Naroaika

Chapter 16

I was falling once again. At first, I couldn’t see anything around me. Then suddenly, a bright light covered the space just as it happened before.

I opened my eyes. I was in a familiar room.

I got up immediately and found myself in my room but it was my room in the real world. I quickly got up and ran to the kitchen where both my parents were at. They looked surprised to see me and said that it was unusual to see me awake that early. I too was surprised that they remembered me as Al had said that people forgot about us when we went to the other world.

Al! Did he come back too? I couldn’t say because the wormhole opened right in front of my window. I decided to find out by going to the college but my parents stopped me saying that it was still the weekend and that I was acting weird. 

I quickly turned to look at the calendar. I was shocked at what I saw; only a day had passed in the real world. I was so sure that I had been in the other world for 8 months but it was still the weekend here.

‘Did the time stop here while we were gone?’ I wondered. ‘But that cannot be possible because when I was first sucked in, Al had said that the time still passed in the real world. Did the time go faster in the other world? Moreover, they still remembered me.’

I asked them if I had gone out the previous day but my parents said they didn’t remember. I decided to call Juliette.

On the call, she didn’t remember the outing we had. 

“Then do you know about Mr. Keilan’s younger brother?” I asked.

“Mr. Keilan has a younger brother? Jerinah, you seem to be doing an extensive search on Mr. Keilan’s background.” She replied.

“How could you not remember? You were the one who told me about it.” 

But she replied that she didn’t know anything about it. I couldn’t believe it but she seemed to be telling the truth. It was confirmed that Al didn’t return back to the real world. I hung up the call.

‘What do I do?’ I was anxious. I had to find a way to go back to the other world. The wormhole will open only after three years which would be equivalent to almost 5 days in the real world. I could not just sit here and wait for 5 days to past. Moreover, Al was alone in the other world and what if he wasn’t able to return back? I couldn’t bear the thought of it.

‘But where will the wormhole open?!’ 

I tried to call Azlo in case something happened but there was nothing. I ran out of the house and rushed to the café where I had first seen the wormhole. I opened the door but found nothing except for some few customers and the employee welcoming me. I walked out of it immediately.

Suddenly, a realization struck me. I didn’t forget anything about the other world. Was it because I had been there? Why did people forget who were sent to the other world? One by one, the questions started popping out inside my head but I couldn’t find the answers.

I went around the town searching for the wormhole. People must have seen me as a mad person.

I was out till nightfall. I still kept dragging myself around when a light shined at me. 

‘Is it a wormhole?’ I thought.

It was a policeman who was patrolling the area. Seeing my pathetic condition, he thought I was a thief and took me took me to the police station. I was too worn out to resist though I told him that I wasn’t a thief.

After calling my parents, they came to pick me up. I could see how embarrassed they were as they apologized to the policeman for the trouble.

On our way back home, they didn’t scold me but told me that they were always there if I needed them and that they will try their best to understand me.