THE PASSAGE

The Mysterious Story of Solstice

Chapter 24

"You're going to feed that baby your blood? Oh god, Solstice. How could you even think of doing that?"

"Because he is my son, and I love him more than anything else. I will do whatever I have to do to save him, even if it means cutting myself and putting his mouth over it, I am willing to do that for him. But since you're here, I have another plan that I need to discuss with you.

"But first, I have a lot that I need to tell you. I've been thinking of the best way to explain the things I need to say, but there is no easy way. To you, the things I am going to tell you will probably sound unbelievable, so I urge you to listen with an open mind and not form any conclusions until I explain everything."

"Solstice, after these last two days, I don't think that the word unbelievable exists in my vocabulary anymore. You have no idea as to the things I have recently witnessed that I would have previously thought to be unbelievable."

"Okay then, let's start with where I am from."

I watch as she goes and gets two of the purple fruits and returns to the bench. She holds one of them up in the air.

"Let's pretend that this is the earth." She takes her finger and points to an imaginary spot on the fruit. "Let's say that this is New York. Now imagine that you are sitting out somewhere on a clear night, gazing up at the sky. You see the moon, and past that, you see the planets, and even farther, the cluster of stars that are part of that galaxy. Now, imagine going even farther, to a point that you can't see, but imagine a whole other galaxy out there, far, far away. Now imagine within that galaxy is this one planet, this one," she says, holding up the other purple fruit. "Can you imagine that?"

"Um, yes. But what does all that have to do with you?"

"This one planet here," she says, while moving the other fruit in a circle, "that's where I am from."

My jaw drops, and I stare at her blankly. "Are you trying to tell me you're an ... an alien?"

"Yes and no. Let's say that I am not from the earth."

"Solstice, do you realize how hard that is for me to find believable?"

"Yes, I do, but I asked you not to form any conclusions until I explain everything."

"So, if that's true, how is it that you speak English."

"That's a whole other story. It'll have to wait until tomorrow. Trust me, and you will believe it after I tell you."

An alien from another solar system? Really? Just when I thought that there was nothing else that she could say that would overwhelm me, those words come out of her mouth.

"Um ... okay, go on."

I sit here very skeptical, analyzing everything she's already told me.

"Anyway, this planet here where I am from is called Nod."

"Nod, that name does sound familiar. Where have I heard mention of it?"

"Probably from your Bible. Are you familiar with the Bible?"

"Yes, I am. Are you talking about the Land of Nod, where Adam's son, Cain, went to live and find a wife?"

"Yes, that's it."

"But Solstice, isn't the Land of Nod on earth? In the Bible, it says it's east of Eden. How else could Cain have possibly gotten there?"

"Not exactly, Jamie. You see, your Bible was translated from what you call the Hebrew language. In Hebrew, there was no word for 'east.' The original written word for the location of Nod in Hebrew is 'in the direction of the rising sun.' Later, through the translations, they associated that to mean east. And while 'east of Eden' is not incorrect, Nod is many light years east of Eden."