Theme Thursday...........ROOF

Opal Nation10

I gasped and sat down on the floor outside the study. Mother would be devastated to hear that Father was going to leave us. Should I keep quiet and let Father tell her? What does one do after hearing a conversation such as this? I quickly ran upstairs to my room to think. I decided to keep quiet, sometimes I was sorry I had not spoken up, but who would believe me anyway? I could hardly believe what I had heard Father say. Did he really say that he was going to travel to a time when opals ruled the planet? I had not been drinking any alcohol that night. I still liked to take a few sips of Father's Special Reserve now and then, but I had only had a few cups of tea that night.

I kept thinking that I must have misunderstood Father. There was no way that he could travel in time. Maybe they had heard me walk up to the study and they were just having some fun with me. But I knew that Father and the Professor had been making plans together in the study. I had foolishly thought the plans were for a very expensive watch. Yes, that is what Father and the Professor were going to make, a watch with opals in it. I needed to think and to talk to someone.

I called my friend Jason, he told me that we could meet in our Thinking Spot. He was such a good friend. Last summer his parents were getting a divorce and it had been a difficult time for him. While we were on the phone talking one night, he asked if there was some place that we could meet, because he needed to think and not be around a lot of people. I told him I had just the spot for him.

Before that night it had been my Thinking Spot, but I was willing to share it with him. He had been such a good friend at University and I wanted to help him if I could. And since it was really late at night, my Father and Mother would not want me to have company over visiting during that time of day. I had told Jason about my thinking spot and that he could get to it without coming inside the house. He loved it.

I needed to think and so I climbed out my bedroom window onto the roof atop the study. The study was on the west side of the house and had a trellis that Jason could climb to get to the roof. At night no one was near the study and so they never heard Jason climb up to meet me. I always brought out this old rug I had for us to sit on, instead of the cold tiles on the roof. Because it was a flat roof that covered such a large area, we always felt safe and secure sitting there.

Sometimes though we would lie on our backs and just look at the stars and the moon. I had asked Father once if I could have a telescope attached to the roof outside of my room, so I could study the sky, and he had refused. It turned out okay, because I knew that if Father had put a telescope out there then he would have checked on me and caught me with Jason.

I sat there thinking. How could anyone possibly travel through time? Was it the past or the future that Father and the Professor were going to travel to? I had never heard of a time when opals ruled the planet. Yes, they must have been playing a joke on me. But then I knew that Father never joked about opals. I sometimes think that if he could have bought an opal mine, he would have. This was really confusing to me. Then I saw car lights turn into our driveway, a few seconds later the car turned on it's parking lights. It stopped a hundred yards away from the house. The lights went out, then I heard the car door shut quietly. A few moments later, I saw Jason appear in the dimly lit lights surrounding the house.

After he climbed up to the roof where I was quietly waiting, he sat down beside me.

Looking up at the sky he then said, "The rooftop still feels warm from the summer sunshine."

I quickly said, "Yes, today the sun was beating down on the rooftop here, and the tiles can get really hot. That is why I only come out here after the sun has set."

"Well, what's up? You haven't wanted to come to our Thinking Spot since we got home from the University. Something must really be bothering you."

I nodded. Then I looked Jason in the eyes and said, "Do you believe in time travel?"

For those who missed part 9, here is the link. Which also links to part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.