Where There Be Dragons

Chapter 11

It was a rainy day in Miami, Florida and I stood at my Dad's front door waiting for it to open. When it finally did, I saw a face that had made my return worth it.

"Connor! They told me you were lost at sea. They told me..."

We both cried and just hugged each other for a little while.

"Listen, I'm sorry about your plane."

"Hey, planes are replaceable. You are not. But you do still owe me a breakfast" he chuckled.

The next few weeks I spent with my Dad, wanting to tell him so much of what I had seen, wishing I could show him the greater world out there, but instead we just drove aimlessly around Florida at a Dad's request and he seemed happy enough.

"Who's that on the phone, son?" said Dad as we waited to order at yet another pancake place.

"Oh, it's one of my clients. Oh, hey there! Sure, I'd be happy to fly you".

As I waited on the shore, the man from NASA again stepped out from his taxi.

"Come on, chop, chop. Get that rotor spinning. We haven't got all day". said the client as I politely smiled back and once we were onboard, we took to the skies.

"What's that?" said the so-called astronaut as he pointed to a medallion resting in my glove compartment. It was the same medallion that I had brought back with me, to remind me that this all hadn't been just some hallucination.

"Oh that, that's just a souvenir. I got it when I was in Puerto Rico" I replied. I hadn't placed it in my glove box with the intention of him seeing it, I just liked to keep it there with me as a lucky charm.

We then spent the rest of the flight in silence and I would probably never understand how space travel worked in relation to the canopy projectors, I think I finally found my serenity. He didn't know what the medallion meant and hopefully he never would, but I knew. I knew what it meant.

After dropping him off, I headed back to have an ice cream on the beach. As I looked out at the sun setting on the horizon, I questioned its reality, but cherished its beauty never the less.

Then, off in the distance, I could see a shape. It was small at first, but rapidly heading closer towards us. It looked like....

"My sea plane!"

But the one that I had lost in the gateway. I couldn't believe it. As it touched down on the water, three passengers stepped out. Three very recognisable faces.

"I don't believe it!" I yelled

"You don't believe it?" said a very bewildered Christopher.

"I don't understand. How is this happening?" I cried.

"The King's had a change of heart since you spoke with him. He's decided to implement some changes in the Kingdom, starting with onboard gateway signal scramblers. I assume that's what you were asking? If it was about how we found you, well I've got my WiFi back and you've got a new phone and your location settings on. Now would either of you care to fly Dragon Airways?." said Keira.

"How about it, Dad? You up for a bit of an adventure?"