Chapter 13: Homeland and dry land.

Chapter 13: Homeland and dry land.

The next morning, after a night of the strangest dreams about how dry land should look, Billy did wake up a bit confused. Just before mom did call for washing and breakfast, he could tell Petra about it.

All she could say was: “You still have to have a bit of patience, the first of the Ladies rules has happened, while yesterday your mom and dad did tell, how they did grow up on dry land. May be it comes true sooner than you imagine!”

So after their walk, during which Billy kept asking how trees did look like, and was it not scary to live without a hard rim above you to protect you from the open sky, Nemo also had a surprise in classes.

He took both of them with him to another house, Billy never was in, while unlike all others without inhabitants, this one was locked up.
Therefore he never had explored it, like he did so many others, finding his treasure-mirror as result.

“Why is this house locked, Nemo? Are here such special things?” Billy asked.

“Wait a bit, you impatient rascal,” Nemo laughed.
“We did not build all houses in the bubble in one day! So you also cannot learn the whole history in one day too.
That is for humans like you, a more slow process as for Atlantians, while you have to see all for yourself first to get any idea.

We can, as you by accident learned when Petra showed the crystal was not lost, talk with out thoughts, even send a kind of picture, and the other does understand what I am talking about.
That is, why you did miss so much of that lesson, the first time I did show the book of the great city, and we had those Atlantian youngsters as guest.”

“I did not notice you did know,” Billy said, a bit ashamed.

“Of course I did, but you are special, for humans do learn differently from Atlantians, that is the reason you and Lilo get classes apart mostly.
And the Atlantian youngsters will probably stay their whole life under water, may be go in the submarine to the gardening bubble or somewhere else, to investigate.
But they never will live on dry land in the near future.

It is however possible, that your parents, you or one of your children, when it is necessary, have to live on dry land. I shall now, by going in this museum, show you both, why I do think so.”

In he went, and all the lights went on, when they entered.
Billy did look a bit estranged, while in most houses, where nobody lived anymore, this possibility was shut down, and the adventure of going in there was made extra exciting, while he had to explore in the half light, that came in from outside.

“Do you come here more often, that the light is still working?” therefore he asked.

“Yes, I do, and so do the Atlantian Kids.” Nemo answered.“Now follow me.”

With those words he did lead them along a path, marked on the floor with a green line.
Billy and Petra wondered, while there was a myriad of colored lines on the floor, sometimes crossing, sometimes going along side, other times bending in a room, they went not in, while the green line did not go there.

The moment Petra did point to those lines, Nemo just started to say: “this lines are for the ones, who want to study by themselves.
This house is a kind of house of knowledge, where everybody, who has studied, can find the answer on his questions, by going to the index, asks what color he has to follow, than do so, and pays attention to all he sees while walking his line.

This morning, I did ask the index to mark a green line, to explain how trees and scrubs became trees and scrubs, and what their function is.”

Billy could not keep his mouth shut: “what is an index?”

“You have seen in some books, there is in front a page, on which is marked, what is on the other pages.
In this house the index is very old, and it does work on memory crystals.
That is an art we alas did loose too, but now the healing crystal is found again, there may be some others return as well!”

Along all kinds of painted walls the green line did send them.
Nemo explained things, that did not were clear for the kids, while they had not the Atlantian ability, to understand just by seeing.

So slowly Billy did get an idea, how dry land could really look like, although the smell and the sun, like Petra, mom and dad had told about, where not there.

Billy did feel really at home with those paintings.
It was like he came home in a home he never did see before. “So this is, how dry land really does look like?” he asked with a big smile on his face.

“A small piece of it, at least.
The piece, where your mom and dad were living.
Other parts of the world do look different, but your dad told me, where he came from, and that’s a good starting point.”

“But why did you not show this me before? Wondered Billy. “Is it while you were not sure I ever would need or see that?”

Nemo nodded yes, and said: “how things do develop nowadays, and the questions Purple, the Lady and you are asking, my books about what is to come tells, we are going to prepare for a help action. So you too, Billy!”

First billy looked flabbergasted, than he jumped out of his skin with a big yell: “wow, maybe I can see Homeland or dry land sooner as I did think!”

Petra said: “You do forget 2 things: for the first the lady has to give permission, and for the second you have to grow a few more years, Nemo told, remember?”

“Yes, I remember, but you often do say, Homeland does look like dry land, so that will make the time look shorter, I will have to wait until I am grown up enough!” he said enthusiastic, not letting his happy mood disturb by such things.

“All you now have to ask the Lady, if Nemo does not know the answer by his books, if that water and air pressure thing also works so difficult in Homeland.
Or not perhaps?”
He did not let his enthusiasm dampen by any hindrance, so eager he was.

“Lets wait and see, what Petra says tomorrow,” Nemo said, “we did tell you, the Lady has the last word of ok for that.”

So Petra again went to Homeland for the night.
There the lady, Cindy, Lea and Amany were already waiting for her.

The Lady had a big smile on her face, while she said: “So your little impatient friend found out, the time is there, he can come over here!”

“How do you know?”Petra wondered.

Amany said: “I did dream, he was present with the big pow wow, that will be in 2 days. Remember, the Lady asked all, who had a friend to come with what they found about the environment and about crystals?
Billy is needed there too, I did dream.”

Than Cindy took over: “Lady, would it not be wise, he has been here before he has to meet so many people? He only is 8 years of age, and Petra tells, there do live only a handful of humans in the bubble.
So only meeting so many people like himself will be strange enough for the first time.”

“You will be a very good Lady, when it will be your turn to be in the future,” the Lady said.
“I did not think about that.
besides, he has to get used to have air above him and a landscape around him, he does not see the end of.
It seems the best, he comes for a short first visit tonight.”

Petra jumped of joy. Lea and Cindy only could laugh, but also had a surprise.
“One mirror in the bubble is not much, we do not know, if there are more.
So while they are easy to buy in the country, I do live in, I did buy 2 sturdy, small ones.
And Cindy and me have discussed, which places would be good for him to see, so we made 2 travel books for you and Billy, just like we have,” Lea said.

“Take good care of them, and do not show them to anybody but Nemo, unless the lady tells you otherwise.” Amany said.

“That also was very important in my dream.
Billy’s mom and dad could get homesick to dry land, when they do know their son can come to Homeland, that looks so much like the normal world.
And while you did forget again, Petra: In Homeland, where all paper things….“

“Of course,” Petra answered.
“On paper there is no air or water pressure, so here all is possible.
How could I forget again?” she wondered.

“May be, while in Homeland everybody only learns and knows, what is necessary to know here and now.

So all mothers and grandmothers do tell now about water pressure and pollution, as if they never have done otherwise,” the Lady told with a wink to Petra.

“Now go, and take our little rascal for a short trip over here tonight” the Lady ordered, so Petra did.

First they did show Nemo their new treasures, while that was allowed.
Full of interest he pointed out things, he remembered, with that showing how old he was in reality.
He even could explain a picture, Lea had done in between the drawings, she did make. It came out of her biology book, and showed a page about deep sea diving, and the dangers.
It even had chards, which said something about how long you had to wait, before you could come up another 10 meters, when you had a very deep dive.
It also showed him, until which depth humans were able to dive, and that was not as deep as the bubble was.

About that he was very relieved, so they could not be discovered before the time, it really was necessary, like his books told.

That evening Petra and Billy for the first time went together to Homeland, with a message of Nemo, written on one of their empty papers.

They only could not read well enough Atlantian, to understand all.
What they discovered, they were going to tell Nemo, so lets wait, and hear later, what they did tell him, shall we?

© Nan van Daalen, all rights reserved.