Yeah, the Elders of Chamel discourage us from eating meat because they’re afraid people will revert to being savage reptiles.” She snorted. “Scientists in my dimension think we evolved from lizards, but I think that’s just a bunch of garbage.”
“That’s funny. A lot of people here on Earth think we evolved from monkeys or apes.”
“Well, if I evolved from a lizard and you evolved from a monkey, then why do we look so much alike?” She ate the last fry on her plate and chuckled. “I suppose science is always the alternative to religion. There’s a growing faction in the paraverse that claims that science is supreme over all—even over magic—and I’ve been told that these zealots can get pretty violent with their anti-magic views.”
“So do you think of magic as a religion?” Simon asked.
“No, not a religion. I guess you could look at magic in the same way people look at money. It’s more of a means to an end than anything. My teachers are always saying that—” She began to speak dramatically as though she were imitating a scholarly old man. “Magic can be used for good or for evil; it can fuel the flames of war or it can soothe the anguish of pain.” Her voice returned to normal. “But most people aren’t inclined to perform magic in the first place because it takes training and skill. That’s why I’m in school—to become the greatest magician ever! Well, at least that’s what my parents expect of me.”
“Here ya go!” Mandy appeared with two root beer floats. “Alrighty then, here’s your bill. I assume you’re going to pay for this with cash?”
Tonya opened her green pouch and spilled out a bunch of strangely shaped coins onto the table. “There ya go,” she said.
Mandy picked up one of the square coins and tried to read the inscription on it. “Um,” she started, “this all ya got?”
“Is it not enough?” Tonya asked in surprise.
“I’ll tell you what,” the young lady said with a forced smile. “You just stay right here, and I’ll go get someone to help us.”
Mandy walked away briskly.
“I don’t feel so good, all of a sudden,” Tonya said.
“I’m not surprised, after all you just ate.”
“No, I’ve felt kinda weird ever since I arrived on your paraworld,” she said, massaging her forehead.
Seconds later, Simon spotted Mandy and a husky man with a short beard walking towards them. “I think we’re in trouble,” he moaned.
“Hello, kids,” the manager said in a not-too-pleasant sort of way. “I’ve been told that you don’t want to pay for your meal.”
“No, it’s not that,” Simon said. “My friend here is from out of town, and she didn’t realize you wouldn’t accept her money.”
“Where are you from, young lady?”
Tonya huffed. “Paraworld 4329.”
“Para what?” the man asked angrily.
“Maybe we could wash some dishes or something,” Simon suggested.
“No, we have a way of dealing with customers who don’t pay their bills,” the manager said, wringing his hands.
Just then, the sound of a news reporter replaced all of the loud music in the building. The televisions hooked to the walls no longer displayed images of music videos but, instead, showed scenes of a demolished alley.
“…And the search goes on for the two children who, among other things, single-handedly destroyed more than a dozen cars and attacked two high school students. What you are about to see is exclusive footage of the attack.”
The TV screens showed Spike being jerked around in the air by the yellow strings of electricity that Tonya had created during their encounter. Some people in the Hard Rock Cafe gasped, while others smiled uncertainly. The scene finally ended with exploding cars and shattering windows.
The news reporter continued, “I have here with me one of the victims of this brutal attack.”
Buz’s cut-up face appeared on the television screen. “We were just minding our own business when, all of a sudden, this alien girl came out of nowhere and tried to kill us.”
“Alien girl?” the reporter asked.
“Yeah, she said she was from another planet and that she wanted to turn us into her slaves!”
The reporter faced the camera. “Well, there you have it. Is this really an alien invasion, or just an elaborate hoax perpetuated by a host of tourists and school kids? I can tell you this much: the government isn’t taking any chances. Even as we speak, the streets of New York are being combed by armed troops. If anyone knows the whereabouts of these two children, you are encouraged to contact your local authorities immediately.”
The TV then showed a closeup image of Simon and Tonya running away from the disaster site.
“So what world did you say you were from?” the manager asked Tonya as she squirmed in her seat.
Chapter 5
The Chase
Tonya grabbed her paratransmitter and dove under the table. Simon started to apologize, “I’m so sorry about—” but he was jerked to the floor. “This!” he yelped.
They sprinted towards the exit, but halfway there, a tall server holding a tray of food walked into their pathway. Tonya collided with the man, and they both fell in a heap. French fries flew in every direction. Tonya picked up a sandwich from the floor and took a bite.
“Oh, I should’ve ordered one of these,” she said, taking another bite.
“Come on!” Simon yelled. He pulled the girl to her feet.
The loud music in the cafe blared wildly as Simon and Tonya made their way to the front door.
“Hold it right there,” growled the manager. His large fingers clamped down onto Tonya’s shoulder from behind. Instinctively, the teenager flung her arm to get loose, and the manager sailed across the room as though a great, invisible giant had just smacked him. He landed on a table, splitting it in half, and sent food into the air.
“Sorry!” Simon shouted before exiting the building.
A dozen men dressed in green fatigues marched in their direction. “We are in so much trouble,” Simon moaned.
“This way,” Tonya said. In the bright sunlight, Simon noticed her hair color had changed into a fiery red.
They ran down the street and took a sharp right. The road ahead seemed clear of danger, so they sprinted for two more blocks. Just as they reached the end of the third block, however, another group of army men spotted them.
Simon looked behind and saw the other party of soldiers approaching fast. Frantic and scared, he scanned the area for cover. In less than a minute, they would be surrounded. Maybe it’s for the best, h
e thought. Then realization dawned on him: If he was sent back to the foster home, Butch would be there, waiting for him. With renewed vigor, Simon prepared to run. Suddenly, Tonya grasped her stomach and fell to her knees.
“What’s wrong?” cried Simon.
“I feel nauseous.”
“We have to go now!” Simon snapped. “If they catch us, who knows what they’ll do to us?”
He pulled Tonya to her feet and forced her to run across the busy road. A barricade formed behind them as cars and trucks from every lane crashed into each other. Tonya turned around and uttered a spell. A layer of slick ice crept over the street and sidewalk, causing the soldiers and pedestrians to fall. Some of the people tried to clamber on all fours, but to no avail. The ice continued up the buildings and even made the birds slip from their perches.
“Wow,” Simon whispered.
The two children continued running until they found a row of parked cars. Tonya hobbled from car to car, trying to find one that wasn’t locked.
“What are you doing?” Simon yelled.
“We need to borrow one of these motorized contraptions,” she cried. “I can’t run any longer—something’s wrong with me. My whole body hurts.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t just borrow a car.”
Tonya approached an expensive-looking sports car, and a digital voice warned, “Please step away from the vehicle.”
“What is this?” she asked in shock.
The voice spoke again while Tonya jiggled the door handle. “You have ten seconds to leave the vicinity before an alarm goes off.”
“I think we’d better go,” Simon said, eyeing the black exterior.
“Let me see here,” Tonya said. She pulled up her tunic a little and revealed a small wand attached to her bare leg with a white garter belt.
So that’s where she’s been keeping it, Simon thought.
The car counted down: “Five… Four… Three…”
Tonya took her wand, tapped the keyhole in the door, and said loudly, “OPEN!”
To the surprise of both, the roof of the car peeled away like a banana and flung itself to the ground with a loud clank.
“Oops,” Tonya said, looking at the convertible she had just made. “I didn’t mean to do that. I was just trying to pick the lock.”
Paraworld Zero Page 5