To the Land of Green

Chapter Twenty-One

It has been a week now and Leticia and the others came down. José told her and everyone to come down the day after the battle. She told me he was sure we were going to win. Not only has Leticia and everyone come down, but we started cleaning the building. Everyone has decided to live here as it is closer to the water and there is more food available here. I go inside Alvarez's office, which is our new meeting room, and see everyone there.

When we saw there were many books we thought that they were just dictionaries but no. They are actually books that tell us the location of all of the Lobos. They are everywhere! 

I thought the Philippines only had Lobos but apparently other countries have them as well. In France, they call it Rond. In Spain, they call it Globo. We also learned that robots like Ractro who turned into a chip can still be used by the same Lobo we used, which means in order to go back home, I need to use the chip and put it on top of the Lobo because it already has past history with the robot.

With this knowledge, José, Nando, and Patricia have decided to come with me to the Philippines 2059 to find Angela. Nando wants to come because he says he wants to see my world, which is really sweet of him, and Patricia wants to come because she has nothing left. She wants to do something new which means she wants to travel. I was hesitant at first because I don't know if it will work. I don't know if we will go to the year 2059 because the Lobo might take us to the year 1959 instead. That is the reason why we're about to have a meeting today. To plan what we will do when we get there. They probably know about Sebastian's death right now which means everything is in chaos.

"Finally, you're awake," says José. After our 'moment' he has gone back to treating me coldly—like his usual self. He is so confusing. I sit next to Nando and greet him.

"Good morning," I say.
"Good morning, Marina," Nando says.
"Pay attention. This is what we will do," José says. **

We are now in the same Lobo I came from. The four of us have bid our goodbyes. While José is away, Diego, Manoy, and Fredo will take care of everyone. Leticia also stayed behind. She says that she has to help the elders and the children. I look at them one last time and smile. This might be the last time I will ever see them. I will miss them very much. I wipe my tears and the four of us step into the portal. We all roll around until I can't see them anymore.

"Guys, where are you guys?" I yell. I receive no response. "I am not kidding. Where are you guys?" I ask.

Suddenly, I land on a bed—my bed. Wow, this bed looks like my old bed. I sigh. Wait, this is my old bed. I look around and see my old room. My walls are painted gray and my bed, which is a queen-sized bed, is covered in my favorite color green. Even my vintage wardrobe is here. What in the world is going on? Why am I here? I thought our house had been destroyed after we hid away from the Francos? And where is Nando, José, and Patricia?

"Honey wake up," says the most beautiful voice I have missed so much. There she stands in front of me.

"Mama? Is that you?" I ask as I throw my arms around her. "I missed you, Mama!" I cry. "Oh, Marina. What are you doing baby? We just saw each other a few minutes ago," she says.

"I know but can I get a really long hug?"

"You don't have to ask, baby. You can hug me whenever you want," she says. I hug her for what seemed like forever until my father shows up.

"Papa," I say and run into his arms. "I missed you both so much. Your voice, touch, I missed it all and I just want to let you both know I love you," I say.

"We love you too, Marina," says Ma and Pa.
"Now, get ready. We have the ball tonight and I need you to be ready and prepared," says Ma. "Okay, Mom."

**

After getting ready, I go to my sister's room. Will she remember what happened as I do? I knock on the door and no one answers. That's weird because I remember that Ma and Pa said that she's in her room.

"Rosalinda, are you ready? Can I come in?" I ask. There is still no reply. "I'm coming in," I say. Inside her room, there are dresses, pants, blouses, and shoes everywhere.

"Marina, is that you?" she asks. "Yes, where are you?" I ask.

"In my closet. I need help picking an outfit. Can you help?" she asks, getting out of the closet. As she comes out, I sprint toward her and hug her. "I miss you," I say.

"What are you doing? Let me go. I need to pick a baro't saya and we just saw each other earlier," she says.

I let go of her and wipe my tears. "Sorry," I say.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah. Here, wear this. I think it looks great on you," I say holding up an outfit.

"Thank you!" she says.

"So, how are you? What happened when you and Juan were at the condo?" I ask.

"Condo? Girl, what are you talking about?"

"The condo we were staying at, before I disappeared. Remember, Ractro? He would help us with difficult problems," I say.

"We were eating earlier, Marie. And who is Ractro? Oh my God, don't tell me you have a boyfriend. Who would have thought? My little sister has a boyfriend?" she says.

"What?! No! I don't have a boyfriend. But you don't really remember anything?" "I think you need some rest," says Rosalinda.
"I need to find Juan. Have you seen him?" I ask.
"He's probably in his room still playing and hasn't changed his clothes," she says.

I storm out of her room and head straight into Juan's room without knocking and hug him.

"Whoa, I have a door for a reason sister," he says wrapping his arms around me. "A door where you can knock and for privacy purposes," he continues. I let go of him.

"Okay, Juan I am not playing around please tell me you know about our condo and Ractro," I ask.

"Condo? Since when did we have a condo? And Ractro? Since when did you have a boyfriend?" he asks.

"For the second time, I don't have a boyfriend! Never mind," I say walking out of his room. Laughter can be heard from his room. So, they don't know. But how did that happen? Why do I know what happened to me and they don't know what happened to them?