Home Again

11 0 0
                                    

Back in Iowa, Uncle George and the farmhands had worked as hard as they could to fix the house after the tornado hit, but they could not rebuild Katie's bedroom. Since they didn't want to let a cold draft in when the winter came, they had built temporary walls of wood in the spot where the door to her bedroom used to be. While everyone missed Katie very much and worried if she was alright, nobody missed her more than Declan, and he would spend all his free time searching for his girlfriend.

During one of his many walks, Declan gasped when he noticed something large hovering in the sky before running back to the farm as fast as he could. What he thought was a stray unreported meteor turned out to be Reilly's wagon carrying Katie's room only an hour after leaving the Clover City, but Declan ran to warn everyone before they all gasped when they saw the house shaking. Hoping that the asteroid hadn't damaged the house, Uncle George and Declan ran to the side that was impacted before gasping when they saw Katie's room back in place, complete with the temporary walls on the ground. Both relieved at how it wasn't a meteor and confused as to how her room came back, they entered the house before tiptoeing closer to Katie's room, unsure if they were dreaming or not.

While that was happening outside her door, Katie was doing her best to calm down a rather excited Alfie, and she was trying to control her pet when Reilly appeared in her bedroom. Even though she was startled by his appearance, she giggled as he gave Alfie a dog treat from his pocket before he said he had something for her, just so she could remember him. With that, he pulled out a Claddagh ring from his other pocket before placing it in her hand, and she marveled at it with a gleam in her eyes. After she thanked him for the gift, she asked if there was any way for them to stay in touch, to which he nodded before telling her that rubbing the heart on the ring would summon him there in the blink of an eye.

"Don't worry, Katie. You'll always be able to contact me, and I could even use my magic to bring whichever friend you want with me!"

With a nod, Katie hugged Reilly again and thanked him for the gift, Alfie even giving him a few face-licks. That was when they heard her doorknob jiggling, and since she was nervous about being caught with a stranger in her room, Katie looked at Reilly in panic before he nodded and vanished. It was almost as if he could tell what she was thinking, and while it looked like he was back in his trailer, he was actually invisible and under her bed. That was when the bedroom door opened to reveal Uncle George and Declan, who smiled with widening eyes when they saw that Katie was alive and well.

"K-Katie! It's really you!"

Uncle George gasped before running to hug Katie, and she giggled as they embraced before Alfie leaped out of her arms and ran over to Declan, who picked her up before chuckling as the dog licked his face. Even though he rarely cried, the sight of his niece safe and sound after a terrible storm brought the strong Uncle George to tears, and Katie was quick to dry his eyes when he was done. After Katie made sure that her uncle was alright, Declan had just set down the dog when he was tackle-hugged by Katie, and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. He was both thrilled to see her again and curious about how she survived everything, and the sentiment was shared by Uncle George.

"How... how did you and Alfie make it out of that storm alive? Tornadoes like that are strong and powerful enough to kill you, so how are you even unharmed?"

"Well... I don't know how my room managed to come right off the side of the house, but... that cyclone carried me to a place that was colorful... if not a little strange."

When asked what she meant by that, Katie sat at the foot of her bed before telling Declan and Uncle George about Laz, covering the bases of her journey without boring them. While the others would have thought that she was dreaming the whole thing, Declan and Uncle George could tell from the corn in her basket that she was telling the truth. As soon as she was done with her story, Uncle George welcomed her home again before insisting that she rest with Alfie and Declan, and she nodded before he went off to make celebratory dinner for her and everyone else.

HomeWhere stories live. Discover now