Wilkelm
The next morning Shanti led Brittney outside to a courtyard filled with beautiful, fake flowers. “I have something for you” Shanti said after she had shown her all the different kinds of flowers. “But you have to follow me to a special place” she led Brittney all the way to the Utavi lake there she gave her a small box. Brittney opened it inside was a small blue bug
“What’s this” she asked scrunching up her nose in disgust
“It’s a pill bug all you do is choose an animal you want, get it wet, shout it, and it becomes that animal. Blue ones turn into water animals”
“Cool” said Brittney smiling now “I’ve always wanted a dolphin”
“Great now all you have to do is say dolphin and then throw it into the lake”
Brittney did. And a couple seconds later a beautiful dolphin surfaced whistled and then dived back in “I have something else too” she pulled a suit covered in tubes and things of all sorts “It’s a water suit I made it so you can go underwater and play with your dolphin I have one too want to give it a try”
“Yeah” Brittney was really at this news she’d always dreamed of scuba diving and had liked pretending she was a mermaid when he parents took her to the beach.
She took the suit noticing that her hands were shaking slightly as she did. “Are you all right?” Asked Shanti
“I’m fine.” Brittney replied taking the suit from her friend. She tried stepping into the wetsuit but as she lifted her right leg to step into her vision blurred and she put her foot down to steady herself.
Darkness had enveloped her vision and her ears were ringing. “Shanti” She said although her voice sounded funny and a tingling had filled her entire head and was rushing down her hands and toward her feet. She heard her friend’s voice but it sounded distant and surreal. The tingling had reached her feet and had made them numb she tried to take a step forward but lost her footing. She felt herself falling. But never felt herself hit the ground
When Brittney finally came to nearly 3 hours later she awoke to about six faces peering over her. There was Mernas and Grampa Chris and Shanti and three others she didn’t know. One was a familiar Imaginese alien that she around before. Shanti had said he was a doctor. The other two were strangers: one was completely white with no color in his eyes or hair; the other had a long nose with two mouths on either side of it and no teeth in either one.
“Thank goodness you’re all right.” Grampa Chris said grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. “This has never happened before.” Mernas, “Usually when a Neptunee heals someone they stay healed but as far as I can tell this thing isn’t really hurting her. She’s not in any danger.”
“Well that’s good to know.” Chris said letting go of Brittney’s hand and turning to the long-nosed alien. “What’s your take on it Jatar.”
The alien studied her for a moment before saying, “Well I can’t tell what’s going on in that little brain of hers.” Stated Jatar, “This girl of yours has a very tough brain I can’t seem to get inside it to find out what’s happening. Chris this little girl of yours is very special.”
“The Quaple must have been worse than my mist thought.” Put in Mernas.
“What do you mean?” asked the white man “what Quaple?” “She had Quaple when we found her. A fairly mild case that my mist were able to take care of before it got deadly. But it’s quite possible that she’s now receiving a side effect. How long did you say she’s been with you Christilone?”
“A year.”
Mernas’s skin turned white. Brittney had begun to learn by watching the Neptunee aliens that they’re skin changed color in order to show emotion. From what Brittney could guess White meant fear or worry. “What’s wrong with me Mernas? Am I gonna live.”
The color of the alien went back to blue. “Of course you’ll live dear. It seems you picked up an alien disease. We’re not quite sure what the outcome will be but Mist healed you so you shouldn’t die.”
“She should rest.” Said the white-eyed man.
Jatar nodded and the rest followed them out of the room leaving Brittney and Chris all alone.
Grampa Chris turned to her as the door closed. “So how are you feeling sweetheart?”
“Confused!” Brittney stated as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “What happened?”
“You passed out at the lake. Shanti ran back to get help. You don’t seem to be in all that bad of shape which is saying a lot considering the circumstances. Not many people can say that they’ve survived Quaple.”
“Isn’t that the disease that’s killing Gramma Kira?”
“Yes dear, but it’s a different. Quaple is any disease that you pick up from an alien species.”
“So why am I ok and Gramma’s dying?”
“Gramma got a much worse case then you.” Christilone sighed and stood up trying to figure out the best way to describe this too such a young girl. She was smarter than most her age but even still this was a hard concept for someone so young to grasp. “Most aliens when they leave their planet and go to a new planet will pick up some kind of a disease. It’s pretty much guaranteed. Most aliens get minor sicknesses like colds that are barely noticed and go away with in a couple days. Some of the weaker aliens get hit hard with diseases that, if not treated quickly and correctly will kill them in a matter of days.” He paused then and came to sit back beside Brittney on the bed. “And there are some very rare cases, like your grandma, who get secret diseases. They get a cold that goes away and they think they’re fine and then you find out years later that the cold had only gone into remission and has now become a ravaging, deadly, disease.”
Brittney was quiet for several minutes then changed the subject. “So who were those other people who were in here earlier I didn’t recognize a few of them?”
Chris shrugged relieved that she didn’t question him anymore on the Quaple subject being that he didn’t know any better way to explain it. “There all just people who work here. There was Doctor Utopia and the guy with the long nose was Jatar. He’s a Juptan who’s been living here for little over a year. He can read and control minds. But he’s very polite and would never invade other people’s privacy or freewill without permission. He lives in the palaces basement in hiding only the people who live and work here know of his existence.”
“What about the other guy?”
“What other guy?” “The guy with the white eyes.”
Chris paused for a moment staring at her and for a moment Brittney wondered if that was a question she shouldn’t have asked but then Chris spoke. “I forgot! I never told you that me and Kira had a son did I?”
Brittney was shocked. They had a son? Brittney shook her head still too shocked to speak.
“Well the Man-with-white-eyes is our son Mattim. He’s an albino Imaginese and one of the most powerful aliens on the planet. He’s married to the Zotac, Leena, who I do believe is your dear Shanti’s cousin and the most powerful Imaginese on the planet maybe even the entire universe.” Chris paused and looked at Brittney’s still shocked face that only got more shocked the more he said. “Perhaps you’d like to meet them?”
Brittney nodded mutely her mouth hanging open slightly. Chris laughed. “Brittney’s throwing a party tonight which I’m sure you’d enjoy. Shanti usually attends so I’m sure she can help you. I’ll send her up.” With that he left the room.
The party was amazing and Brittney found herself immediately swept away by the wonder of it all. Brittney and Shanti entered the big Northern Hall which was lit up by about a million lights. The room reminded Brittney of something out of the Cinderella cartoon that she had watched so many times as a kid. The middle of the room was cleared for dancing and hundreds of couple were moving across the floor in colorful costumes that matched their hair. Each person spun around the room clinging to their partner with three sets of arms and dancing dances that Brittney would never be able to dance for her lack of arms.
Shanti – who was wearing a long yellow green dress that had teeny little green flowers all over it and had her hair pilled on top of her head with more of the same flowers – had done a wonderful job of preparing Brittney in much the same way and had done a marvelous job in adding extra ruffles where the extra sleeves should have been to make the dress the most beautiful thing Brittney had ever seen.
As Brittney was still taking it all in Shanti grabbed her new friends hand and ran in the direction of the stage where a group of people stood. As they got closer Brittney discovered that Christilone was among them. “Ah there she is!” Chris exclaimed when he saw her “Brittney I want you to meet the Zotac” Brittney neared them hesitantly until Chris grabbed her and pulled her in front of him. The young woman standing before her was quite beautiful she had to admit. She had long reddish-orange hair with white streaks that was cut fairly short and spiked. She wore a bright red dress that was cut off right below the knee with slits on each side. She didn’t wear the heel-like shoes she had seen on the other woman but instead wore flat shoes that looked much like the ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz. She had a scar across the right side of her face but even still she was beautiful and Brittney noticed that she was almost as tall as her husband who, she noted, was quite tall.
Mattim, whom she now realized was Chris and Kira’s son, also had his hair spiked and had dyed the tips black. He had put in some creepy looking contacts that was supposed to put swirls in your pupils but being that he was pupiless it looked kind of creepy but after she got used to them Brittney had to admit that they were very cool.
“Brittney there’s someone else I want you to meet.” Christilone said grabbing her hand and pulling her over to the side of the stage where a woman stood holding something in her arms. “Brittney I’d like you to meet my grandson Wilhelm the future ruler of Imaginess.” Brittney looked at the woman in confusion and then dawning lit her face as she realized that the woman was holding a baby.
“Oh can I hold him?” Chris gave a reassuring nod to the nurse and she handed the infant to Brittney.
“He’s only a couple weeks old.” Chris gushed, “He was born right in time!” A shadow crossed over his face then and understanding filled Brittney as she remembers about Gramma Kira’s sickness. She looked down once more at the small baby with dark red skin and platinum white hair and then handed him over to Chris.
Chris realized that he was depressing Brittney and so tried to smile. “Don’t let me get you down, Sweetheart. Why don’t you go find Shanti and go have some fun.”
He watched as the little girl raced off and his shoulders slumped again as soon as she was out of sight. His life was falling apart at the seams and it was all he could do not to have a meltdown in front of the sweet little girl. He had to be strong for her and for her brother.
He looked over in the direction of his son and wife laughing and socializing with the guests. He watched as a man came up to the stage and whispered something to his son. A look of dread came over his son and Chris noted the way his grip on his wife’s hand tightened. The man stepped back and mouthed the words “I’m sorry”. Mattim turned to leave and Leena tried to stop him but he brushed her aside. That’s when Christilone knew that Kirita was no more.
Tears welled up in his eyes. He looked down at the precious grandson in his arms and the tears began to flow down his cheeks uncontrollably. He pulled the child closer and wept into his blanket. “May you never have to feel this kind of pain Wilhelm.” He whispered into the cloth. “The pain of losing someone close to you.” But Christilone knew that would be impossible. No one could escape pain and most definitely not Wilhelm who would receive more than his fair share of pain in the years to come.
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