A World of Another Kind

Chapter 26 Time Aberration

Narrated by Aubrey

     The next day, Kaylee and I decided that we wanted to try and call Mom and Dad now that the curse was finally broken. I figured the curse had probably kept us from getting a hold of them. We knew they we sick with worry for not seeing us in a very long time, and calling now was finally our opportunity to tell them that we were okay which was the right thing to do. We finally could go home just by flying on a plane back to California or if our parents flew here to pick us up. This was the moment that we'd been waiting for in a long time, and even if our adventures had to end and we had to leave our friends behind, we had to go home since it was time. We missed our family so much, and I felt very homesick. It was joyful to think about going back to them but sad leaving our friends behind. I wished there was something Kaylee and I could do to help them return to the Enchanted Forest, and I felt bad thinking about going back to our home, but they could not go back to theirs if they did not have the genie lamp since it would only take magic such as a portal for that to happen, and magic did not exist in this world.

     Kaylee and I went to the payphone, and we felt shaky with excitement and anticipation as I began to dial our home phone. Kaylee stood next to me to listen into the conversation. Then, to our great delight, someone answered who sounded like Mom. "Mom!" I cried out through tears of joy. "It's me, Aubrey!"

     Suddenly, the voice on the other end replied with a giggle, "I'm not Mom; I'm Kaylee." Immediately, I dropped the phone, and we cast one another horrified glances. Kaylee heard it clearly too, and the receiver on the other end did sound exactly like Kaylee's voice, but we had thought it was Mom because her voice always sounded like Mom's on the phone. "Hello?" came the voice on the other end. "Aubrey, you there?"

     I nervously took up the dangling phone, and I trembled like a leaf, my heart pounding rapidly. Then I put the phone up to my ear and spoke timorously, "I'm here... who are you really?"

     "Uh, Aubrey, isn't obvious it's me, Kaylee?" replied the receiver. "I'm not pranking you. Did you want to talk to Mom?"

     Right then, I felt like I was going to scream since I was so freaked out, and I saw Kaylee's face turn ghostly white, and her eyes widened with fright. We didn't understand what was going on. There was something very strange happening. "Sure, put Mom on," I replied with a nervous swallow.

     "Hey, Sweetie," came the new speaker who obviously was Mom. "What is it?"

     "Mom!" I exclaimed emotionally, really missing to hear her voice. "I miss you so much! Was that Kaylee talking to me before?" I questioned, feeling very tense.

     "I miss you too, Honey," Mom replied lovingly. "And yes, that was Kaylee. Is everything okay? Oh, and are you still at Costco?"

     "What?" I responded, feeling very confused and paralyzed with fear. "But Kaylee is with me, and I'm not at Costco! Don't you know we've disappeared for months!"

     "Sweetie, I'm having a hard time hearing you; your voice is being cut off," Mom replied. "But if you are still at Costco, I forgot to mention that we need paper towels."

     Immediately, I abruptly hung up the phone, freaking out like crazy, and because I felt like I was going to pass out, I had to go sit down on the park bench that was outside the payphone booth. This was too much to take in, and I felt like my mind was going crazy. Kaylee sat down next to me and was just as petrified as me. Then she said with great alarm and a trembling voice, "Aubrey... I'm so freaked out right now. If that was really me talking to you, and if Mom thinks you are at Costco, then that must mean there is a duplicate of us at home, and if there is, then this definitely has something to do with the curse." Then she swallowed hard, trembling and breathing at a fast rate like me.