Answering Ascension

by Amy Proebstel

  Amanda was startled out of her reverie and asked, “What were you going to ask?”

  He smiled mischievously and inquired, “What does Jehoban look like?”

  Amanda was about to reply confidently until she actually began to think about the answer. Instead, she chuckled and replied, “I think He had kind eyes.”

  “Ha, it’s not just me then. You don’t remember either!” He laughed out loud.

  Amanda laughed, too, and said, “I see what you mean when you said you didn’t really know what He looked like. I spent a half hour with Him, and I still don’t know!”

  Riccan turned serious and said, “Amanda, you were with Him for half of the day. Did it really only seem like a half hour?”

  “Seriously? I was gone that long?” Amanda was amazed all over again. She knew Jehoban had told her time was malleable, but she did not realize He was manipulating it while she met with Him.

  “He’s rather imposing, don’t you think?” Riccan asked.

  “Rather!” Amanda agreed emphatically. She wondered if the girls would know what Jehoban looked like since they had been raised on His island. At some point, she would ask them, but for right now, she wanted nothing more than to go to bed with her husband. She took matters into her own hands and stood up from the couch.

  Offering her hand to help Riccan up, she said, “Let’s tell the girls we’re heading to bed now. I’m tired.” She kept his hand in hers as they walked down the hall to the study. She leaned in the doorway and announced, “Don’t stay up too late. We’re heading to bed now. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  The girls turned at the same time and smiled the same smile as first Jena and then Juila said goodnight. They turned back around and typed a new search and hit enter.

  Amanda believed the girls would be quite late in getting to bed. She shook her head and sighed at how youthful her children were. She was feeling older and older with each passing day. How am I going to explain the ages of the children to my parents? she asked herself with dismay. Eventually, they’ll have to be told the truth. I’ll figure something out, but it’s not going to be tonight!

  Riccan put his arm around Amanda’s waist as they ascended the stairs. He wondered if Amanda were too tired to have a few moments of intimacy. He kissed her neck playfully and was rewarded when Amanda turned to kiss him on the lips. The simple kiss turned passionate, and Riccan realized he had his answer. Without another thought, Riccan scooped Amanda up from the floor and carried her the rest of the way to the bedroom.

  Amanda squealed with delight and then covered her mouth as she realized they were no longer alone in the house. They would have to curb their enthusiasm when the girls were around. That did not mean they had to be celibate, but they would have to remain aware of their children’s whereabouts. She was thankful for their easy access to their birth crystals. It would surely help their current situation.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The rain continued through the night, but when the morning came, the sun came out bright, sparkling on the raindrops which covered everything. Juila was the first to wake and had a sudden thrill at remembering they were now on Earth. She jumped out of bed and stared out her bedroom window to see if the morning looked any different than the ones on Tuala. There were slight differences in the intensity of the sun; otherwise, all was the same.

  She had been sitting in her window seat for only a few minutes before she could feel her sister’s mind waking for the day. Without waiting for an invitation, Juila left her room and silently entered Jena’s bedroom. When Jena’s eyes opened, she smiled to see her sister looking down at her. Together they moved over to Jena’s window seat to watch the sun evaporate the water and create a slight mist until the breezes blew it away.

  “We’re going to see the high school in a couple of days. If we don’t like the looks of it, we can tell Mom we don’t want to go,” Jena decided for them both.

  Juila simply nodded. She had already decided she was going to like it. Of the two of them, Juila seemed to be the more adventurous one. She wondered if it were because she did not have a betrothed to think of and she was free to make decisions for her life on her own.

  Once again, Juila had to tamp down her growing anger over Elder Debbon’s claim on her sister’s life. It was definitely unfair. It was even harder for her to understand why Jena did not seem to mind the marriage arrangement. She tried to imagine if the roles were reversed, but she shook her head in disgust. It would never have happened to her; she would not have agreed to it.

  Jena looked at her sister and wondered why she put so much effort into hating her life’s choice. She genuinely liked Willian, so it did not seem too much of a hardship to spend the rest of her life with him. She wished Juila would be more settled with her decision.

  The girls seemed to snap out of their reverie at the same time and decided to get dressed and go downstairs for a relaxing weekend. They went downstairs and ended up reclining in the library chairs. There were so many books which they had never even heard of that it was an exciting adventure. When they finally emerged for food, they imagined breakfast would be some exotic Earth food and then had to laugh as their dad served them fried foxl and scrambled eggs. It was nothing different than they would have had on Tuala except it was seasoned better than they were used to.

  Both Saturday and Sunday ended up being spent the same way. Research in the library in the mornings and afternoons to be followed by family time in the evenings. They asked many questions about school since they were anticipating seeing it for the first time the next day.

  Eventually, Monday morning arrived bright and sunny. After using their own bathroom facilities, they had decided to get dressed. Their thoughts were continually linked. They did not know at what time their mother wanted to get going so they rushed.

  Juila looked in her closet and wondered what outfit would be the most appropriate for school. For the first time, she worried about fitting in with the other students. She had always been part of the elite group of students and never had to worry about what the other children thought. This was going to be a new, and possibly awkward, experience. Just the idea of it thrilled her.

  Finally, Juila just picked the outfit she liked the best. She would ask her mom if it would be sufficient for school. If not, maybe they could go shopping to buy new clothes, if they did that sort of thing here on Earth. There was so much they still needed to learn about Earth customs. If she thought about it too much, she would be overwhelmed. She decided to take just one situation at a time until it all became more familiar.

  Juila left her room at the same time as Jena. Most people would think it odd how the two sisters were so in tune with one another. They did not know any differently, so it seemed as natural as breathing. When Juila saw the outfit her sister had picked out, she began to chuckle. It was the same as her own clothes except in a different color.

  Jena smiled back at her sister’s thought and walked over to her. They linked arms, like they often did, and went downstairs to find something to eat. Three plates were already set out for them on the kitchen island counter.

  “Are you ready to check out high school today?” Riccan asked to make conversation. He was not sure what teenaged girls talked about.

  “Sure,” Jena replied and then asked, “If we don’t like the looks of it, do we still have to go?”

  “Nope! This is meant to be educational for you, but you’ve technically already finished school, so you don’t have to attend if you don’t want to.” Riccan knew the anxiety the girls were feeling; he had felt the same thing on several different occasions as he grew up in different parts of America. He tossed an envelope across the island toward them.

  “What’s this?” Juila asked curiously.

  “Those are the documents you’ll need to enter American school. You should look them over and memorize the details so you’ll know them should anyone ask about your history,” Riccan replied casually. He had been through this same scenario as well when he was y
oung.

  Juila opened the envelope and dumped the paperwork out on the counter beside her plate of food. She discovered the two small blue books were passports. After leafing through the pages, she found several stamps indicating they had been to several countries in South Africa. She set those aside and picked up the next item which turned out to be birth certificates. For some reason, this document meant the most to her because it listed both their mother’s and father’s names. This made her feel official in the family, and her eyes started to blur with tears.

  She put down the certificates and picked up two small, tri-folded papers. Unsure of what they were supposed to be she held it up and looked questioningly at Riccan.

  “Those are your vaccination records,” he answered. He could still see a confused look on her face and remembered they had never needed any shots to prevent illness. Those types of viruses did not happen on Tuala, or else they could be cured instantly by a wise-woman. “Vaccinations are shots which are given to people several times during the course of their life to prevent illnesses which have killed hundreds of thousands of people on Earth over time. The shots are required of all students before they can be admitted to school.”

  “That makes sense if these illnesses are as deadly as you say. It would be terrible to have your classmates dying,” Jena said reasonably.

  “It’s not quite as bad as that,” Riccan said as he tried to control the laughter he felt at his daughter’s matter-of-fact reasoning.

  “Oh, that’s good,” Jena said with a relieved sigh.

  This time Riccan did chuckle and then said, “The last paper there is documenting the levels of education you have received. Each student must complete a requisite number of classes in each subject in order to be eligible to graduate. You are both considered Junior level students so you will be placed in eleventh grade at the school. That’s the typical grade for your age.”

  “‘Junior’ seems to be a strange name for a grade.” Juila smiled at the different title.

  “Okay, I see you need an immediate education in high school terms. Students in ninth grade are called ‘Freshmen”, tenth graders are called ‘Sophomores,’ eleventh graders are ‘Juniors’ as we just discussed, and finally, the twelfth graders are called ‘Seniors,’” Riccan explained carefully. He knew he would not have to explain it again since the girls had already mastered the memorization skill during their crystal training. They had that advantage on him since he had finished his crystal training after he had finished high school on Earth. He was certain they would be exemplary students and was eager for them to test their skills against Earth’s standards.

  “It makes much more sense when you put it that way!” Juila decided.

  “Good! Now put the papers back into the envelope and be sure to give them to your mother when she comes down. She should be ready soon,” he said. “Eat your food before it gets any colder.

  “Where are you going?” Jena asked as she realized their father was not going to go with them.

  “I have some research to do, and then I need to write some new software code for my telepod,” he answered easily. “I’ll be in my study if you need me.”

  “Oh, okay,” Jena said sullenly. She had envisioned them going everywhere together and did not really want to be separated from either parent. Then she chastised herself for being so foolish. They were going to be going to school every day, and their parents definitely would not be there. They had already finished school. Then another idea struck her as she watched Riccan walk away. “How will we get to school if you’re going to be tinkering with the telepod?”

  Riccan smiled and answered, “You’ll take the truck. On Earth, they don’t know anything about telepods, and you’ll have to remember to never mention any terms from Tuala.”

  “How will we know what not to say?” Juila asked suddenly.

  “You’ll learn when the students look at you like they have no idea what you’re talking about. It’ll only happen a couple of times before you start to catch on,” Riccan assured them easily.

  “I hope so! I’d hate for the other kids to think we’re strange,” Juila countered.

  “It’s one reason I wanted you to be from South Africa. They would have different words and customs from what the kids here would be used to. Most of the time they’ll just think it’s a cultural difference and they won’t be far from the truth, when you think about it,” he finished and then continued walking toward his office.

  Riccan knew the learning curve would be steep, but he had confidence in the girls’ abilities to overcome the obstacles. After all, this was something they wanted to experience. After their initial nervousness wore off, he was certain they would find kids to make friends with rather quickly. They were beautiful girls, so they already had an advantage.

  Just before he stepped into his office, he heard Amanda speaking with the girls. He smiled and set his mind on his task of fixing the telepod to have anti-collision capabilities. His mind had been haunted by Amanda’s dream of them crashing and dying because of a collision with another flying airplane. On Tuala there had not been a need since the crystals seemed to have spatial awareness and never hit one another. He thought of it like the negative charges of a magnet and how impossible it was to push them together.

  If he were to be carrying his family back and forth between Earth and Tuala, he wanted to make sure they would all be as safe as possible. He wondered why he had never thought to implement the improvement before but then shook his head to clear those thoughts and began designing the code for the process.

  Chapter Seven

  AMANDA SMILED WHEN she saw her daughters were already eating their breakfast when she came into the kitchen. “I’m glad to see you’re almost ready to go,” she said and then saw the extra plate of food and asked, “Is this for me?”

  The girls nodded as they both had food in their mouths.

  “Riccan is so good to me,” she said as she picked up the fork and also ate.

  When the meals were finished, Amanda gathered the plates and set them in the sink. She still had not mastered the skill to clean them and put them away. She knew Riccan would not mind taking care of them later.

  The girls had been watching their mother’s actions and asked, “What happens to the dishes now?”

  “Oh,” Amanda said, “Riccan will take care of them.”

  “Why don’t you do it?” Jena asked.

  “I haven’t mastered the cleaning skill yet. I’ve only discovered I have power in the last few weeks. In time, I’ll learn how to do it for myself,” Amanda admitted. She felt slightly foolish at having to explain her deficiencies to her overly skilled children.

  “If you show me where the dishes end up, I can do it for you,” Juila offered kindly.

  Again, Amanda was at a loss. She had never actually looked in any of the cupboards since Riccan was always the one to prepare and clean up the meals. She smiled and said, “Let’s look together.”

  The girls hopped off of the bar stools and eagerly investigated the kitchen’s cupboards and drawers. In no time at all the girls had memorized the layout. Juila did as she offered and the sink was now empty of dirty dishes.

  Amanda beamed at how easily the girls used their skills. She hoped they would not use them at school accidentally. She would remind them of it again before they actually attended school. Today was purely a day to register and look around, so she was not as concerned about any mistakes being made. Looking at her watch, she asked, “Who’s ready to check out the school?”

  The girls immediately nodded and faced her as they said in unison, “We are!”

  “Let’s go then,” Amanda announced as she turned to go to the opposite garage where the Earth vehicles were parked. Amanda was amused by listening to her children’s exclamations of surprise at their newest mode of transportation. They did not know what to make of the strange wheels and the loud engine. Amanda thought the engine was rather quiet herself, but, compared to a crystal drive, which was nearly sile
nt, she could understand their concern.

  She drove them slowly out the driveway and through the streets of the town. Everything was new and amazing to the girls, and she wanted them to be able to take the time to appreciate the details. After driving for fifteen minutes, they arrived at Coral Reef Senior High School. The parking lot was nearly empty except for a few different makes and models of cars which created even more exclamations from the girls. Amanda parked in the visitor’s parking near the main entrance and turned off the engine.

  “This is it,” she announced unnecessarily. She opened her door and got out. She waited at the front of the truck for the girls to get out of the passenger side doors and meet up with her. Amanda held the envelope with their documents even as she wondered how Riccan had made them on such short notice.

  The trio walked into the reception office after walking through two sets of double doors. The woman at the main desk greeted them warmly.

  “Hello. How may I help you?” she asked.

  “I’d like to register my girls for school,” Amanda replied easily.

  The receptionist looked swiftly from Amanda to the twins and then back to Amanda. She could hardly imagine this woman was their mother; she barely looked old enough. They must be her step-children, the woman said to herself. “Just one moment and I’ll give you the packet of papers to be filled out,” she said and bent down to gather the documents.

  Amanda was surprised when the woman set down two rather large stacks of paper, one for each child, which would need to be filled out in their entirety. One of her least favorite things to do was to fill out forms, and now she had twice the amount to complete. “Wow,” was all Amanda could think to say as she picked up the documents and went to sit in a chair along the back of the room.

  After leafing through the separate pages, Amanda decided she would rather take the papers home and fill them out. Or rather, she’d have the girls fill out their own paperwork so they could familiarize themselves with the facts the school found important to know. She stood up, stuffed the papers into her oversized purse, and asked the receptionist, “I think we’ll take these home to fill out. Do you think we could get a tour of the school before classes begin?”