Chapter 19 and 20

Chapter 19: the first try-outs.

Sooner as expected, there was a chance to try out the plan, the Elders and the Lady had in mind. One of the new friends in our world did win a contest, and was invited to a show on television.
There she could make a wish in a children’s program.

She could name the story, about what a whole new series should be made of, or give a subject, that would be in it.
There for there was an extra mini Pow Wow with Wise Feather, the Lady, Mother Goose, Cindy, me and Wendy, the girl, that was the new Homelander friend.

Wendy could not fully understand what a television was, so we decided to mirror-hop to my house, stay there about a quarter of an hour in our normal time, and show her the small television in my room with the noise out.

We did explain that we had to be very careful, not to wake up anybody or put on the noise, so nobody else should hear us.
And what she probably would see was a program for adult people, or about nature instead a children’s program, while all children were in bed.

When we had shown how a television worked, she could peek in with somebody else, to see on the other side of the world what a children’s program was.
And that was, what we did.

Luckily we had to stay in my home only a few minutes, for Wendy was a quick learner, so there was more time for me left to help during the rest of the night in our normal world.

In Homeland we together did make up a story, in which the lucky girl was rescued from a new group of children, who had seen about gangs, and wanted to try out for themselves.
They did think about it as a big adventure for a couple of days, without seeing, in what kind of trouble they would come, or how difficult it would be, to stop playing that game, or that it could come to be serious instead of a game.

Than there was a big surprise: in the studio’s of the television company, an older lady came to the people who wrote the story, and asked: “Did you know there are other people, trying to do the same thing? Would it not be better to talk to them first?
Or are you going to start something new just by yourselves?”

Wendy and the writers looked surprised.
This never had reached one of them.
So curiously they asked: “How do you mean other groups?”

The older lady told: “I am the grandmother of a boy, who used to be a gang member too. Two of his friends were shot in a gang war, so far this so called adventure went. They did not know a play from reality any more, so they acted, like they did see in the war-games, they liked to play on their play-station.
They did not see the difference between game and reality any more.

It was to late for some to stop, when there were wounded, casualties.
So the mothers in the neighborhood, together with the grannies, now do everything, to prevent the young boys to become a member of such a gang.
Would it not be nice, when this was in the story-line as well?”

Wendy did look at her new friend, still invisible from the writers-group.
He nodded a firm yes.
And also made a gesture, as if he had to go to the toilet very much.

Wendy understood. “Is it possible to use the loo for a moment, please?”

There she and her friend mirror-hopped back, to inform the Lady of this all.
The Elder, and Cindy, and me became even be more alert for actions like this, to warn the new Homelander and good Otherlander friends, to look if more things like this were going on.
Than Wendy and her friend mirror-hopped back.

In the normal world, there was not more time gone, as necessary to do the toilet business, so nobody of the television was aware of what they did.
Wendy got a small part in the series, the writers of the children’s television wrote about this all.

They called the series: ‘The anti-gang-bunch’ and it became a huge success.
There came a ‘fan of the Anti-gang-bunch” club, and even some schools did show this program in school time, to discuss, how things like this could come to be.
But telling about that, is another story.


Chapter 20: Time to go home.

There were things going on all over the world, Lea and Cindy were not aware about.

A new Homelander-friend, a lady of middle age, found a teacher, who did something, that could be of help too.
That, while it was so difficult for us kids to understand, was only mentioned in the Pow-wow, therefor everybody could be alert.
The rest they did was overseen by the adults.

The new friend did find out, there were a lot of people, who tried to give girls more education, even when there was not much money, because until than it were the boys, who could go to school to get an higher education.

Those people found, that Mom’s, who had learned more, could be a better help for the future of their kids. They were better able to prevent their kids to become gang-members too.

The Homelander friends, who found this, also formed a special group, Cindy and me had not much to do with this: it was adult business.

We still were kids, so the kid-stuff was our terrain.
We had to leave the adult stuff to the adults, how impatient we were to learn more of that.

It became rather complicated, to follow all what was going on, so on the other hand we were glad we did not have to be part of all that happened too.

One night, when we sat together, the Lady, Cindy, Amany, Wendy and me, I gave a deep sigh:“I do not know, if I can follow all, that is going on now.
Please Lady, tell me, is coming over here in Homeland or Otherland always that complicated?”

Cindy and the others laughed, and Amany said: “Of course not, but did not you, and Cindy, come over here to right a wrong? To help Cindy escape from that wrong?”

Wendy told me: “My new friend has difficulties like that, although she never was here.
She has to do everything what we do together, just by believing, what I am telling. That is even more complicated, in the same time I cannot be so much of a help as Cindy is, while I did not have had that much time to discover how your world works until now.”

I frowned, making deep wrinkles in my forehead.
To tell the truth, it had been a wonderful adventure, but now there were a lot of things going on, I had no idea of.

The Lady did warn me: “Lea, when you go home, and that will be very soon now, you cannot be more grown up in one night, than you are now.
You already did learn more in the time you were here, as otherwise in half a year in your world!”

I had to nod yes, although I myself did not notice this all, except it sometimes became a bit confusing, although less and less so.
In my mind there were weeks gone instead of one night.
But Cindy had promised me one thing, she reminded me of now.

“I will be your friend for always, remember?
So if you are telling something, you normally should not know something about, I will give you a hint.
And together we will go to the library, and we shall, as by accident, find something about all this, so you can make a script about this for your next school speaking turn, while it does got your attention.

That way, you can go on, helping us, coming to us for some nights when we need you.
Is that ok with you?
But what I really do like, is having a fun adventure next time.”

I totally did agree, being just a kid that loved fairy tales, was something totally different from being a person in one.
And certainly such a complicated one!

So I did answer: “Can we make that a promise? Can we go to another part of Homeland, just to meet the Puss in Boots, or Captain Hook, or Goldilocks?”
In my eyes came something of a desire for new adventures, less complicated ones perhaps.

With this the Lady nodded, hugged me and told: “high time to go home for you.
It is nearly morning in your world, and we made a promise to you, to be home before sunrise!”

She did hug me, as if I was her own great niece, and likewise did Mother Goose, Cindy’s grandmother.

It took some time to say good by to my friends, but I was certain, a lot of them I would meet again on another adventure, here in Homeland.

Than I would find out, if Homeland and Otherland were one land again.
I also could learn more of all there was to discover.

With that thought, I did wake up, while Daddy did shake my shoulder, saying: “Morning, lazybones, breakfast time is long due, wake and shine!....”
In the corner of the room stood Cindy, giving me a wink to hurry up, while normal life was going on again.

End of this adventure.
When Cindy and I will go there again, I will tell you about it, but that is another story.

© Nan van Daalen, All rights reserved.