The Adventure of the Magic Chia Plant

Chapter 2: The Sleeping Spell

Brent and Bench gaped in disbelief and horror as they watched Bethie reappear on the alien pink beach. She looked back at them and grinned widely, appearing hundreds of meters away, although she had been right beside them a moment ago. 

 "Come!" she mouthed, or at least that's what they thought she was saying. The image through the circle was utterly silent. If they wanted to hear her, they would have to step through themselves.

Brent was beside himself. As the eldest, he knew he was most responsible for his sister's safety when the adults weren't around. He gesticulated at her wildly. "Come back, Bethie!"

She only laughed and spun around like a top, dangerously close to the softly breaking waves. A few steps more, and she'd be in the water.

"She doesn't know how to swim," Bench mumbled, voicing their overriding fear.

"Get Ate Nora! Or Mama and Papa!" Brent commanded, not taking his eyes off her. Bench took off immediately. Although small for his age, he was the most surefooted of the three. He skidded to a stop beside the maid's room and knelt beside the sleeping nanny.

"Wake up! Wake up, Ate Nora!" Bench gingerly poked her arm, then when he got no response, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Wake up! Bethie is in danger!" But she slept on, oblivious.

"She won't wake up!" He yelled across the room.

"Go down to Mama and Papa's room!" Brent yelled back. "And hurry! She's going further away!"

"Okay!"

Bench clattered downstairs, holding tightly to the rails so he could jump the last few steps, and then he hammered at his parents' door. "Mama! Papa! Come upstairs! Bethie—"he paused as he realized the craziness of what was happening. They would never believe him if he told the truth, so he said, "Bethie is standing on the table!"

There. That should send them barreling up the stairs in panic.

Except that it didn't. There was no response at all.

Frowning, he tried the knob. It wasn't locked. He pushed the door open and peeked inside. A strange sight met his eyes.

Mama, dressed in a doctor's white coat, sat on her revolving chair in front of the desk where she conducted her telemedicine consultations. Her laptop was open before her, and she had a clipboard under her elbow. But she was fast asleep, her chin resting on her hand. He had never seen her like this before.

Papa also looked strange. Dressed in house clothes, he was half-sitting on the bed with his iPad and notes spread out on his belly as if about to transcribe his patients' histories. But his eyes were also closed, and he was snoring softly.

Bench's eyes traveled to the wall clock and registered that it was 3 p.m. on the dot. That didn't make sense. He remembered his brother saying it was three, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. He was sure that at least fifteen minutes had already passed.

"Bench, where are they?" A panicked yelp from above. "Hurry up!"

Remembering his mission, Bench ran first to his mother, then to his father. As he had half-expected, neither woke up, no matter how much he jiggled or shouted at them. Something weird was going on, not the least of which was that time seemed to have stopped for everyone but the three of them. He suspected that if he tried to accost their neighbors, they would all be under the same spell.

"They're all asleep," Bench panted, rejoining his brother on the balcony. "I can't wake any of them." He stared at the circle, where the image of his sister was growing smaller and smaller. She seemed to have forgotten all about them and was now wandering around on the shore, picking up objects they couldn't see.

"What are we going to do?" He asked desperately.

Brent shook his head. He had come to a decision some time ago, and while it wasn't one he liked, he couldn't see they had any other choice. "We'll have to go after her," he said firmly as if this was the most reasonable thing in the world.

Bench stared at him, but he couldn't come up with a better alternative. "What if we can't get back?"

"We'll have to find a way back." Brent bent over the pot where the trunk of the magic plant had germinated. "Look at this."

Dangling here and there between the leaves were long, green, hairy seed pods. He picked one and opened it. Four to six black seeds were inside, round like peas but half as small. 

"A bird must have dropped one of these seeds inside the pot while pecking at the plants. And then Bethie came and watered it—"

"—and it grew into that," Bench finished. "We should bring some, then."

Brent nodded and dropped the six small balls inside his binoculars case while Bench shoved a seed pod and flashlight into his pocket.

"Get some snacks; I'll take our water bottles," Brent instructed, momentarily taking his eyes off Bethie. Thankfully, she seemed to have gotten tired of walking. She was now sitting near the surf, digging a hole. "We don't know how long this is going to take."

Ordinarily, Bench didn't like being bossed around, but this time, he didn't want to make any of the decisions himself. For once, he was glad to be told what to do. "Got it."

He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of individually wrapped cookies and crackers from the snack bin while Brent proceeded to their room and gathered three metal canteens. Fortunately, they were all full. Realizing that they would need something to put their stuff in, he grabbed the knapsacks where they usually kept their books (as usual, his was blue, Bench's was green, and Bethie's was pink), emptied their contents onto the floor, and stuffed the bottles inside them.

They met again at the balcony, where Bench distributed the snacks into the bags. Then, they added their other stuff: Brent put in his well-loved Kindle and binoculars, while Bench tossed in his newer Kindle and flashlight. Brent shouldered his bag along with Bethie's while Bench carried his own. Finally, there was nothing else to do, and Brent realized that he was unconsciously trying to delay the moment that they would have to step through.

He looked at his younger brother and thought, we're too young for this. Then he remembered that the heroes in the books he liked to read often began their adventures at 11. Harry Potter was a prime example. Brent was older than that already. 

But Bench was just ten. He still occasionally spoke and acted without thinking. And Bethie was just six. She was tall for her age, but she was just a baby. It was up to Brent to look out for them, especially now that no adults could help them.

"Let's go," He said out loud, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

"I want to come back by merienda time," was all Bench said, staring at the image of the alien world. "Which won't be easy because I can't see her anymore."

"What?!" Brent's head whipped around. His brother was right. Their sister was nowhere in sight. Had she gone into the water? Had she run off into the distance? There was only one way to find out.

"Let's go, Bench!" Without further ado, Brent surged frantically into the portal and vanished.