Paraworld Zero (28 page)

    Intrigued by Tonya’s high-spirited personality and feeling somewhat
flattered, Gwin held out her hand, but Thorn shied away from it, as if confused by the gesture.
Tonya whispered to the little Pud, “This is the part where you take her hand and dance with
her.”

    A silly grin formed on Thorn’s face. He grabbed Gwin’s hand clumsily and led
her to a vacant spot on the dance floor.

    Proud of herself, Tonya took Simon’s hand and said with a chuckle, “I think
Thornapple’s gonna kill me when we get back to the house.”

    Simon pursed his lips in disapproval.

    “I think you had too much of that punch. What’s wrong, Simon?”

    He took a purposeful step on the wrong tile. Tonya cringed from the sour note
that emitted from the floor. “I can’t believe you were dancing with him!” he exploded.

    “Simon, I’ve danced with just about every Pud in this city. Who are you
talking about?”

    “Alvin Bottlebrush.”

    “Oh, him. He just started dancing with me. The guy didn’t even ask.”

    Simon took another step on a bad tile, and the sound that sprang forth echoed
his temperament. “You looked pretty happy to be with him. I saw you laughing. Didn’t you just
call him an animal last night at the fight, or was all that just a show?”

    “Look, Simon,” she growled, slamming her foot on an inactive tile. “I was
laughing because he was such a clumsy dancer.” She stepped on another clear tile and said, “I
have to admit, he is pretty good-looking… for a Pud. But I still don’t approve of what he did
last night.”

    Simon dragged Tonya with him while stepping on three more blank tiles. Yellow
lights appeared with each step, accompanied by sour notes.

    “
Really?
” he accused.

    Tonya twirled around and stamped on several more white tiles. She even jumped
over the blue tile so she could cause more havoc on the floor.

    “Really!” she retorted. Her hair was now a fiery red. “What’s this all about,
anyway?” She looked at Simon closely to see his expression. “This doesn’t have anything to do
with Alvin, does it?” Simon remained silent, so she stepped on three blank tiles to emphasize
each of the following words:
“You—are—
jealous!
”

    Simon responded by stepping on three blank tiles with each of his words as
well.
“No—I’m—
NOT!
”

    He stomped so hard on the last word that a spark ignited from underneath his
shoe. He wasn’t quite sure if he had just cast a spell or if there was a malfunction with the
tiles, but yellow lights spread across the floor like a nasty crack in a windshield. The floor
moaned for a few seconds, and then the yellow lights died out.

    “Children!” cried Mayor Gordon, running up to them. “Children, what’s the
problem here?”

    “He’s jealous,” Tonya said matter-of-factly.

    “Simon, are you jealous?”

    “No.”

    “He says he’s not jealous.”

    “He’s lying.”

    The mayor turned to Simon again. “Are you lying?”

    Simon closed his eyes and sighed.

    “Look, kids, you’re disrupting the whole dance. See that tile, Konya?”

    “Tonya!” she corrected.

    “Konya. I want you to step on that tile.” She did as she was told, and the
rest of the tile turned blue. A pleasant-sounding hum could be heard. “Now doesn’t that feel
good?” He turned to Simon. “Okay, Simon, your turn. Step on that red tile.” Reluctantly, Simon
stepped on the tile with the red outline, and a faint hum sounded. “Wonderful! Now just keep that
up and everything will be fine.” He turned to the robotic orchestra and yelled, “Conductor, give
me something slow.”

    “
Roger!
” came the mechanical voice of the conductor.

    “And let’s have some singing.”

    “
Right-eo, pops!
”

    Mayor Gordon shook his head and gave himself a mental note to talk to the
orchestra’s linguistic programmer first thing in the morning.

    The orchestra played a surprisingly beautiful song.

    “Circles! We’re all doing circles now!” Mayor Gordon yelled to the crowd on
the dance floor. Ignoring the red and blue tiles, everyone began to move in circles with their
partner. A gross sound spewed from the floor as several dozen tiles glowed yellow at the same
time. The mayor put his hands to his ears and yelled at one of the technicians. “Turn those
stupid tiles off!”

    Finally, he faced Simon and Tonya and said, “I have to get ready for my
speech, so you two be good. Try to stay within the lines, will you?”

    They both nodded, and the mayor left. Simon glanced across the dance floor
and saw Thornapple and Gwin both smiling at each other.

    “So do you wanna try this over again?” Tonya said in a cool voice.

    Her hair had already returned to the same sultry blue color as before. A soft
breeze caressed her face. Simon stared into her yellow-green eyes and thought for a moment that
she looked like an angel in the moonlight. He melted like butter in a skillet.

    “Yes. I’m sorry,” he said.

    “I’m sorry, too. You’re right—I shouldn’t have danced with Alvin.” She rubbed
Simon’s arm affectionately. “Besides,” she added with a playful smile, “he’s much too old for me
anyway.”

    Simon put his arms around Tonya’s thin waist, and they began to dance. At
first they were rigid, but they both loosened up as the music played. One of the robots started
to sing. Simon thought it was odd that such a lovely voice could come from a lifeless
machine.

    “So where’d you get your dress?” Simon asked, trying to make small
talk.

    “I made it.”

    “You made it! When did you do that?”

    “I’ve been sewing it for over a month now. This is why I’ve been so excited
for the dance. I wanted to see your reaction when I wore it.”

    Simon examined the workmanship of the dress more closely. It was actually
much more modest than what he would have expected her to wear at a formal dance. He reflected
back on the skintight outfit she had worn the first day they met. A lot of things had happened
since that day. Although Simon had known about Pudo for only two months, Tonya had lived in the
new parallel world the whole school year. Standing next to the young lady, Simon felt like a
little kid; he couldn’t believe how mature she had become over the past nine months.

    “Your dress is beautiful. You did a fantastic job.”

    “Thank you,” she said, blushing. They rotated a couple of times before Tonya
spoke again. “Simon,” she said in an oddly hesitant voice.

    “Yes.”

    “You said my dress was beautiful, but… what about me?”

    “Huh?”

    “Do you… do you think
I’m
beautiful?”

    Simon’s eyes widened in shock. A flood of emotion inundated his body.
Intensely hot all of a sudden, he felt the need to fidget with his top button.

    “Well, I—” He fumbled for the words.

    Just then, Mayor Gordon’s voice boomed over the loud speakers. “May I have
your attention, please? May I have your attention?” The orchestra stopped playing. “Thank you.
Good evening, fellow citizens of Highland City. As your mayor, I’d like express my gratitude to
everyone who made the festivities today possible.”

    Everyone cheered—especially Simon, who was focusing his whole attention on
the mayor.

    “It’s been one thousand years to the day since we were victorious at the
Battle of Lisardious.”

    The people cheered again.

    “We’ve come a long way since that dreadful day, and I hope we never see
another alien again… well… except for our Chamelean and Earthling friends, of course.”

    He nodded towards Simon and Tonya, and the crowd laughed in agreement.

    “So that we will always remember our past,” the mayor continued, “and to
remind us of what we’ve become over the last thousand years, I present to you this statue.”

    Pulling away a thick, gray cloth, he revealed a life-sized bronze statue that
portrayed a group of smaller Puds sitting on the shoulders of larger Puds. The smaller Puds wore
expressions of celebration and triumph on their faces, while the larger Puds resembled beasts of
burden—like oxen—forced into bondage by the yoke of oppression.

    “This statue was found in an archeological dig beneath the city some time
ago. Those little Puds have been riding on top of the big Puds for almost a thousand years, and
I’m sure they’re a bit saddle sore by now.” Sporadic laughter rang forth from various parts of
the crowd. “But our scientists refuse to let them rest. I’m sure if these ancient Puds could
talk, they’d probably ask to go back into the dark catacombs where they were found just to get
away from the archaeologists. Now that our scientists have translated the engravings, taken
dozens of samples, and done all of their superfluous experiments—” Mayor Gordon turned to a group
of men standing nearby and asked, “You are finished poking and prodding it, aren’t you?”

    Wringing his hands and looking quite anxious, the head archeologist, a tiny
man dressed in a white overcoat, responded in earnest, “Actually, now that you mention it, we
would like to take another look at the translation. There’s been some debate recently regarding
the interpretation of some of the ancient characters. Maybe if we could just study it for one
more—”

    “Oh, nonsense!” Mayor Gordon said. “The translation sounds good to me.” He
turned back to the audience and exclaimed, “This monument is finally ready for the public to
enjoy. The engraving on the statue reads as follows:

    

    “‘
See the brave warriors of Pudo, the small and the big, extinguishing our enemies so that our
children may live to be wise and strong for thousands of years. With this memorial, let us never
forget the great Battle of the Lisardians
.’”

    

    The crowd clapped their hands and shouted with joy. Mayor Gordon, beaming
with pride, said, “Now, I don’t want to interrupt your dance any further, so I’ll end with this
reminder—”

    Ignoring the mayor’s speech, Simon squinted his eyes to read the inscription
on the statue. The strange characters glowed and then melted into English. The first line read: “
Here lie the brave warriors of Pudo
…”

    The mayor’s words crept into Simon’s ears. “Our city was forged from the
blood of our ancestors. We are the superior race, and if it were not for the little Puds, we
wouldn’t be here—”

    Mayor Gordon raised his arms towards the statue. Simon jerked his head around
to see the words on the next line of the inscription. “
The big and the small—fighting as one, living as one, dying as one
…”

    “So I encourage you all to pay your respects to those that gave their lives
in the war,” Mayor Gordon concluded. “Please enjoy the rest of the dance.” The mayor turned to
the mechanical orchestra. “Conductor! Continue where you left off.”

    The music started back up again, and the lead robot resumed singing from the
exact syllable it had last sung before getting interrupted. Tonya put her hands around Simon’s
neck and pressed him to dance. Before they rotated, however, Simon read the next sentence on the
statue. “
May our progenitors be wiser than us when our enemies awake from their slumber one thousand
years from now
…”

    The boy’s stomach lurched in anticipation to read the next line. His back now
faced the monument, so he had to wait a few more seconds.

    “Well?” Tonya’s clear voice broke his concentration and startled him. He had
almost forgotten she was there.

    Simon responded impatiently, “Well, what?” He could almost see the statue
now.

    “You never answered my question.”

    “What question?”

    “Do you think I’m pretty?”

    Ignoring the question completely, Simon read the next sentence.
“…and let this memorial serve as a commemoration of the folly of our wise yet foolish
nation
…”

    He moved out of range again.

    “I’m sorry, what was that?” he said, trying to look back at the
monument.

    “Hey, if you don’t wanna answer, you don’t have to,” she said. Simon urged
her to rotate faster. “I’m just trying to figure you out, that’s all. We’ve spent a lot of time
together lately, and… I don’t know—I thought maybe you—”

    Simon read the last line of the inscription on the statue. “
Let us always remember the great and terrible Battle of the Dragunos.
”

    “Oh my gosh!” Simon interrupted.

    “What is it?”

    “The Lisardians… They weren’t aliens.”

    “
Ahhh,
can we just spend one night without talking about Pudo history?”

    Simon was frantic. He had to do something, fast. Tonya obviously didn’t care
about his discovery, so instead of arguing with the apathetic girl, he blurted, “I have to go,
Tonya. Thanks for the dance.” He left her without saying another word.

    The poor girl just stood there, fuming with anger and hurt as she watched
Simon rush off towards Thornapple and Gwin. Her bottom lip started to quiver, and her hair faded
to a murky black.

    “Thorn!” Simon cried. “They weren’t aliens…”

    “Simon, what are you talking about?” Thorn asked with a disturbed expression
on his face; he had just been in the middle of telling a joke to Gwin.

    “Your scientists have it all wrong…” Simon said, trying to catch his breath.
“They were lizards, not aliens!”

    “Who were?” Gwin asked.

    “The Lisardians! This whole time, everyone has been calling it the
Battle of Lisardious
, but it’s actually the
Battle of Lizards
—or dragunos—whatever you call them.”