Paraworld Zero (26 page)

    It was all up to this piece now; if Simon didn’t guess correctly, he would
lose everything. The boy thought for a moment and then smiled. “It’s the library.”

    Everyone looked at the woman in anticipation. She closed her eyes and took a
deep breath. The crowd remained silent, but their hearts raced. Finally, the woman opened her
eyes and said, “Yes.”

    The Puds cheered, while the woman gathered the pieces in a huff. “One
more?”

    Simon yawned and said, “No, I think I’m finished.”

    “Just one more puzzle,” she urged.

    “I’m tired of this game. I want to get my prize now.”

    “You have enough points to get anything you want,” exclaimed Tonya.

    “Then go ahead and pick something out for yourself,” he said.

    “Really?”

    “Yeah, sure.”

    Instantly, she reached for the necklace she had been eyeing throughout the
whole game. “Are these real pearls?”

    “Yes, but I didn’t intend to give that away,” the woman answered sharply. “I
only had it there for show.”

    “
Really?
” Tonya said, putting her hands to her hips in a threatening manner. “You know,
Simon, I bet Mayor Gordon would love this game.” She turned to the crowd and asked, “Does anybody
know where the mayor is?”

    “All right, you little brat. Take it! I don’t want to see your faces here
again.”

    “Thanks for the game,” Simon said as they left.

    “Wow, Simon, are you sure you weren’t using magic back there?” asked
Thorn.

    “No, I wasn’t.”

    “Then how did you get so smart all of a sudden?”

    “It had little to do with being smart. Remember when we were explaining to
you that to become an artist, you’d need to be able to look at things in a different way?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Well, it’s the same thing with the game I just played. I was just using my
imagination to fill in the blanks.”

    “Oh… I don’t think I could do that. I guess my parents are right. Maybe I
just need to stick with the cold hard facts of science.”

    “Then you’ll never pass level ten on my video game.”

    “What?”

    “Yeah, in order to pass level ten, you’ll have to be able to see where the
end boss is hiding. He keeps merging into the background of the scenery. That’s probably why you
never found him.”

    “You’ll have to show me later. You never did tell me what weapon—”

    “Guys,” Tonya interrupted, “I think I’d rather go to the history exhibit than
listen to you two talk about stupid video games.”

    “All right, all right,” said Thornapple. “Let’s go to the exhibit.”

    The museum contained old fossils and relics of the once magnificent
civilization that inhabited the planet before the great battle had taken place. Broken computer
chips were scattered everywhere, and old books, protected by glass cases, lined the walkway.
Full-sized skeletons of both small and large Puds were held suspended in the air for all to
see.

    Tonya and Thorn left to go to the restrooms, leaving Simon to stare in awe at
the huge projection screen above. A documentary about the Battle of Lisardious played on the
screen.

    “Hard to believe we were almost completely wiped out.”

    Simon turned around to see a gray-haired man holding himself up with a cane.
His deep-blue eyes were penetrating and serene, and his lower lip quivered as he spoke. “Our
ancestors were much more advanced than we are today, but yet they couldn’t even overcome the
Lisardians.”

    “I was told that they won the battle.”

    The old man snorted and waved his hand towards the dilapidated artifacts.
“Does this look like the remnants of a people that were victorious?” Simon didn’t answer. “The
Lisardians destroyed our world and left us for dead. To think of it! We had the power to
transport ourselves to other galaxies. We were probably the most advanced planet in the entire
universe, but the Lisardians still defeated us within a single day.”

    Simon summoned the courage to ask the stranger a question. “Why do you think
your people were destroyed so fast?”

    “I think their pride got the best of them.” The man pulled out a small bag
from his pocket and asked, “Would you like some chips? They give me gas.”

    Simon looked at the bag of chips in the man’s shaking hand. The label on them
read: Lisardian Crunchies. “Thank you,” he said, taking the bag half-heartedly.

    At that moment, Tonya and Thorn showed up. “Did we miss anything exciting?”
Tonya asked wryly.

    The old man walked away to get a better look at one of the displays
nearby.

    “Who was that?” Thorn asked.

    “Just some stranger I met. He told me your ancestors were more advanced than
your people are today.”

    “Well, that’s a prevalent theory, but I don’t know if I agree with it. I
mean, take a look at this stuff. They were still using paper books back then.”

    “Yes, but he also told me your ancestors were traveling to other
galaxies.”

    “Really?” Tonya asked with strong curiosity.

    Thorn nodded. “Some of the writings our scholars translated talk about people
from other planets, so we can assume the ancient Puds traveled to other solar systems.”

    “Or other parallel worlds,” Tonya said.

    “Uh, well, I guess that could be the case. I never thought of it that way.
But wouldn’t that mean—”

    “Exactly,” she said, getting excited. “That would mean, at one time, this
planet had electro-magical energy on it!”

    “
Crazy!
Simon, why don’t you see if you can read some of this stuff?”

    Simon went from book to book. Because each manuscript was secured within a
glass enclosure, he could only read bits and pieces. And what he could read was of little value.
He skimmed through part of a romance novel and then went on to a cookbook and then to an
instruction guide on origami.

    Simon munched on his Lisardian Crunchies while he read. Despite the fact that
they were cut into the shape of little aliens, the chips tasted quite good. After reading part of
an old newspaper, he started to laugh.

    “What? What is it?” Tonya asked impatiently. “Did you find something?”

    “No, I was just reading this comic strip. It’s actually pretty funny. I guess
I can say one thing, Thorn. Your people weren’t always so uptight.”

    “Comic strip?”

    “You know—the funny papers.”

    Thornapple looked confused.

    Tonya said, “I know what you’re talking about. It’s a bunch of made-up
stories written with the purpose of making you laugh. We have something similar back home.”

    “You’re kidding me,” Thorn said, gasping. “My ancestors used to make up
stories so that people would laugh? I didn’t realize they were so… so…
creative.
”

    “Wait a second,” Simon announced, looking at another comic strip. “This one
talks about a shopping center on Paraworld 687.”

    “Yeah, I’ve been there,” exclaimed Tonya. “They have the best mint truffles
I’ve ever—” She paused. “Simon, do you know what this means?”

    “What?”

    Her hair turned orange. “We may be able to get off this horrible planet!” She
hugged Simon with so much excitement, he almost fell out of his hover chair.

    “But—”

    “Keep reading!”

    Simon obeyed. “This one mentions a king,” he noted. “Let’s see… King
Pentagola.”

    “Oh, he sounds familiar. Where’s my paratransmitter when I need it? I vaguely
remember reading about him in my history books. The empire has had so many kings—it’s hard to
keep track of them all. Keep reading, Simon!”

    Thorn said with a laugh, “Out of all these ancient manuscripts, the only one
that gives us any valuable information is the comic strips. I find that quite amusing.”

    “That’s why they call them the funny papers,” Simon said. Tonya rolled her
eyes at his feeble joke.

    Simon continued to scan the newspaper when a crowd of teenagers filled the
room. “Come on, big guy. Let someone else have a turn,” one of the young men said. Simon looked
over his shoulder to see who the little Pud was talking to, but nobody was there.

    “Go somewhere else,” Tonya said in a rude voice.

    “We have the right to be here just as much as you do.”

    “Yeah,” said another boy, “and we want to see this stuff before the museum
closes.”

    A surprised expression flashed across Tonya’s face. “Thornapple! What time is
it?”

    “Relax, the dance doesn’t start for four hours.”

    “Four hours?” she screamed. “Four hours!” Simon and Thorn exchanged confused
glances as she ran towards the exit. “Oh, no! I have to get ready!”

Chapter 17
    

    

    Tonya marched out of the museum with Simon and Thorn trailing behind. It
wasn’t long before they reached their home. As Simon walked inside, a feeling of gloom descended
upon him. Was this really his last day with the Troodles?

    Thorn headed for the main bathroom located in the hallway between his bedroom
and the dining room, but when he reached for the door, Tonya pushed him aside and rushed into the
bathroom with a bundle in her hands. After thirty minutes, Thorn knocked on the door and asked,
“What are you doing in there? Hibernating? Some of us need to use the bathroom too, you know. How
much longer are you going to be?”

    The door opened slightly, just enough for Tonya’s head to come into view. Her
long green hair glistened, as if she had just come out of the shower.

    “Cool it, buster! If you had three feet of hair, you’d take a long time too.”
She shut the door before anybody could get a closer look at her.

    “Sheesh! If I had three feet of hair, I wouldn’t have to bother wearing
clothes.”

    Simon cringed at the thought.

    “You can use my bathroom,” Dr. Troodle said from the dining room.

    “Do you think Mother would be okay with that?”

    “Your mother is out with her friends tonight. I’m staying home so I can catch
up on my reading.”

    “Where’s Har?”

    Dr. Troodle stared at the floor. “Well, actually, that’s kind of why your
mother is with her friends right now. As I was taking Har to the veterinarian, the car came off
the skyway again, and I got into an accident. No one was hurt, but…” He hesitated a moment and
then finally confessed, “Har escaped.”

    “
No way!
” exclaimed Thorn. “How in the world did that happen? Why didn’t his security
collar work?”

    “It must have been damaged in the accident. Anyhow, the police are too busy
to help because of all the festivities going on today. We’ll have to find him tomorrow.”

    “Wow, Dad. It looks like we’re all in the doghouse tonight.”

    His father smiled nervously in response.

    It took Simon and Thorn only a few minutes to get ready for the dance. They
both wore white button-down shirts with dark vests and black slacks.

    After a long while, Tonya finally crept out of the bathroom. She walked over
and stood at the entrance of Thornapple’s bedroom. Thorn was watching Simon intently as he
furiously pounded the buttons on his video game machine. Tonya announced in her sexiest voice,
“The bathroom is available now if you still need it.”

    Simon looked up and stopped playing.

    “Hey, why did you quit? You were almost at level nine!” Thorn said.

    Simon couldn’t answer; his mouth hung open in surprise. Thorn raised his head
and caught his breath at the vision before them. Tonya wore a lovely white dress with clear
sequins and lace trim. Her new pearl necklace rested upon her chest, accentuating her feminine
attributes. The most amazing thing of all was her bright blue hair, which was curled into long
ringlets that formed a stunning design upon her head. Except for their first meeting, Simon
couldn’t remember ever seeing Tonya with curly hair. The young woman was immaculate. Beautiful.
Breathtaking… and she knew it.

    “Hello, boys,” she said with a warm smile that made her cheeks sparkle in the
light. “Are you ready to go to the dance?”

    “Yeah, we’re r-r-ready,” Simon stuttered. He put on his mother’s medallion
and walked over to his hover chair.

    Tonya shook her finger and warned, “Don’t even think about it.”

    The three teenagers left the house and cut across the hospital lawn to get to
the pavilion where the dance was being held. Simon noticed that the streak of burnt grass he had
made a couple of days earlier was already growing back.