Answering Ascension

by Amy Proebstel

  Her mother handed her the purse and then removed her jacket, all the while she was looking at how luxurious the house appeared on the inside. It relieved her to know her daughter had a nice place to live; they had gotten married so fast she did not know what to expect of Riccan’s success. Not that it mattered a great deal to her, it was just comforting to know her youngest daughter would be well taken care of.

  “Didn’t you say Riccan was an engineer?” Diane leaned in and asked Amanda in a whisper. “I didn’t think engineers made so much money.”

  Amanda restrained her laugh as she replied, “He has family money, too. This isn’t all from his job.”

  Diane nodded seriously. “That makes more sense then. Oh, hello, Riccan. Thank you for having us over for dinner.” She leaned around Amanda and stretched out her hand to shake Riccan’s.

  He laughed and moved closer to hug Diane. He said, “I think we’re beyond handshakes now, don’t you?”

  Diane laughed and said, “You’re probably right.” She hugged him for a few seconds and then they parted. “You have a beautiful home, Riccan.”

  “Thank you. Just wait until you meet the girls. They should be coming downstairs soon,” Riccan replied. He was also anxious for this meeting to go well.

  As though his words foretold their actions, the girls appeared on the top landing of the stairs. They looked down on the guests and squealed with delight. Together, they raced down the steps and came to a halt right in front of Chris.

  Chris had initially been startled by how swiftly the girls had appeared, but then he was even more startled when he looked down at their faces. They were blonde-haired, blue-eyed versions of his own daughter. He became very confused and asked, “Amanda, what’s going on here?”

  Amanda refrained from answering. She wanted her mother to come to the same conclusion.

  Diane had seen the children come down the stairs, but she had not gotten a very good look at them yet. She took a couple of steps to be by her husband’s side and had the same impression as Chris. Trying to be a bit more polite about it, Diane stretched out her hand toward Jena and said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Diane. This is my husband, Chris.”

  Jena took her grandmother’s hand and smiled broadly at her.

  Diane felt an immediate connection with the girl as soon as their palms touched. It almost felt as if she had been shocked but in a more pleasant way. The girl introduced herself but made no indication of having felt the tingling in her palm. Something very strange was going on in this house, and she was going to get to the bottom of it soon. When Jena released her hand, she extended it toward Juila and felt the same sensation. Juila also introduced herself.

  Chris turned to his wife and asked, “Do you see what I see?”

  “Of course, Chris. We’d have to be blind not to. Now, let’s not be rude,” she said hastily. She turned to her daughter and said, “I hope we aren’t too late for dinner.”

  “Nope, you’re right on time. In fact, the meal is on the table already. Shall we go sit down?” Amanda answered as calmly as she was able.

  Riccan said, “If you’ll follow me, we can get started right away.”

  The group filed into the dining room, each selecting their own seat. Chris and Diane sat across the table from the twins. Amanda and Riccan sat across from one another at the heads of the table.

  Chris could not seem to stop staring and noticing how much the girls looked like his own Amanda. It had to be a coincidence. The girls were clearly too old to be Amanda’s children. Besides, he would have known if his daughter had had any kids. The resemblance was remarkable, though.

  Diane had been thinking along the same lines. She had begun to believe Riccan had been attracted to their daughter because she probably looked quite similar to the children’s mother. It made perfect sense when she thought of it that way. She would ask Riccan about the girls’ mother and get to the bottom of the mystery.

  Small talk was maintained throughout the meal. Chris and Diane asked Riccan more about his work. They talked about the classes the girls were taking in school. By the time the food was consumed, the talking had also drawn to a close.

  Riccan suggested during the lull, “Shall we move our conversation to the living room where we can be more comfortable?”

  Chairs scraped back against the floor as everyone got up from the table. Riccan led the way with Amanda entering the room last. This was the other part of the evening which Amanda had worried about. With no other distractions, she wondered if her parents would start to notice the similarities of the girls to herself.

  Diane inspected the interior design as they walked from the dining room to the living room. Everything was finished superbly. There was not a single thing she would have done differently. When they entered the living room, Diane noticed the view looking out over the backyard. She immediately walked to the windows and stopped to admire the landscaping. “This place is absolutely stunning, Riccan. Do you maintain it all yourself?”

  Riccan laughed and replied, “I’m afraid I’m not that talented nor do I possess enough patience. I have three landscapers who take care of it all for me.”

  “Can you send them over to my house?” Diane teased. She wished she had enough time to tame all of the plants which grew profusely in the perfect Floridian climate. She enjoyed working in her yard; she found it therapeutic in fact, but there was never enough time to make it perfect. This garden setting was inspiring.

  “Let me know when and I’ll send them over,” Riccan replied since he had taken her statement literally.

  Diane realized his mistake and attempted to backtrack by saying, “Oh, I was just teasing. I enjoy working in my yard. I might even steal a few ideas from your patio if you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. We can take a walk outside if you would like,” Riccan offered. It was seldom he was able to show the gardens to someone who truly appreciated the work which had gone into it.

  “I would love that. Plus it would give the meal a chance to settle before we sit down,” Diane replied.

  Jena and Juila had been watching the exchange. They still did not know quite what to make of their grandmother, but they were certain their grandfather was a kindred spirit. His questions at dinner had made them more curious about what Earth could offer. He seemed inquisitive about almost everything. They wondered what he would say about where they were truly from. It would be fun to watch his expressions as he processed the ideas.

  Chris decided to walk with the twins once they got outside. The more he heard them talk, the more convinced he became that they were somehow his daughter’s children. Their mannerisms were identical to Amanda’s at their age. He decided to ask them, “Where does your mother live?”

  The girls clearly had not been expecting the question, and neither seemed inclined to answer. Something had to be said, so Jena finally spoke up, “She has been absent for most of our lives.” She hoped that would be sufficient to discourage more questions. They underestimated Chris’ curious nature.

  “So is she much like Amanda?”

  Again the girls looked at one another before Juila simply nodded her head. They did not want to have to lie to their grandfather, but they also did not want to be the ones to tell him the truth. One rule which was not broken was do not tell people from Earth who you really are. At least they believed this to be a hard and fast rule.

  Chris continued by saying, “I think it’s really strange how you two look just like Amanda did at your age. How old are you two?”

  Juila could feel her heart start to beat faster as she answered, “Fifteen.”

  Chris shook his head and said, “You see, it just doesn’t make sense. Amanda is clearly not old enough to be your mother, but then we have physical evidence to the contrary. How would you two explain something such as this?”

  Jena smiled and answered honestly, “Timewarp. Definitely!”

  Chris laughed along with her and said, “I’m starting to believe something like that must
have happened. Is Amanda your birth mother?”

  Another significant look passed between the girls. Jena said, “You should talk to your daughter about this.” At the same time, Juila nodded her head in confirmation.

  Chris took pity on the situation in which he had put the children and finally let up. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be talking to Amanda about this. It feels like something pretty significant happened quite a while ago and I’m desperate to know just exactly what it was. Diane always told me curiosity killed the cat, but I think in this case, my curiosity will bring me two new grandchildren.”

  Juila desperately wanted to get out of this conversation and announced, “I’ll go get Amanda for you!” She ran ahead and grabbed her mother’s arm. She leaned close and whispered, “Grandpa has figured it out. Not all of the details, of course, but he’s certain we are your children. Can we sit them down and tell him the truth?”

  “I think we’re going to have to do that. Do you want to go on ahead or do you want to join me?” Amanda asked as she turned around and walked back toward her father.

  “I’ll come with you.” Juila was fairly buzzing with excitement.

  When Amanda was facing her father, she said, “Let’s go sit by the pool.” She led the way while she considered how she was going to tell him the truth. Without having it all figured out, she sat on one of the pool chairs and looked at her father.

  Chris sat sideways in the adjacent chair so he could face his daughter.

  The girls pulled a third chair over, and both sat in it together facing their mother and grandfather. This was going to be an interesting conversation which they did not want to miss.

  Without waiting for Amanda to start the conversation, Chris asked, “How is it these girls are yours, Amanda?”

  “If I simply said they are, but that I can’t share the details, would that be enough for you?” Amanda asked hopefully.

  “No. I would like the whole truth. Unlike your mother, I’m willing to accept facts for what they are. Start talking,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  Amanda closed her eyes wishing he could accept a simple answer and yet knowing he would not be her father unless he were asking questions. She decided to share a simplified version of the truth and said, “It all started when I went sailing with Neal. We got caught in an electrical storm, and it transported us to another world called Tuala.” She stopped to see if her father believed her so far.

  Since he did not react in any way other than staring at her, she continued, “I just recently discovered that not only was I transferred to the other world, but I was also pulled back in time by nine years. I was held captive and impregnated by a crazy leader of their community.

  “Eventually, a woman took pity on me and tried to rescue me before the girls were born. I had already gone into labor, and the girls were swiftly delivered. The wise-woman, what we’d call a healer or maybe even a doctor, sent me back to Earth without the children. They were raised by my Aunt Barla as well as by Jehoban.”

  “Okay,” Chris said and then looked away to try to absorb it all. “Now I understand why you wanted to keep your answer simple. Okay,” he said again. “How long were you and Neal sailing before the storm?”

  “Just over a week.”

  “How long were you being held captive in Tuala?”

  “I’m not exactly sure, but Jehoban told me it was several mesans, that’s what they call months there, before Elder Vargen had me impregnated. Then it was another eight mesans until the girls were born.”

  “And then the healer sent you back to Earth?”

  “Yes.”

  “So that’s why you were missing for a week? Was the healer not very good at transporting you back to Earth?”

  “It’s not something a wise-woman would normally do. She tried her best. She actually sent me forward in time. Imagine if she would have gotten it right and I would have been returned while I was ten on Earth. There would have been two of me then.”

  “That would get confusing, now, wouldn’t it?” Chris chuckled. He thought about what else to ask and came up with, “Who is this Aunt Barla?”

  “She is Mom’s sister, Aunt Barbara. She was transferred to Tuala when everyone thought she had drowned. She’s married and has two children of her own. She raised Jena and Juila until they were almost six. At that age, they were evaluated for their skills, and that’s when they went to live with Jehoban.” Even as Amanda was telling her father about the crystal skills, she regretted her choice of words. She knew her father would only have more questions.

  “Who is Jehoban?”

  “He’s the Creator of the Universe. We call Him God,” Amanda answered simply.

  Chris raised his eyebrows at this latest revelation. Finally, he asked, “Amanda, do you believe this is true?”

  “Yes. I’ve even met Him.”

  “Well, then, that’s good enough for me,” he replied and patted Amanda’s knee. “You know I’m going to have a lot more questions, right?”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you!” Amanda laughed.

  Chris turned to the twins and said, “I guess that makes you two my biological grandchildren and I couldn’t be happier!” He held out his arms for the girls to come and hug him. They leaned forward, and he wrapped his arms around them, and said, “Welcome to the family.” He kissed each one on the top of the head, and he felt tears form in the corners of his eyes.

  “How long have you known about the girls?” Chris asked as he kept his arms around the twins.

  “I knew about them even while I was in the coma. It was only last month Jehoban told me they were older than I imagined. He told me about being abducted and held captive. He also let me know my children were with Him. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were in the room listening to the whole story as He told it to me. Okay, I knew they were in the room, but I didn’t know they were my children. I was expecting seven to nine-year-olds so I never even considered the possibility.” Amanda was having a hard time explaining her thoughts coherently. Luckily, she knew her father would either understand or request clarification.

  “Did you have a lot of memories from when you were in your coma?” Chris asked.

  “Yes. I wrote it all down in my journal.”

  “I’d like to read your journal,” her father said simply.

  “I wouldn’t mind it, but I have to tell you that the memories I had are not what really happened. It’s hard to explain, but Jehoban has told me I’m to be involved in some sort of prophecy. I wrote it down at the end of my journal,” she ended, not knowing what more to say. She was thankful she had spent time since her meeting with Jehoban to write down the history as Jehoban had told her it had happened.

  “That’s okay; I’d still like to read what you remember. Did you meet Riccan in your dream?” he asked as he suddenly realized it was what Amanda had meant about knowing him better than they thought when she had told them they had gotten married.

  “Yes, I’ve known Riccan for a long time. It’s just he doesn’t remember what I do. All of the memories I had of him and his family are all true. He could not deny the things I knew about them all,” she admitted.

  “That’s fascinating. Have you met his parents? Where do they live?”

  “Well, that’s where this gets complicated…” Amanda did not know if she should continue.

  “I’m pretty good with complicated,” Chris prompted.

  Amanda had to laugh at that comment since it was so true. She decided to tell him the truth, “Riccan’s parents are both from Tuala. We went to Pantano, where they live, and told them about our getting married and the new prophecy.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “OKAY, SO YOU said the first time you went to Tuala was by accident in an electrical storm. Then the healer used her power to send you back to us. How did you and Riccan travel to Tuala to see his parents?”

  “Oh, my,” Amanda said and looked over at Jena and Juila. They were both smiling, on the verge of
laughing actually, at the predicament into which she was getting herself.

  “Come on, Amanda. You’ve told me this much. I can’t imagine it would be so hard to explain,” Chris complained.

  “Okay, fine. We flew in Riccan’s telepod,” she said in a rush.

  “Seriously? Is it here? Can I see it?” Chris looked around like it was parked in the yard somewhere.

  Now Amanda could not help but laugh at her father’s reaction. Naturally, he would want to see a bona fide spaceship. She sighed and said, “We keep it in the garage.”

  Chris stood up and said, “Let’s go check it out!”

  Amanda reached up and took hold of his hand, pulling him back down to his seat. “Dad, can’t we take this one step at a time? Think about it. Mom doesn’t know anything about this, and I doubt she’ll take it all as well as you have. Read my journal. After you’re done, we can talk about all of this some more.”

  “But I want to see the telepod,” Chris practically begged. “What if Riccan leaves with it and then I’ll never get the chance to see it?”

  “We’re not going anywhere, Dad.” Amanda laughed at his sullen expression. Seeing he needed a little more convincing she said, “We just enrolled the girls in school. They want to have the Earth experience. We’re going to be here at least until the end of the school year. You’ll have plenty of time to see the telepod.”

  Chris had to be content with her answer. He had to admit if they just up and left the yard then Diane would start to ask questions which Amanda would feel compelled to answer. He was not sure how much of the truth Diane could handle. He would try to ease her into the idea about Amanda’s past. It was going to take some time.

  He turned his head to look at the girls and asked, “So what do you think of the Earth experience so far?”

  “We think it’s amazing. We have so much to learn!” Juila answered happily for both of the girls.

  Chris laughed at her enthusiasm and said, “Yes, I bet you do!”

  He was silent for a few minutes while he processed all of the details his daughter had shared and then asked, “You said the children were evaluated for their skills. What does that mean?”