Chapter 2: what Petra told and more.

Chapter 2: What Petra told and more.


Early morning mom came to wake up Billy.
“You have to hurry, we all did sleep a bit long, and you do know, Nemo does not like waiting!
Downstairs is something ready to eat on the road, but now: rise and shine, also behind the ears please!”
And out she went again.


Petra did the same as Billy, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, just as if she did not sleep long enough yet.
Billy did the same again, and said: “No, it is not a dream, you are here!”


Than he jumped out of bed, walked around and carefully touched Petra’s arm: “Yes. You are here, and you do feel just like Lilo too. And as you told, mom did not see you. But I do have to hurry!”
And with that words he jumped in the bathroom, to come out combed and dressed.


“But what do I do with you, while I am going to Nemo? I cannot let a friend, even one I do know that shortly, alone until I have time again, is it?”


Petra answered: “No problem, there it comes in handy, that I do come from Homeland. And that most people do not see me either.
I can go and sit in the same room and listen in.
You just do, as if I am not there. Now go, when you eat your breakfast on the way to Nemo, I can tell some more!”


Downstairs, after a still bit sleepy: “Good morning” to daddy, his sisters, and a nod to mom, he took the little basket with food, gave Mom a kiss, and the rest a wave with his hand, and went of to school.


Outside suddenly Petra was visible again.
He held before her the basket: “like something too?”


Petra said: “Just to taste, but I do not need much over here, why I do tell later. Is Nemo an old Atlantian?”


Billy nodded yes, while he just took a very big bite in a brownie with seaweed.
“Why”, he mumbled with a full mouth.


"While some Atlantians in early days also had Homelander friends.
And although we can get very old, Atlantians are becoming even older yet. So it is possible, he can see me, but do not count on it.”


“Mumbl, hwow doo you meeaaan” tried Bobby to say, while eating at the same time.
Petra laughed loudly, knowing nobody could hear her and said: “my mom or grandmother would give me one around the ears, when I do speak with a full mouth!”


Billy blushed, emptied his mouth and said: “so does mine, but we are very soon in the building, where Nemo is.
And I do get more and more curious about you, and why you are here!”


“Than I will tell you the first thing, you have to learn, before we can become truly friends: patience.
And the second thing is: your normal life has to go on, like I am not around.”


Billy came to a standstill and said: “how can that be?
All is going to change now! Or not?”


“Yes, that is. But if you want to be my friend for life, you have to know, that being my friend has nothing to do with what you are doing the rest of the day.
Nor with what you have to do to live the best life you can!”


On Billy’s face came a wrinkle that showed how hard he was trying to understand.
So Petra said: “How would you like it, when Lilo suddenly did not want to play with you, or go on a ramble through the city, while shé had a Homelander friend?


You would not understand that either, while you could not see her friend probably. Not many of us can been seen by more than one friend, unless we are in Homeland.”


With that answer Billy had to do, for they reached the house from Nemo.
To Billy’s surprise there were some Atlantian children today too.
That was very special, for they mostly got lessons on an other place or on other subjects.


“Ha, Billy, you’re the last one I do expect, now we can start”, Nemo said.


Than he walked to a cupboard, that usually was closed and locked. With a big key he opened the door and very, very carefully he did bring a big book to the table.
Than he closed the door again.


All did look very interested: Nemo almost never showed his treasures, as he called his books.
They were very, very old, and held the history of all Atlantians.


He opened the book carefully on the first page, and there was a drawing.
Somehow it looked very familiar, as if Billy had seen this before.
The Atlantian children looked with the same ah, and respect, but also, as if their parents had prepared them on this lesson.


Nemo showed with hands, that did wear gloves to the structure of the drawing: there was a small, round place in the middle, and it looked, as if there was a kind of castle on a hilltop on it.
Round this all was a mote. Tree of them surrounded this, each part had drawings of buildings on it. And something green Billy did not understand.


So carefully he pointed: “Mister Nemo, what are those green things? I did never see that before!”


Nemo answered: ”That, young man, are trees and scrubs.
And also gardens.
You have never been in the other bubble, were we do grow most of our food, did you?”


Billy nodded no, did not want to be impolite, so said: “when will I be old enough to go there, please?”
While in his thoughts was: ‘that was, what I was dreaming about yesterday, standing by the rim.’


One of the other kids said: “I also had to wait that long. It has to do with something like water pressure and our bones.”


Nemo nodded and said: “but that is for another time, Billy is not so far to learn about that. We now are telling about the beginning of our big civilization.”


“What is civilisomething?” Billy asked.


“That is, how people have agreed to live together.
The rules you have to follow, so everybody does know, how to behave.
That also is for another lesson, while our guests did learn about that already.
Now we go on with this map.”


He showed how a straight moat from a sea went direct to the castle.


“From here all our ships went all over the world.
You, Billy, only do know a small toy ship, you did get from your daddy, but in those days we had ships as big as a house”.


Billy shaked his head in disbelieve.
But Nemo never told something untrue so he had to believe.


Lesson went on, but he was not totally with his attention there.
He had to think about his toyship as big as a house, that would sink, would it not?


Suddenly he did feel Petra give him a soft shove and heard her whisper in his ear: “wake up, lessons are not over yet!”


“And all the fleets had a different destination, so our civilization went over the whole earth.”


Than Nemo carefully closed the book again, to put it in the cupboard again.
The Atlantian kids were talking about the seas and lands and things, Billy did not hear, while he had been dreaming during that bit of the lesson.


“Tomorrow we go on with the two of us about this, Billy, so say goodbye to your friends. They are going on a field trip to the garden bubble, so you will not see them for a while.
Now go home and play a bit with your new sister.”


That Billy did, but as soon as he could find an excuse, he went to his room to talk further with Petra, who said: “next time some more playtime with her, remember, lesson two: act as if I, Petra are not here.”


With a bit of sense of guilt he said: “Will I learn that, you think?”


“Of course, otherwise the book in Otherland had not shown we could become friends. So now we go and make a drawing, as you would do when you are playing alone in your room. I will tell you later, why.


Make a drawing of you bedroom for me please, that I would like. And while you are doing that, I am going to walk around the town a bit, to see what there is.”


“Why not with me?”


“While I do need that drawing and only when that is ready, I can tell you more.”


More answers for now Billy did not get, Petra just went out of his room.
Than he remembered lesson one: being patient. So he started his drawing.


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