Theme Thursday...........SUMMER

Opal Nation11

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

As I looked back upon that summer so many years ago, I knew the answer to that question. Jason had looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I could not really blame him. I had not believed what I had heard Father and the Professor discussing either. But I had needed to find out if I had really lost my mind or not. Maybe I was going crazy and just hearing things.

Jason had answered with, "Well, huh, not really, except in the movies. Why do you ask?"

I looked up at the stars shinning in the sky. There were no clouds right now. We had not had a summer storm for a while now. The stars were beautiful at this time of night. Every so often, through the years we would see a shooting star and make a wish. Right now I wanted to wish the conversation away. I did not know where to start with the story about what I had heard, but I knew I had to tell it to Jason for him to understand how I was feeling at that moment. After I had told him what I had heard my Father and the Professor discussing, he gave me a look of surprise.

"Wow, that is some story. Are you sure that is what you heard them talking about? Maybe they were just playing with you and knew that you were standing there."

"No! My Father would never knowingly hurt me in that way."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why would he do that to me. He has never been one to play mind games."

"Well maybe you should talk with your Father about what you heard."

I knew I could not, I would never be able to ask if it was true or not. If it was true, how would I be able to keep this secret from Mother? If not, then I would have to admit that my dad had hurt me for no reason whatsoever. I told Jason that I would think about it.

"Do you think I should tell my Mother what I heard Father say?"

"I think you should stay out of it. If your Father thinks he can travel through time, then your mom will think he is nuts, and if he did that to hurt you, then she will be hurt."

"Okay, I will stay out of it"

We stayed there on the roof for a few more hours, at least I think we did, I am not really sure. The summer heat was just warm enough to make me nod off for a little while. I had been leaning against Jason's shoulder and when I woke up, we were both laying on the blanket, looking up at the sky.

Jason looked at me and said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could travel in time. We could have a "do over" and change the things that we knew had affected our current life and hopefully the outcome will be better." I lay there thinking about this, would I really change anything in my life and knew the answer was "No."

Well, there was one thing. I would have kept walking and never stopped to listen to Father's conversation with the Professor. This was the last time that summer that I sat there in my Thinking Spot. Within a few weeks things changed so quickly for us, that I barely had time to blink, let alone go think for a few hours by myself. Mother did not want to be alone.

Yes, I remember that summer and how it had changed our lives in way that we could not have forseen at the time. Here I sat right now in my Thinking Spot, all alone this time. I wondered about Father and what he was doing. Did the Kweelee have him as a prisoner and that was why he had not come home? Was he so entralled with those damn Opals and not wanting to come back to us because Mother was no longer here? Had he gone back to the Swirling Marshlands and had a selubis sucked him up? Oh I needed to quit thinking these thoughts. But when you had no answers to any of your questions, you just kept asking more questions.

I knew what I had to do. Ben had known too. We had run into the Professor last night, and that man was going to help us, come hell or come high water. This would be the summer that our lives changed again. But this time we would not just watch helplessly as things changed.

This time we were going to make the changes. Yes, a visit to the Professor was due.

For those who missed part 10, here is the link. Which also links to part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.