Welcome back. The journey between two worlds continues.

Chapter 10 – The Cost

Most of them were taken in the house or in the neighborhood. Some he had already seen in Manny’s house. He could now clearly see that some were taken on this Earth and some on the other. Flashbacks of recognizable events in the photos flooded his mind, as if they had all been waiting to be remembered for a very long time.

“This is…”

“She is indeed,” Ellie cut him off, as she knew exactly what he wanted to ask, seeing the picture with him and Sarah playing in the backyard.

He looked a bit longer at the picture. He could feel the emotion, but not the details. He was either kissing her cheek or whispering something in her ear. They were sitting on a blanket, surrounded by toys, and she was holding a bag of snacks.

“Sarah? I can… feel it, but I can’t remember.”

“Oh dear, don’t stress about. It will come to you. This? This it was taken right after we brought you home from the hospital, after …three days of high fever. We thought we would lose you. Very moody, hard to please. But as soon as Sarah came to visit, your eyes would light up, and you would always smile.”

Nathan arranged the pictures together and placed them on the table.

“Mom, the pictures are… great. But I don’t see how this answers what’s happening with me.”

“There are two worlds. Two Earths, if you like. This one and Othearth. And I’m sure that by now you are familiar with all this. Scientists are still debating how this came to be. One thing they agree upon is that these worlds are interconnected and are not two separate bodies nor two different dimensions.”

Nathan watched Ellie with deep affection and attention, afraid to miss any word or detail.

“And this has been so since forever,” she continued while refreshing the tea. “It is yet unknown why only some may traverse the world’s threshold while others may not. But once one is born from either an Othearth couple or a mixed one, their children will inherit both worlds’ freedom.”

“And I… I’m from Othearth?”

“Your father is from Earth, dear. But about that later,” she said, seeing Nathan eager to ask more about it. “He didn’t keep his promise, I see. This was his part…”

“What promise?”

“Very well then…” she said, expecting him to know the answer. “There is a single known ancient text, dated before Christ, before the rise of Egypt, before the fall of the Mayas. In this text, the ‘special’ people are mentioned with high respect, along with worship rituals. These people are ‘anointed to see beyond the measly.’ In Egypt, we can see these ‘seers’ worshipped. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have drawn many of his ideas from dream states, glimpses into Othearth. From Archimedes’ Eureka or Plato’s Atlantis to the mobile phones, it is documented that many were influenced by accessing a different plane, world, energy level. Sometimes through meditation, sometimes even through induced near‑death state.

Centuries passed with acceptance and awe. But, somewhere around 500 BC, a new movement started to gain followers, having in its manifesto the identification and register these seers. You can imagine that their real reasons were another yet presented as entitled and normal. In time all of these converged into accusations of ‘unnatural,’ ‘witchcraft,’ or ‘evil.’ This is the most well‑known and hated point in history. From that moment on, the ‘gift’ was no longer something to be proud of, but something to be hidden, protected, and never revealed. ‘The Great Separation’ started then and is still happening to this day.

Nat, is it clear so far, dear?” Ellie paused and took a sip of tea.

“I guess?…” Nathan smiled, displaying familiar cheekiness, a kind of ‘does anyone really get that?’

“I see. Let’s test that, dear. Can you tell me where we are right this moment?” Nathan immediately started looking around for clues and saw the cat jumping into her lap.

“My Earth…” he said, half question, half answer.

“Are you sure? Dear, you don’t need anchors to know. You can feel it. Let the world flow through you and the right answer will come.”

Nathan closed his eyes instinctively to focus. His mind lit up with quick, random flashbacks as he tried to put them in order. Soon he started feeling at ease, and that in itself made his heartbeat faster.

The uncanny sound of his stuck door opening made him flinch. Manny came through the wide‑open door, moving fast, ignoring everything else, coughed once, and went straight to Ellie, pulling her into his arms.

“I missed you so much, my love. I miss you so damn much!”

“I know. I know… I missed you too, Manny, I…” and before she could finish, Manny started kissing her as if there were no tomorrow.

“Oh… oh… oh… come on… I thought we had no time…” Nathan said, hardly containing his happiness and enjoying the familiarity. “And… Dad, couldn’t you close the door? It’s cold outside,” he continued, finding a reason to give them a bit of privacy. He barely stood up and moved toward the entrance when Manny asked, in between kisses:

“Boy, is it really cold outside? Give it another try…” he said, and kissed Ellie softly on her lips, mumbling something only she could hear.

“Again?” Nathan said, making a face as he saw something he shouldn’t. When he reached the door, he saw spring in full glory. As if on cue, the Italian neighbor was just passing by, running with Milo.

“Bonj…” the neighbor started to greet him, but Nathan just pushed the door, which softly closed with a click. “Yeah, yeah… I know,” he mumbled. “Mom, Dad, can you please help me make some sense of this craziness?” he said as soon as he returned to the living room, softening the last word, captivated by what they were talking about.

“Ellie, I know this is a fleeting moment, a sensory memory with a twist, as you said. But I waited. I waited as you told me to. Alone. Tormented by bits of news about our boy, struggling while I was far away, helpless. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but… I always prayed to be able to witness this moment. All three of us together again.”

“I know, dear. I know. We may steer destiny, but we never know the destination, nor when the time comes to reach it. I’m grateful that it gave us enough time to prepare. To prepare for this moment.”

“When the wave of light hit, I knew that the time had come. All of us knew. Everybody we know called me to ask me to confirm it. With their help, I managed to cross you all. I could have tried alone, but I would have died trying.”

“Dad, what do you mean?” Nathan finally said, easing himself onto the sofa.

“Nathan, be a dear and pour a cup of tea for your father.” He went for a teacup when he understood why Ellie had brought more cups. She knew from the beginning. And there was still one more cup without an owner. With soft trembling hands, he filled the cup, spilling a bit.

“Dad, here,” he said, holding out the teacup on its plate. Manny finally released Ellie’s hands and took the offering.

“Mom?” Nathan said, with more determination than ever, his pleading eyes were intense.

“Fine. Right. Where were we?… Yes. That was your part” she said while looking straight in Manny’s eyes. “Despite our secrecy, some inevitably still found us, our true world. They used different methods to force their way in, which they still persist in trying, even though it never ends well for them. Force never worked. Some tried tricking the dream state, when the walls between the worlds are weakest. I told you about Da Vinci, recorded as one of the first with glimpses into our world, trying to decipher what he saw. Or Verne’s unkeen forecast in his writings. Many others followed. Some were lost forever in a dream world, and even when they recovered, they never truly recovered their perception of reality. Like Dalí, dear, especially his last two or three years’ works.”

“That, they are still debating, love,” Manny said, chuckling.

“Anyway… Earth and Othearth are linked, and it is deeper than that. As for those that can traverse… The best analogy is like a turtle’s beach. They always return to their birth beach to lay eggs. And this is the case with us. We can choose to stay on Othearth, but we can never give birth there. It’s a long story about why. Anyway, when a family wants to have a child, they come here. They get a house, a job, and all. They can still travel between worlds, but their children can’t. Not until they reach ten years old, the age of awakening.”

“Why was I here then, with you gone and a missing father?” Nathan snapped, then gestured softly to show he didn’t mean it that way.

“Because you are… you are special, dear.”

“Special how?”

“Patience, son,” Manny said, patting his shoulder.

“I think this part is not for us to tell,” Ellie said, looking at him as if he already knew.

“Then who?” he asked and looked to the unused teacup.

“Someone special, as you are. Someone always close to you.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s Lenzo, or worse, Migo. I don’t think I can take that,” he said, laughing.

“No, boy. I think they have left a bit over a year. Their son will be ten soon.”

“He… they have a son?”

“They were kind enough to help us know you are doing well.” Nathan had not expected such a serious reply to his joking attempt. “You’d better go now and open the door for our guest, please.” Nathan reacted, and just as he reached the door, he realized what Ellie meant.

A knock at the door. He waited a bit hoping not to be the neighbor on the other side. Finally, he opened the door wide, expecting Migo jumping on him.

Previous: Chapter 9 – In heritance

Coming up: Chapter 11 – Clarity