Morningstar: Chapter 27: Tye

 

Chapter 27: Tye

 

          The rest of the day was pretty much a total loss. Mostly, I stayed in my room, did just a little reading and listened to some crazy old music my dad had in his music stash in the living room. Something called: Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Edgar Allan Poe; The Alan Parson’s Project. My dad’s taste in music is pretty eclectic, from stuff like this and Pink Floyd, to classical, popular Latin, and even country.  This music just seemed to fit my totally overwhelmed, almost zombie like mood as I pondered my dreams, and recent visit from Mrs. Pearson.  Mom checked in on me a couple times.  She brought me a sandwich and milk, asked how I was doing. I told her I was just wasted, which was absolutely the truth.

          Eventually I started questioning my sanity and again wondered if I was losing my mind, or just having absolutely bizarre dreams.  That last one… if it was a dream…wasn’t any stranger than some of the others I’d had recently.  After a couple hours of Alan Parson’s, I went back to my dad’s music stash and found a couple CDs I thought might help improve my mood.  I listened to Sittn In by Loggins and Messina for a mood bridge, then Timeless Motion by Daniel Kolbialka to really relax. I ’d listened to it before when I was really uptight and needed to relax.  It did the trick; I was fast asleep before it finished and all I could remember were wonderful floating dreams.

          Monday, school went especially well.  The only thing notable was Bekah.  She just wasn’t her usual mean, controlling, demeaning, self.  I didn’t think it was just the funeral and Carl’s death. She just didn’t seem like she was grieving. (I know, my mom’s told me over and over again, people don’t all grieve the same). It was almost like she was afraid of something but didn’t want anybody to know.  It was just.. weird. I told her I was sorry about Carl, I kind of was.

          She just said; “Oh, thanks;” then drifted off like she was in a different world.  There were a couple times, as we passed in class or the hall, when she even seemed to force a smile in my direction.  Really!  Kind of weird.

          D’Lisa and Tom were practically glued together. It was a little embarrassing.  They were acting like a couple lovesick puppies who hadn’t seen each other in a zillion years.  I managed to give her the envelope from Mrs. Pearson, she opened and read the letter, smiled, and thanked me.  Beth was helping one of the coaches with something to do with next year’s volleyball.  She was with the coach, just about every spare minute so Amanda and I didn’t see much of her either.

          I was feeling much better when I got home from school that night. I’d convinced myself that what I’d experienced the other morning was just another very strange and scary dream.  No, I’m not going crazy either… I’m just having crazy dreams.  I tried to make things seem “normal,” even made dinner to help out, then got my homework done and watched a little T.V., nothing interesting.

          I went to bed kind-of early and was having a great sleep until early the next morning when I heard; “Anna, hey! Anna! Are you there? Wake up!” It was a soft baritone voice, not really loud.  About as loud as someone might get and it still be a whisper. “Anna! Wake up! I need to talk to you,” called the voice. He sounded strangely familiar; but from a dream I’d had not long ago.  I thought this must be another dream, and if it was a dream, why would I want to get out of my comfortable bed.  When you’re half asleep, you think things like that.  “Anna! Get up, I need to talk to you,” came the voice again, but with a more urgent tone. Finally, I crawled out of bed, then glancing at my night table, opened the drawer and removed one of the cans of pepper spray. “Anna! Get up!” came the voice again, now… just above a whisper.

          When I made it to the den, I once more noticed a hole in the east wall, except this time it opened into another room where he was standing.  I think my heart and breath stopped for a moment, again, but this time for a much more agreeable reason.  It was beautiful, gorgeous, Tye. Immediately I felt self-conscious, embarrassed, and aware that I was standing in front of him in my pajamas and my hair, an obscene mess.  I quickly sat down on the couch behind me, grabbed a couple pillows to cover myself, and ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to remove some of the tangles.  I’m sure Tye sensed what was going on because he chuckled just a little.  “Is this another dream,” I mumbled.”

          “Just mine come true.” he responded with a smirk as he bowed his head and placed his left hand over his heart. 

          After a short pause with him just smiling at me and my feeling perplexed, I asked; “Ok, if this isn’t a dream, how do you know my name?”

          “I’ll answer every question you have that there’s time for; but first run to your room and look out the window and tell me if the sky is clear or cloudy.”

          “What? …. Why?”

          “Just run quickly and find out and then I’ll explain everything.” he motioned with his hand for me to go.

          I ran into my bedroom, still hanging onto the pillows, which must have amused him because I could hear him laughing quietly.  Looking out the window I couldn’t see a cloud in the sky; but did notice a bright star in the east.  Before I returned to the den, I tore off my pajamas and threw on some jeans and a shirt and quickly brushed my hair.

          “Hurry back, that’s longer than it takes to just look out a window!” … He grinned broadly as I walked back into the den, a little more poised and presentable.  ‘This had better not be a dream’ I thought to myself.

          “So why did I have to do that?”

          “If it was cloudy, we might have only moments or minutes to talk. If it’s clear, we have about half an hour.”  I knew I had an extremely puzzled look on my face as he continued... “I’ll explain.”

          “Well, it’s clear, so I guess we have a while… So, this is my first question, how do you know my name?”

          “It’s not the first time we’ve met. Well to be more accurate, it’s not the first time I’ve met you.”

          “Ok, that’s a little confusing can you explain?”

          “Yes! I can.” another grin grew across his handsome face as he paused for my response.

          “Ok, funny man, please explain.” Somehow, I felt remarkably comfortable talking to him; though I KNEW we’d never met before.  Talking with him, still felt familiar.  Perhaps all the dreams I’d had.  I wasn’t absolutely convinced this wasn’t another dream; but I remembered hoping it was not.

          “Well, I met you almost ten years ago. Not long after we left the house and came here, to this time.  I was much younger then.  By the way, the Johnson’s also came through and arrived at almost the same time we did.  They are here in my time now; but don’t live where we do.  They moved back somewhere in Scandinavia.”

          “Where is here? … Or where are you?  And are you talking about the Johnsons who first built this house?”

          “I’m right here in Logan.” another enormous teasing grin quickly enveloped his face… “Don’t be upset. I’m having some fun with you. I’m telling the truth; but since we’ve got a few minutes, I’m having some fun. Guess I’ve got a little tease in me.”

          “I know, like your dad.”

          “Yes, like my dad,” he said with an enormous grin.

          “We’ll I think it’s starting to get cloudy, so you’d better hurry up.” I teased in return. “So where are you, and what do the clouds have to do with anything?”

          “OK, OK, I’ll get to the point; but you’re going to miss out on some of the fun… well, I guess it’s mostly me who’s going to miss out on the fun,” he continued with a broad smile.  “The question shouldn’t be where I am.  Like I said, I’m right here in Logan. The question should be when I am.  Now for your other question, if the clouds cover the light from the Morningstar, so that it doesn’t reach all three of the white stones, the portal will close.  The Jade is required for passing, but the white need the light of the Morningstar.  Since there are no clouds in the sky, we have about, oh, another 26 minutes before the Morningstar moves out of position.”

          “Thank you for an answer to one of my questions. How about the other? When are you?”

          “Correction, I answered two questions. One was where I was. I answered that, right here in Logan.  The other was what the clouds had to do with it. You see, I answered two questions,” he continued with another grin, even bigger than the last.  Somehow, I was both annoyed and enamored at the same time.  I immediately thought about and better understood Cara’s letter to Alan.

          “Ok, whatever, so WHEN are you?” I was still a little frustrated; but starting to enjoy the banter just a little.

          “I, AND my family, I’ll add them, so you don’t have to ask that question too, are about 100 years into your future.”

          “So, how’s that possible?”

          “You already know the answer. An Einstein-Rosen bridge, or Wormhole.  I’ll even give you another bonus, even though you’ve probably already figured it out.  It works by the power of the Morningstar through the stones on the outside of your house.  Somehow it gains even more power after paraselene… I don’t understand that piece but you will get a chance to ask my mom and dad in your future and they will explain it as best they can, but they don’t understand it either.  We have the same three white stones you have, here.  But, when we got to this time, ten years ago, the white stones had been moved to another location and the jade was missing. This allowed us to pass to this time; but not back.  The three white stones allow you to see and talk; but you must have the jade to go through. Please don’t; but you could come here.  The problem is you wouldn’t be able to return.  Our family planned to return as soon as we were able to get my mom well again; but since the jade was missing, we couldn’t go back.  So far at least, we have not been able to locate the missing jade, or another.”

          “So how is your mom?”

          “She’s doing very well, thank you. You’ll get to visit with her in your future, but she’s out right now.”

          I had so many questions to ask, I was losing track. I would think of three of four while I was listening to his answer but forgot most of them by the time, I could ask another.

          “Why don’t you want me to go where, or when, you are?”

          “Well, lots of reasons, you wouldn’t be able to go back to your time, it would change my history and your future, your parents would freak out if you went missing, and there’s something important you need to do.”

          “What do I need to do? Is it the reason you sounded so urgent earlier?”

          “You need to cover the stones with something.  Plywood, boxes, anything.  They just need to be covered.  That’s why we replanted the lilacs and why we planted the Ivy there, to keep the stones covered when we weren’t using them.  We could tie the branches and vines back when we were testing the passage.  After we understood things better, we would usually have someone outside so we could yell and the person would cover at least one of the white stones immediately, if needed. That’s all it would take to close the portal.  We have most of the portals mapped out from your house and from here.  We know which portal goes where and on what dates.  My parents figured out a mathematical formula to predict when portals would connect.  The Morningstar is only visible in seasons. Cloudy mornings are obviously problematic.  The rest of the portals in this season are very dangerous for you.  You need to make sure they don’t open.  You have three more potential portals this season.  The next one will be your tomorrow morning.  It opens to 1792.  There is a large raiding party in the area.  The next two are a week from your next Saturday and then the following day on Sunday.  The first goes to 1756 where there is another smaller raiding party and then Sunday goes to 1757 and another very large raiding party.  There was a lot of raiding by enemies of the Shoshoni for hundreds of years.  Honestly, though I love the Shoshoni, they did some retaliatory raiding themselves. 

My dad managed to get cut pretty bad in one encounter through a portal.  A warrior came through before he or my mom could do anything. By the time Bobby knew we had a problem, it was too late to close the portal.  He had to wait until my mom and dad could get the attacker back through with the mace.  My dad managed to get the knife away from his attacker and both of them got cut, but my dad got the worst of it. 

The earliest portal, we have mapped is from 45 BC.  It’s an alter made of stone.  My dad, Bobbie, and Charlie went there briefly.  They wanted to stay longer and map more portals, but they couldn’t.  They didn’t understand until we came here that it was possible to travel one way, and then get stuck and not come back.  They just went through and right back because they didn’t know when the next portal would return them home.  There were a lot of the white, almost clear, stones and at least two jade stones in that alter.  My dad theorized that the portals from this altar would have been more powerful than the ones from your house or from here.  The Johnsons found some of the stones and used them in building their house.  The portals from your house and from here repeat according to the mathematical formula I mentioned and of course the light from the Morningstar; however, they are not all the same.  You have portals that go to times ours does not and visa-versa.  Bobby and Charlie did not come to this time, which is why they were always able to return to yours.”

After a brief break, I asked my next question.  “A couple days ago something really weird happened.  I was starting to think it was either a dream, or maybe I was even going crazy.  Anyway, someone shot an arrow at me, but it just shattered. Can you explain that?”

          “We were afraid something like that might happen. That’s why I had to tell you to cover the stones. 

If something living goes through the portal, anything they take with them goes with them.  So, when the warrior saw my dad and rushed through with his knife, the knife and everything he was carrying came with him.  Life seems to be an essential element for the passage stone to work.  When the arrow was shot at you, it was traveling on its own velocity, not carried directly by anything living.  When it hit the portal, it would be just like it had been shot into any super hard surface, like steel.  Because of the time of day when the portal opens, and the position of the portal, most people though history haven’t noticed anything.  If someone was on the outside of your house right now, looking at the east wall, all they would see would be the east wall.  If that same person got between the light from the Morningstar and any of the white stones… I’m sure you’ve figured it out, the portal would close.  There’s a lot more I could tell you about how the portal works; but our time is getting short.  Any more questions?”

          “Yes, back to Bobby, is he still alive somewhere, or sometime?”

          “Well, it depends on how you look at it.” The teasing grin was creeping back across Tye’s magnificent face. … then with a more serious look.  “But I won’t get into all of that. Bobby DID… as I mentioned, go through the portal a few times, Charlie too, but not this time.  If we don’t mess up history, you’ll get to see Charlie again and meet Bobby; but” and then with an even more serious tone and saddened look, “Bobby was murdered in your time, soon after we left.”

          “Did Carl, or Sid, kill him?”

          “We don’t know for sure; it could have been both. Whoever killed him, the other one knew about it.  We know that.  By the way, and here’s another bonus. S.I.D. and C.I.D, Haskin, or Hasem, same guy. … One more thing about Sid, how does that go? I love old 20^th century expressions, oh yes; you’re not out of the woods yet. You still need to hang on to your cans of pepper spray and get that wall covered.” 

“If you can see and communicate with the past, why can’t you warn Bobby?”

“We have to be extremely careful not to significantly change the past.  It could be disastrous.  I need to hurry so remember this, second Morningstar, next season, opens here again.  If it’s not cloudy that day we can talk again that morning.  You can find the schedule for the Morningstar on the internet.”

 

          “What’s going on?” …

Startled, my heart sank. I spun to my right to see T.J. walking into the den.

          “T.J., what are you doing here?”

          “I had to pee, I heard noises. What’s going on?”

          Panicked, I said the first thing that came to my mind. “It’s just a dream T.J., go back to bed.  I’d hoped he was still asleep enough that he would believe it was just a dream.  When I glanced back towards the east wall, the portal was gone.  I gave T.J. a gentle shove back towards the bathroom and with mixed feelings of frustration and exhilaration. Frustration, because the encounter ended so quickly, so abruptly, and I didn’t have anywhere near enough time to ask all my questions. Exhilaration because it really happened, it wasn’t a dream. I saw, spoke to, and could have almost touched brilliant, beautiful, Tye.  I returned to my room, knowing I wouldn’t get any more sleep that morning.  I just laid on my bed until it was time to get ready for school, daydreaming about Tye and thinking about everything that had just occurred, other things were now starting to make more sense, and more things still did not.