Chapter Two
(World of Man)
Katie awoke to the obnoxious beeping of her alarm. She fumbled around with her eyes half opened and turned it off. She looked over at her husband James, still fast asleep. She got out of bed and opened her closet. She pulled out a pink tee-shirt and some blue jeans. Then slowly put them on in the half lit room. Grabbing her sneakers, she walked out of her bedroom leaving James to continue sleeping soundly. She looked at herself in the mirror.
She wasn’t very old, still in her early twenties. Her dark brown hair flowed down to her waist. She had bright green eyes, and was told that her eyes would light up a room when she smiled.
Katie then began applying light makeup to her eyes, lips and cheeks. She smiled at her reflection. Finishing it all off with a blue gem necklace that James gave her the day before, for their anniversary. He had surprised her with it after work. He never said where he had gotten it, but that didn’t matter, she loved it all the same. It was the prettiest thing she had ever owned.
She grabbed two granola bars and threw them into her backpack. In her pack, she kept a flashlight, a change of clothes, snacks, a toothbrush, and a hair tie. Working for a daycare, it was necessary to have a backpack instead of a purse.
She grabbed her house key and took one last look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She blew a kiss to her husband who was still asleep and closed the door behind her. She then began her short walk to work. She lived in a high-rise apartment in Chicago, just around the corner from where she worked.
Katie worked at a daycare called “Care for you”, for preschoolers. It was a rewarding job, but could also be very stressful at times.
“Katie! Thank God you’re here. Rebecca called in sick, so you will be alone in the room today.” Her boss said, holding a stack of papers to file.
Katie nodded and slowly walked down the hall. When she opened the room, the children cheered with glee. “Ms. Katie is here!” One dark haired little girl ran to her and put her arms around Katie’s waist.
“It’s good to see you too, Sophia. Okay kids; let’s start the day with our sharing. If you brought something to share, please get it out now and sit in the circle.” Katie said, as she hung up her backpack next to the children’s. She began walking over to the circle rug and sat in a chair at the edge of the rug. The children slowly joined her, each with a different toy in their hand. One by one, the children stood up and began sharing their toys.
“This is my best truck. I got it for my birthday. See the back moves so I can dump stuff.” A small red haired boy named Joey said, as he tilted the back of the truck.
“Thank you, Joey, for sharing. Sophia would you like to share something with us?” The dark haired girl that sat next to Katie’s chair nodded and stood up.
“This is my cat, Chait. He is very soft and I love him very much. He is a special cat.” Sophia said, holding up a small stuffed animal of a cat.
“Thank you, Sophia, he is very cute. Okay class, now that we shared, let’s put our toys away and get ready for story time.”
Sophia ran over to her backpack, but saw that there was an identical green backpack next to hers. She looked at both packs and didn’t know which one was hers. She then put her stuffed cat in the bag closest to the door, which was Katie’s bag. She ran back to the circle.
“Okay, today we are going to read a fairy tale about Mermaids, since our letter of the week is M.” The children got settled on the ground as Katie proceeded to read them the story.
The hours passed, and as the children lay down for a nap, Katie picked up her backpack and left the room for lunch. It was a nice day, so she decided to spend her lunch on the empty playground. As she stepped outside, the sunlight hit her face and made her squint. She shaded her eyes with her hand, until she was adjusted to the light. She sat down on a bench and watched the birds land on the trees and in the bushes.
She looked over at the bushes and she thought she saw something glowing. She knew the children in room two were learning about lights. Today they got to play with flashlights; maybe one got left on and fell in the bushes. The light in the bushes then flickered on and off.
“Hello? Is someone there?” She stood up and looked back at the school and then walked toward the bushes.
The light came from the bushes that lined the fence. The children were always trying to hide in the bushes; was one still inside playing with a flashlight?
Katie walked up to the bushes. “Is someone there?” Katie called. “You know you’re not supposed to be in the bushes.” She crept down into the crawl space the kids always used. When she got inside, she looked around but saw nothing but ordinary bushes and a bug or two. She saw an opening at the top of the bushes that let light in. She shook her head, “no flashlights or children here.” As she was about to crawl out, she saw that her necklace began to glow. The light was so bright; she had to cover her eyes. The light slowly faded and she uncovered her eyes. She was amazed by what she saw.
Everywhere she looked she saw green. A giant field of bright colored flowers was to her left and a field of green grass was to her right. She saw mountains and waterfalls in the distance, along with a castle high up on a mountain. She also saw a forest that looked like it went on for miles and a trail that led through it.
She secretly hoped this wasn’t a dream. She turned around to the playground, but it was gone. The bushes were gone as well. She was standing in the middle of an unknown land.
Suddenly, she felt something move in her backpack. She took it off, unzipped it and placed it on the ground. The toy cat Sophia had brought for sharing popped his head out of the bag. It wasn’t a toy anymore; it was a real cat. Katie fell down on the grass in surprise.
The cat stepped out and licked his paw. He then looked up at Katie. “What is going on?” Katie asked herself.
“I was going to ask you the same question?” The cat said.
Katie screamed and moved further back from the cat. “You’re real. You’re a real cat and…you can talk.” Katie said her voice still a little shaky.
“I guess I can. I never really thought about it before. Now I can talk to you and you can talk to me. I heard that meowing never works, anyway. I’m hungry do you have any tuna?”
“Tuna? You’re a talking cat. I’m in the middle of…well; I don’t even know where I am. I don’t have time to look for tuna!” Katie yelled in hysterics.
“Well, can I at least go with you? I am in the middle of nowhere too, you know. If you haven’t noticed, I’m alone as well,” the cat said looking up at her with his big green eyes.
“Well, why not? Things can’t get any weirder. Alright Chait, which way should we go? I mean, we can’t stay here for very long. I don’t know what kind of creatures live here.” Katie said looking around.
Chait sniffed the air from all around. “If we go north, I smell food and water. I think a village is that way, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!”
“Good! Now we’ll at least have a place to stay. As long as they are friendly people, we’ll be safe. We need shelter before dark. I don’t know what comes out after dark in this place and I don’t want to wait around here to find out.” Katie said, surprised at how calm she was about being stranded and talking to a cat that can actually answer back.
They walked on the grass along the giant flower field. Katie stopped to take her shoes off and walked bare foot on the cool grass. Chait lay on top of her back pack and slept as she walked. Katie still couldn’t comprehend that a place like this was actually real. She kept asking herself how she got here. Why did her necklace glow? Why did Chait come to life when she entered the bushes? Would everyone at work worry when she didn’t return? Would James? These thoughts kept racing through her mind over and over again.
Katie stopped to get a better view of any evidence of a village up ahead. She stood at the edge of a grassy field and saw only a faded dirt path in front of her. She frowned at the path and reluctantly put her shoes back on. She looked to her right and saw a tree that was perfect for climbing. If she climbed as high as she could, she would get a good look at the valley, and see if there really was a village ahead. She carefully took her backpack off and placed it on the ground. This woke up Chait.
“Hey, what are you doing? I still have another hour of cat napping to do.” He said, stretching his legs.
“Sorry Chait, but I need to climb this tree to see if we are going the right way.” Katie said, grabbing onto a branch.
“Oh, don’t do that, allow me the pleasure.” Chait said as he quickly jumped from branch to branch. He was at the top within seconds. “There it is, over the next hill.” He sniffed the air again. “I smell fresh fish! Let’s go, before it’s all gone.” He was back on the ground in a few jumps. “Come on, take your bag and let’s get out of here,” he said, pulling at her backpack with his mouth.
Katie laughed, “Alright, alright, I’m coming.” She put her backpack on and raced Chait up the hill. They stopped short when they reached the top overlooking the village.
The village was nothing like Katie thought it would be. All the homes looked like small huts made out of straw and mud. Children wearing nothing more than loin cloths and simple dresses chased each other around the huts. Some men sat around a fire and exchanged stories, while the women cleaned the fish to cook.
“Chait, you must not talk when we go down. Act like a normal cat, I don’t know how they will react, if you do.”
“Are you kidding? As long as I get some fish, I’ll stand on one leg and dance.” Chait said excitedly.
They headed down the hill and slowly approached the village. A young boy playing with two sticks in the dirt sat at the base of the village. He looked up when he saw the strangers approaching. He began yelling in a language that Katie and Chait didn’t understand. Several men, also in loin cloths, ran up to Katie, holding spears. They pointed the spears at Katie and started talking in the same language as the boy did. The boy poked his head from behind one of the men.
Katie raised her hands in the air to show she meant no harm. They lowered their spears. One man grabbed her by the arm and led her to one of the larger huts. She was a little frightened and began to regret coming to the village at all. She felt Chait’s soft fur on her leg and she began to feel a little better to know he was near. They sat her down in a small chair as they turned to leave.
“What’s going on, why did they all leave?” Katie whispered to Chait. Chait’s attention turned to the door as an older woman with long white hair pulled back in a braid entered the hut leaning on a walking stick. She wobbled over to Katie very slowly, relying solely on her stick for balance.
“Young lady, it is not safe to travel alone these days, danger is everywhere. Sorry for the rough treatment; one can’t be too safe.” The woman said, in a raspy voice.
“You can speak English?” Katie asked a little relieved.
“We had a visitor many years ago that taught us. Where did you get that beautiful treasure around your neck?” She said, pointing a bony finger at her necklace.
“It was a gift from my husband.” Katie replied, now clutching the necklace in her hand. “I think it brought me here.”
“It did indeed. Why it came to you, I don’t know, but I do know you are here for a purpose. You have an important purpose in Atheness, maybe to save us all from destruction.” The old woman said, now smiling.
“Atheness? Is that where I am, in Rome? What do you mean, save us all?” Katie now became very concerned with this situation.
“Child, Rome? You are no longer in your own realm. Atheness is a whole different world from your own. You will like it here once you get to know it. My name is Kaia and this is the village of Adriel. As far as your destiny goes, you will have to find that for yourself. You must only stay here tonight and then continue on your journey once the sun rises.”
“I think I need to lie down for a while. I thought you said it wasn’t safe to travel alone. I don’t need to go on a journey; I don’t even know where to go.” Katie said, starting to feel a little dizzy.
“You will find your way. Now, no more talk of this, there are spies everywhere. I’ll put you up for the night and give you a nice meal to eat, but as soon as the sun rises, you must be on your way.” Kaia took Katie to a bed covered in a soft deer skin. She gave her a plate of food and a glass of cold water. Chait was given a bowl of chopped fish and another bowl of water. After their stomachs were full they crawled into bed.
“I don’t know about this, Chait. What is this journey they are talking about? I just want to find my way home, not go on some crazy quest!” Katie said feeling a little tired.
Chait curled up at the end of the bed and began to purr happily. “This is going to be a long night”, Katie thought, staring at the small hole in the roof of the hut. It was made so smoke could be released when a fire was made. Katie turned to her side and fell into a dreamless sleep.